Best of 2020: An Ordinary Intersection

An accidental photo essay courtesy of Street View provides us a look at the appallingly low standard for what we expect people who walk in suburbia to put up with.

Lo mejor de 2020: Una intersección ordinaria

Un ensayo fotográfico accidental, cortesía de Street View, nos proporciona una mirada al nivel espantosamente bajo de lo que esperamos que aguanten las personas que caminan por los suburbios.

Taking Pedestrian Safety Into Our Own Hands

The feds don’t have serious solutions to the problem of pedestrian safety. It’s up to us to take action right where we are.

Now Is the Time to End Traffic Fatalities. Here's a Simple Plan to Do It.

We’ve engineered our streets for high performance when we should be engineering them for safety. Now’s the time to unwind the mess. Here’s how to do it.

Slowing the Cars in Austin

A new ordinance in Austin is trying to slow drivers and protect pedestrians. But does the city’s plan go far enough in addressing a key factor in creating safer streets: street design?

Top Story, #SlowtheCars, Roads and StreetsGabe ColomboAugust 18, 2020pedestrian safety, #SlowTheCars, Austin, Street Design

Understanding the 85th Percentile Speed

This observation of human behavior has long been a source of frustration for safety advocates, but that doesn’t make it wrong.

#SlowtheCars, MarohnCharles MarohnJuly 27, 2020traffic engineering, #SlowTheCars

What Are Your “Three Wishes” for Your City?

Okay, here’s the game: Name the three things you would change in your city that would have the biggest impact.

#SlowtheCars, Zoning, Top StoryDJ SullivanJuly 13, 2020zoning, single-family, nashville, #SlowTheCars, Form-Based Code

Want to #SlowTheCars? Don't Rely on Enforcement.

Enforcement treats the symptoms of risky driving, not the cause. Here’s how to get to the root of the problem.

#SlowtheCars, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJune 23, 2020speeding, enforcement, Street Design, #SlowTheCars

The Costs of Car Dependence Go Far Beyond Roads and Parking

A conversation with a judge after a jury trial reveals the less obvious—yet shockingly high—costs of the suburban experiment.

I work for Strong Towns and sometimes even I don't know what the Strong Towns approach is.

Sometimes the way to best advocate for change in your city isn’t obvious or easy. And the inertia of the status quo is a challenge all its own.

Have Coronavirus Shutdowns Prompted an Epidemic of Reckless Driving?

No. They’ve made more obvious a pre-existing epidemic of reckless street design.

Top Story, Herriges, #SlowtheCarsDaniel HerrigesApril 14, 2020safety, speeding, #SlowTheCars, coronavirus, traffic engineering

Lying About Safety to Sell Freeway Widening

The Oregon Department of Transportation’s lies about safety are so blatant they can be seen 400 miles away.

An Ordinary Intersection

An accidental photo essay courtesy of Street View provides us a look at the appallingly low standard for what we expect people who walk in suburbia to put up with.

Herriges, #SlowtheCars, Walkability, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesFebruary 4, 2020walkability, #SlowTheCars, safety, pedestrian safety, Orlando, Florida

Off-duty police officer, mother of 2, killed helping elderly woman cross the street. Just another pedestrian killed.

We’ve long accepted a base level of carnage on our streets. But we should stop describing these as random “accidents.” They are the inevitable outcome of our chosen approach to building cities.

#SlowtheCars, #NoNewRoads, Walkability, Top StoryCharles MarohnJanuary 16, 2020pedestrian safety, STROADS, safety, auto-oriented, walkability

The Federal Government Should Stop Victim-Shaming Walkers

If the NHTSA wants to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce vehicle-related crashes, they should stop blaming people who are walking when they are killed and injured by drivers.

#SlowtheCars, Marohn, Top Story, WalkabilityCharles MarohnJanuary 8, 2020NHTSA, #SlowTheCars, pedestrian safety, walkability

American Roads: Where Power Always Eclipses Responsibility

We romanticize the power of our vehicles, while downplaying our obligations to safety and community…with deadly results.

#SlowtheCars, Horbovetz, Top StoryArian HorbovetzJanuary 7, 2020cars, #SlowTheCars, Speeding

Why Do Americans View Zero Road Deaths as an Impossible Goal?

Vision Zero is a simple engineering problem, but a wickedly complex social and institutional problem—at least in America’s car-dependent cities. Success in Norway shows us what the way forward looks like.

Best of 2019: Two Photos Reveal Why the Key to Slowing Traffic is Street Design, Not Speed Limits

Two simple photos show the difference between a street simply designated 20 miles per hour, and one actually designed to be safe. We can't regulate our way to safety.

Why I'm Not a Pedestrian

The way we design our cities, the metrics we track, and even our language — they all betray how we’ve come to prioritize cars over human bodies. What’s lost when our transportation paradigm doesn’t account for the diverse ways people still use our streets?