Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Safety

New Black Box Rule Isn’t Enough to Hold Drivers Accountable For Ped Crashes

By Tanya Snyder and Stephen Miller | Dec 17, 2012 | 4 Comments

Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a new rule requiring automakers to install event data recorders, known as EDRs or black boxes, in all light passenger vehicles. While the rule would expand the number of vehicles equipped to record critical information in the moments preceding a crash, that alone won’t aid […]

Why Traffic Deaths Are More Common in Red States Than in Blue States

By Tanya Snyder | Nov 20, 2012 | 46 Comments

Public interest journalist Stuart Silverstein at FairWarning.org has uncovered the fact that red states (defined as those that went for Mitt Romney in the last election) have higher traffic fatality rates than blue states (those that went for Barack Obama). The correlation is striking, Silverstein says, but he’s at a loss to explain it: The […]

Biden, Ryan Trade Automobile Horror Stories, Talk Up Car Jobs in VP Debate

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 12, 2012 | 4 Comments

The vice presidential debate last night took an unexpected turn toward traffic safety, amid a lot of predictable chest-thumping about saving Detroit. After Vice President Joe Biden said what is by now a standard favorite in the administration repertoire — “Romney said, let Detroit go bankrupt” — Rep. Paul Ryan countered with this: “Mitt Romney’s a car […]

Should Doctors Play a Role in Determining Who’s Fit to Drive?

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 28, 2012 | 10 Comments

When to take grandma’s keys away: In the United States, this question treated is largely treated as a family matter. But that is not the case in Canada, where the government requires doctors to report to licensing authorities when their patients start showing signs that, behind the wheel, they might pose a danger to themselves […]

LaHood Incorrectly Blames 80 Percent of Pedestrians for Their Own Deaths

By Tanya Snyder | Sep 27, 2012 | 29 Comments

Last week, U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood helped NYC transpo commish Janette Sadik-Khan launch a new phase of the “LOOK!” campaign, with pavement markings instructing texting pedestrians to wake the hell up. He made a comment that made its way into his blog post about the event, as well as other media reports on the event, […]

Colorado Authorities Cite Driver for Cyclist Harassment

By Tanya Snyder | Sep 24, 2012 | 35 Comments

Despite the number of two-wheeled cop patrols around some cities, police aren’t always the most bike-minded bunch. When there’s a conflict between motorists and cyclists, they’re often inclined to take the motorist’s side. As Streetsblog has reported, police in New York City care more about drunk pedestrians than unsafe drivers, despite the fact that most fatalities are caused by […]

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