Philadelphia Street Mural Aims to Slow Cars and Improve Pedestrian Safety

A Philadelphia neighborhood has a new mural that supporters "hope will improve pedestrian safety, help bring business to the stores on the corridor and, as Somaly Osteen puts it, 'create a sense of hope.'" According to Juliana Feliciano Reyes, "[t]he mural is part of a larger beautification and safety effort run by SEAMAAC [Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition] for the neighborhood" and "is intended to make the intersection safer by attracting the attention of drivers, who will then slow down and stop, instead of rolling through stop signs." The coalition hopes this will improve safety for children walking to nearby schools and instill a sense of pride in the community.

"Murals aiming to slow traffic and increase pedestrian safety have been installed in cities such as St. Paul, Minn.; Baltimore; and Philadelphia — the South of South Street Neighbors Association worked with Mural Arts to install one in Graduate Hospital this year. Philadelphia had a higher rate of traffic-related deaths than New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco, according to 2018 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration." Meanwhile, "Neighborhoods that are largely home to people of color and those living in poverty are more likely to experience these accidents."