Pedestrian Fatalities
Seattle is working toward its Vision Zero goals, after a year in which most people killed by drivers in the city were pedestrians.
The Seattle Times
Remember Elaine Herzberg, the 49-year-old woman who became the first pedestrian fatality due to an autonomous vehicle when she was hit last March by an Uber with a safety driver in Tempe, Ariz.? Prosecutors found no criminal liability.
The New York Times
Among the factors that stand out in the "Spotlight on Highway Safety" report released Thursday by the Governors Highway Safety Association is increased "death by SUV," which kill at a higher rate than cars. Distraction, however, is hard to prove.
USA Today
The mayor wants to implement a series of measures to eliminate traffic fatalities and make city streets safer for pedestrians.
Cincinnati CityBeat
The Pennsylvania Senate Transit Committee approved a bill to allow for photo enforcement to catch drivers making illegal passes that could endanger children in front of school buses.
Trib Live
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a study on May 8 that attributes the increased number of pedestrians killed in part to road design that allows for higher speeds, fewer intersections and pedestrian crossings and more SUVs.
The Washington Post
Over 2,000 people died from hit-and-run collisions on American roads in 2016, the highest since 2009, claiming a disproportionate amount of pedestrian and cyclist lives. One solution: more protected bike lanes.
CBS This Morning
A van driver apparently deliberately mowed down pedestrians on sidewalks and intersections in the North York area of Toronto on Monday. The suspect is in custody. The incident is reminiscent of a similar scene last May in Times Square, Manhattan.
CNN
Florida’s incremental steps toward complete streets have saved thousands of lives, but still left it one of the most dangerous states to walk in.
Streetsblog USA
Autonomous vehicles hold the potential to greatly reduce auto crashes. Advocates want them on the road as early as possible to reduce fatalities. Skeptics worry that the public will be guinea pigs during the testing—case in point: Elaine Herzberg.
San Francisco Chronicle
A study by Zendrive examines how many U.S. drivers can't put down their phones.
Bloomberg
Experts who watched the videos taken by onboard cameras equipped in the Volvo SUV that hit Elaine Herzberg determined that Uber's automated driving system failed to perform adequately. The crash points to a need for regulations.
San Francisco Chronicle
Elaine Herzberg's death by autonomous vehicle on March 18 in Tempe was a "first," but what of the 224 pedestrians that died last year in Arizona, the nation's most dangerous state for pedestrians according to a 50-state report released Feb. 28?
Governors Highway Safety Association
After viewing the videos taken by two cameras equipped in the Uber autonomous vehicle that fatally struck 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg on Sunday, the chief concluded the crash was difficult to avoid. Also, lessons on the crash from David Leonhardt.
San Francisco Chronicle
A proposed bill in the California State Assembly would make it easier for local jurisdictions to set lower speed limits, sidestepping the controversial 85th percentile rule.
Streetsblog California
The 300-foot wide Queens Boulevard has been known as the Boulevard of Death. Since 1990, it has claimed 186 lives, 74 percent being pedestrians, including 18 in 1997 alone. A series of safety improvements have brought fatalities to zero since 2014.
The New York Times
A Toronto Star columnist frames a recent spate of pedestrian fatalities in stark terms.
Toronto Star
Bigger cars and an older population means a growing number of Americans die while crossing the street, and the country is just getting older.
Mother Nature Network
Though the quick expansion of complete streets policies is worth celebrating, minority and low-income communities are still being left behind, and killed at a disproportionate rate.
The Urban Edge
In the wake of two terrorist attacks on London bridges that killed pedestrians, concrete barriers were installed on three crossings to prevent repeat rampages. The only problem is that they were installed in bicycle lanes.
London Evening Standard
