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Creating Safe and Livable Streets and Neighborhoods
This isn’t how I wanted to spend International Walk and Bike to School Day. True, I was able to ride with my daughter to school this morning, but then had to finish up this statement to Tampa, Fla., area officials in response to a really depressing rash of fatal bike crashes. Obviously Tampa isn’t the first place to have to deal with this. Three years ago, Portland dealt with two back-to-back right-hook fatals in dramatic fashion; this year Mayors Menino (Boston) and Villaraigosa (Los Angeles) have hosted safety summits in response to specific incidents. But, the response to tragic events like these really do end up defining communities that care about creating safe and livable streets and neighborhoods.
Other big cities are tackling these issues with some powerful programs that Tampa could look at:
- Chicago is doing crash analysis and working with bicycling advocates to improve traffic safety. In addition to the bicycling education being offered throughout the city to youth and adults, the Active Transportation Alliance has a Drive with Care campaign with the goal “to stigmatize and curb reckless driving”, and the Alliance also recently beefed-up their crash response tools with a hotline.
- San Francisco has seen a lot of education delivered to bicyclists and motorists by the city and local bike coalition. They’ve also got special programs to reach professional drivers and the law enforcement community that are noteworthy.
- New York City has been evaluating crashes since the mid 90s and created this seminal report – Bicyclist Fatalities and Serious Injuries in New York City 1996-2005. The Look Campaign was launched 2006 in response to a 40% increase in cyclist fatalities over the prior year in the five boroughs. And Transportation Alternatives has been keeping up the pressure to increase traffic safety overall.
Closer to home in the Tampa area, St Petersburg has been making some progress of late – although still has a ways to go and suffers from some alarmingly high crash numbers as well – and has made it to a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community. They have seen a 15% reduction in car/bike crashes in the last couple of years thanks to infrastructure improvements and education programs. So there is hope and there are local examples of ways for Tampa and Hillsborough County to improve.
There is also hope because of the efforts of local advocates, the outpouring of support for the families of the victims, and because some local leaders are ready to act. County Commissioner Mark Sharp already replied to my e-mail this morning and there is a hearing this afternoon on bicyclist safety. Tomorrow, attention shifts to the City.
Andy Clarke
League President
Andy Clarke was appointed to the position of Executive Director in April of 2004 after successfully leading efforts to create, interpret and implement the various transportation programs that are available to improve conditions for bicycling and walking as the League’s State and Local Advocacy Director. Before joining the League in February 2003, Clarke was on contract to provide technical assistance to the highly regarded Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center on site at the Federal Highway Administration. He is on the Board of Directors for America Bikes, and a member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.
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October 6th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Unfortunately my sister in law was a static last year when she lost her life in a bike auto collision…
It may seem like the stats are going down but it seems like it is just as much happening as ever..
October 6th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Individual stories are powerful because we connect to the names and faces. That is a double edged sword. It powerfully motivates us for change but can sometimes give a falsely intensified sense of danger.
For example, the Neil Alan Smith case in St. Petersburg is powerful both because of the nature of Mr. Smith’s demise and for the class implications–he was one of Dan Koeppel’s “invisible cyclists” who only was written about because of a cruel comment someone made about him in the local paper, to wit, that someone of Mr. Smith’s stature in life was better off dead. But I am sure that Neil Smith’s death due to a hit and run crash while bicycling home from his minimum-wage job, and the back story written afterwards, will make more of a lasting impression than Andy’s mention of a 15% crash reduction in St. Petersburg. Statistics don’t have a name or face.
So even if statistics are improving, those individual stories make the rounds on the Internet like wildfire and contribute to the notion that cycling is a dangerous activity. Frankly, the family home is still one of the best places to get yourself killed or injured because we take the hazards so much for granted (fire, electrocution, choking, poisoning, falls, drowning, etc.). Perceptions sometimes trump reality.
October 6th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Note this Atlantic article about Mr. Smith written by James Fallows. Apparently NPR covered it as well.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/10/the-opposite-of-self-pity-neil-alan-smith/63937/
October 6th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Details.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/sep/22/221613/lack-of-leads-in-hit-and-run-death-disappoints-inv/news-metro/
October 7th, 2010 at 8:12 am
I live in St. Pete. How it remains a “Bronze” community is bizarre. In the words of our new mayor, Bill Foster, “bicycles and cars don’t mix,” and has the police department pursuing cyclists who don’t put a foot on the ground at stop signs. Meanwhile, that same PD can’t seem to locate hit and run drivers. It is more typical that my most entertaining moment remains the time I watched a motorist use the bike lane in front of the main Police Station as a passing lane.
October 12th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
If looking at statistics, anyone riding in the entire Tampabay area should be evaluated. Still cycling remains both a way of life and an important facet in my life. I just hope I can remain vigil enough to out maneuver even Tampa’s finest who choose to ignore the 3-foot rule. Have to agree with Life Mbr #958 above – How St Pete can retain that bronze status is I’m sure only because it’s given for a 3 year period. Sure the Mayor has influence on it, but it not his game alone. I’ll not even dream that Tampa could be considered for that type award.
October 16th, 2010 at 12:39 am
I was hit by a car on 10/14 feet from where Kay Ishizuka was killed weeks earlier. I was wearing a helmet (thankfully) and had lights on the front and back (2) as well as reflectors. My roommate was hit at the intersection just to the north of there last fall, same deal with lights/bike lane. The reality of the situation is that without a serious response at all levels of the community, nothing will change. I have no hope for this state and will leave as soon as i can.
November 9th, 2010 at 11:20 am
[...] without risk and periodically we have to face that awful reality. Another fatal bike crash in the Tampa area last week brings the total there to seven in just a couple of months – and bringing stark relief [...]
January 14th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
great post,however I get some trouble in understanding the last paragraph, could you please explain a bit more in depth?