The new law is billed as a pedestrian safety measure, which is just one of the problems with the law according to critics.
"The Dayton City Commission this week approved an ordinance that officials say seeks to reduce pedestrian strikes but that critics paint as a thinly veiled attempt to criminalize panhandling," reports Cornelius Frolik.
There are also critics who are concerned that the lawn criminalizes walking, in addition to criminalizing homelessness.
Laws like this that persecute pedestrians (nominally for their own safety but really for the convenience of motorists) are about power and social status, not safety.
If anything they make pedestrians less safe by increasing their marginalization. https://t.co/HbCVjwsTL3— Angie Schmitt (@schmangee) May 25, 2018
"The ordinance prohibits pedestrians from getting within three feet of vehicles that are in operation along 51 of Dayton’s busiest and most dangerous roadways," adds Frolik.
The article includes more about the city's efforts to reduce the number of pedestrians hit by drivers of cars in the city (685 in the past year). More conventional previous efforts include red light and speed cameras. Frolik also includes local voices of opposition to the plan.
FULL STORY: Dayton OK’s ‘road safety’ law, but critics say it criminalizes being poor and panhandling
Where Enforcement of Jaywalking Equals Criminalization of Homelessness
Records in Salt Lake City show that police in Salt Lake City concentrate jaywalking enforcement in the corner of the city that houses most of the city's homeless services.
Analysis: Bigger cars are responsible for 10% of increase in pedestrian deaths
The New York Times offers a visual explanation of how larger vehicles make US roads more dangerous.
Memphis is the nation's most dangerous city for pedestrians
Memphis had the highest rate of traffic deaths for people walking in the US for two years in a row.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
5 New England states march closer to 800 megawatt wind energy project
Securing federal approval for the project may be complicated under the Trump administration, which has historically been hostile towards domestic wind power.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association