LAKEPORT >> A nonprofit focused on practical, low-cost methods proven to prevent traffic deaths, aired a podcast on October 16 to an enthusiastic nationwide audience. The crash analysis featured in a report and discussed in the show entitled “Beyond Blame: How Cities Can Learn From Crashes To Create Safer Streets Today” reviewed a crash that occurred in Nice on Highway 20, where a 67-year-old woman was killed on February 14 while crossing the street.
A regularly occurring conversation on multiple topics, Strong Towns podcasts about quality-of-life issues hosted by Charles (Chuck) Marohn. The podcast blends fiscal prudence with good urban design highlighting how America can financially strengthen its cities, in this case, with safer streets.
Marohn is president and co-founder of Strong Towns (launched in Brainerd, Minnesota). He is American author, land-use planner, civil engineer, and founder/president of Strong Towns. Marohn believes post-World War II suburban development has failed because it is inherently economically unsustainable. He posits that low-density communities do not produce tax revenue necessary to cover current services or the long-term costs of maintaining services.
During its evolution, Marohn devised the Crash Analysis Studio Process. It is designed to give local leaders a path to take action showcasing immediate things officials can do, and people do not need be engineers to achieve success. Eighteen cities participated in the analysis and while each vehicle crash is unique, they all share a common thread spread across four principals. The first is, high speed road design is a contributing factor that induced people to drive faster what was otherwise safe and the study’s report showed many were speeding.
Second, road design was inadequate for people biking and walking. There were instances where cities planned for residential development, such as, a four-lane highway through a commercial zone including retail, schools and parks, knowing people would frequently cross back and forth.
Third, there were numerous dangerous intersection designs, a recurring phenomenon. Also, these designs accelerated vehicles into intersections on highways, regional roads and city streets.
Fourth, there were visibility and lighting issues. The lighting was adequately bright for driving surfaces but, but people walking or cycling at the edge of the road, were in glare or shadows, making them invisible to drivers. “It takes everybody, these are issues city officials need to take the lead on,” Marohn said.
The report cited high-speed road design in urban areas as the most cited contributed factor in automobile crashes. Of 16 crashes analyzed, 14 occurred where the posted speed limit was 30 mph or greater. All 16 occurred where the 85th percentile speed (the speed that 85 percent of drivers are traveling at or below) was greater than the posted speed limit. A crash studied in Nice and included in the report found the posted speed limit was 40 mph, the measured 85th percentile speed was 48 mph and varied by about 20 percent from the posted limit.
Another of the towns studied was held up as a case model of how things could be, was Hoboken New Jersey. Mayor Ravi Bhalla, arrived in Hoboken just after finishing law school over 25 years ago, eventually elected to city council, then as mayor. A city of 65,000, Hoboken is the the 4th most densely populated city in the U.S. among cities over 50,000 and has land space of just 1.25 square miles. Mayor Bhalla
The defining moment came years later when a 95-year-old Agnes Assara was struck by a car and killed on Washington St. at Fifth St. In 2019, after becoming Mayor, Bhalla adopted the Vision Zero Program recommendations, deigned to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2030. “We now have had seven plus years of no fatalities and reduced serious injuries by 68%,” Bhalla said. “The key message is we do not have to use expensive measures. So, we targeted areas (Willow Ave. and 11th St.) that are high risk/vulnerable populations that included a senior center, school and park to make it more pedestrian friendly.”
Hobeken installed high visibility crosswalks. It also improved sight lines and installed flexible plastic bollards in four different intersections. These bollards had a total cost of $140. “They can save human lives,” Bhalla said. “Also, curb bump outs, that lessens the distance pedestrians need to cross streets, narrows the street, calms traffic by causing drivers to lower speed.” And they implemented a program, “Twenty is Plenty” reducing city limits speed to 20 mph, while keeping speeds to 15 mph around parks, schools and senior centers. “There’s no silver bullet, theses were incremental changes,” Bhalla cautioned. “No Mayor’s executive order can work. You need to bring together all stakeholders: Chief of Police, traffic enforcement officers, pedestrian and bike advocates.” And he pointed out cities need to listen to parents who walk their children to school because they see dangerous conditions on the ground, others overlook. “We must learn what contributes to fatal crashes and adapt to safety demands of a changing urban environment.”
Steve Davis, assistant vice president of Transportation Strategy for Smart Growth of America, advised America needs a radically different approach to street design, a safer system with multiple layers of protection that ensures that any mistake by a flawed human being should not come at the expense of a person’s life or serious injury. He referred to his organization’s report, “Dangerous by Design” that culled data from a decade of research. It noted, 7,522 died from road accidents in 2022, a 30-year high and there was a 68% increase in fatalities since 2011.
Davis also cited a report from the National Complete Streets Coalition, have shown marked improvements. “Sometimes using paint on roadway surfaces or using barrels, cones or bollards, any low-coast flexible material, resulted in slower speeds,” ” Davis said. “They are essential to improving safety of the streets.”
