Good News for Traffic Fatalities in Chicago

At least one of the country's largest cities has positive progress to report when it comes to reducing the number of people killed on streets.

1 minute read

September 10, 2019, 7:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Bucktown and Wicker Park, Chicago

Jeffrey Zeldman / Flickr

"As of August 31, overall on-street Chicago traffic deaths were down 24 percent compared to the same time in 2018," reports John Greenfield. "There have also been far fewer bike fatalities than this time this year."

"There were 66 total on-street traffic fatalities this year by the end of August, compared to 87 by this time in 2018, and 77.2 death by this time on average between 2012 and 2016," adds Greenfield

Dave Smith, Chicago Department of Transportation bike and pedestrian Program manager, delivered the good news at a recent Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting.

Greenfield isn't willing to credit Chicago's Vision Zero program for the year's lower fatality numbers, the good news still stands out as an outlier when compared to the rising number fatalities in other large cities with stated Vision Zero goals.

Friday, September 6, 2019 in Streetsblog Chicago

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