Traffic Crashes

Small black car with mangled bumper sitting sideways on an asphalt road

Crash Analysis Studio Brings ‘Standard of Care’ to Traffic Fatalities

A new tool from Strong Towns provides a model for comprehensively evaluating the causes behind deadly crashes and how to prevent them.

November 8, 2022 - Strong Towns

Arlington

Arlington County Authorizes Speed Cameras

The Arlington County board approved a program that will install traffic cameras in an effort to protect pedestrians and reduce police interactions.

January 30, 2022 - ARLnow

Florida Pedestrians

Opinion: Road Safety Data Should Include Close Calls

Even in the absence of lethal collisions, the experience of repeated near-misses can discourage pedestrians from walking and degrade public perception of road safety.

January 25, 2022 - NextCity

Traffic and Speed

Illinois Traffic Deaths Up by 10% Over 2020

Officials point to speeding and reckless driving as causes for the increase in fatal crashes.

August 3, 2021 - Daily Herald

Tiger Woods Crash

Tiger Woods Crash: Blame the Road, Not the Driver, Say Authorities

"Purely an accident" is how the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department characterized the one-person, single-vehicle rollover crash that severely injured golfing celebrity Tiger Woods on Feb. 23 while driving on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

March 2, 2021 - Los Angeles Times

Ghost bike in New York

Horrific Cyclist's Death in Brooklyn Prompts Calls for New Thinking on Cars

José Alzorriz was killed while waiting on a bike at a red light. An SUV, T-boned by a red light-runner, literally flew into him.

August 27, 2019 - The New York Times

Deaths of Seven Motorcyclists Results in Resignation of Motor Vehicle Registry Chief

A pickup truck driver towing a trailer on a two-lane rural road in New Hampshire on June 21 is charged with seven counts of vehicular homicide after colliding with a group of motorcycle riders. Attention has turned to his commercial driver's license.

June 28, 2019 - USA Today

Pedestrians

Pedestrian Deaths Last Year Projected to Be Highest Since 1990

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.

March 4, 2019 - USA Today

Bill Would Make California's Urban State HIghways Safer for Non-Motorists

Sen. Scott Wiener introduced legislation to make state highways that run through villages, town, and cities, often acting as main streets, accommodate the safety needs of walkers, cyclists, and transit users when undergoing capital improvements.

January 19, 2019 - Streetsblog California

Self-Driving Car

Autonomous Driving Technology Might Have Saved Lives

It could have been a multiple-vehicle fatal car crash—a driver fell asleep at the wheel driving 70 mph—but the outcome was two DUI charges.

January 9, 2019 - SFBay

Crash

Hit-and-Run Traffic Fatalities Reach Record High

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.

April 30, 2018 - CBS This Morning

Eating and Driving

Design Solutions for Distracted Driving

A columnist explores how to create an environment that encourages focused, safe driving.

April 12, 2018 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Dilemma of Autonomous Vehicle Testing

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.

April 9, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

Uber Autonomous Vehicle

Failure of Automated Driving Technology Blamed for First Pedestrian Fatality

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.

March 25, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

Tempe Police Chief: Uber AV vs. Pedestrian Crash May Have Been Unavoidable

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.

March 21, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

End of the rainbow

What's Behind the Removal of Public-Private Partnerships from Trump's Infrastructure Plan?

Partnering with the private sector carries risks. Witness the mess that followed the selection of a private firm to build an interstate in Indiana in 2014 that Vice President Mike Pence should have prevented in his prior position as governor.

October 4, 2017 - The Indianapolis Star

Bike and Bus Lane

FHWA Greenlights More Red Lanes for Buses in San Francisco

The Federal Highway Administration approved 50 applications of red transit-only lanes to be painted throughout San Francisco. Already used on four streets in a pilot program, the lanes have proven effective but are opposed by some business owners.

July 6, 2017 - San Francisco Examiner

Do Traffic Crashes Increase When Recreational Marijuana Sales Are Legalized?

A new report by the insurance industry studying the relationship between crashes and legalized recreational marijuana sales found that crashes can be expected to increase by three percent. A news report from Denver questions their findings.

June 26, 2017 - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Bollards

Saving Lives: Including Sidewalk Bollards in Street Design

Countless lives were likely saved by a strategically placed bollard on W. 45th Ave. which stopped a motorist who had driven three blocks on city sidewalks, mowing-down as many pedestrians as possible, from entering the Times Square pedestrian plaza.

May 31, 2017 - The New York Times

A Deadly Crash Is an Accident Because it Isn't Terrorism

Cable news networks interrupted broadcasts on Thursday morning with breaking news: a vehicle had just driven three block on the sidewalks in Times Square, New York, resulting in massive casualties. Anchors asked, "Was it terrorism or an accident?"

May 21, 2017 - Daily News

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