| March 2006 |
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Human Toll Compels Drive With Care Initiative Where There’s Speed, Death Follows March Conference First Step in Driving Initiative A Long, Healthy Life Cut Short on the Street Moving Region Toward Healthy Streets Minorities Bear Heaviest Share of Injury, Death |
Where There’s Speed, Death Follows Drive With Care is a campaign. It is an ambitious effort to change the way most drivers behave. Mainstream traffic safety efforts have done little to hold motorists
responsible for their actions. The result is that speeding and disobeyin Drive With Care is hopeful. Reckless driving is not a permanent component of our culture, but something that can change. There are many places in our society where the social contract is strong. People do watch out and care for each other. I regularly see people watching out for and helping strangers on buses, on trains, on the sidewalk and in stores. Though it is easier when you are face-to-face with people, I contend it is also possible for motorists to watch out for each other, bicyclists and pedestrians. Motorists used to be more careful. What can we do to reverse the trend? When I was in downtown Victoria, British Columbia I was surprised by what I saw at a mid-block crosswalk. As pedestrians stepped toward the crosswalk, traffic in both directions would stop. I knew that was the law, but I had never seen it actually working in North America. We want to bring that level of civic responsibility to drivers in Chicago and the suburbs. What will it take? Many factors will combine to successfully influence driver behavior. It helps if there are greater numbers of walkers and bikers. It is important that street design broadcast the presence and priority of more vulnerable road users.
Enforcement is also a critical piece because rules that are often broken and never enforced lose their status as rules. Photo enforcement techniques present new cost-effective solutions. Voluntary compliance from effective social marketing is likely to bring about the biggest changes. Marketing can motivate people to care and create accountability within social networks. The marketing effort from Britain (at left) was very effective at reducing speeds in residential areas. The Healthy Streets Campaign is working with local and national partners to craft a visible and effective Drive With Care marketing campaign that we can deliver in your community. The first phase of Drive With Care will communicate that speed matters. Most people are driving too fast and that’s dangerous. Speed is the major factor in at least a third of car crashes and it is always the big issue when pedestrians and bicyclists are hit. Memorize the chart below and talk about it with your family and friends. When a car going less than 25 mph hits a pedestrian, most live. As speeds increase over 25 mph the severity of injuries and deaths increase rapidly. It makes a difference to the safety of your neighborhood whether cars are going 25, 30 or 35 mph. And when people are driving 40 or 50, it is criminal. Many of those criminals are your neighbors who don’t realize how fast they are going or that their speed matters.
You can help by driving and cycling with care. Let your friends know that it is important to you that they drive at prudent speeds. Encourage your city officials, police and community leaders to participate in the Healthy Streets Conference on March 22 and the ongoing collaboration through Drive With Care. Forward us your suggestions on effective ways to deliver the Drive With Care message. Randy Neufeld is the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s Healthy Streets Campaign coordinator
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