Nationwide Security Council shifts focus to pedestrians
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The report referred to as the pattern in U.S. new-vehicle gross sales towards heavier, bigger SUVs and different vehicles “an ominous one for road security,” one that might develop worse as even heavier electrified automobiles change into extra commonplace. The group referred to as for revisions to federal laws that may cut back on the burden and top of recent automobiles to assist shield susceptible street customers.
Susceptible street customers “are in probably the most want of safety, not solely as a result of they’re bodily uncovered to motor automobiles, but additionally as a result of automakers will not be incentivized to guard people who find themselves not shopping for their merchandise,” based on the chief abstract.
The report discovered that U.S. cities made “catastrophic errors” within the early twentieth century once they prioritized the car on metropolis streets. Cities reduce on mass transit, shrunk sidewalks and created laws such as jaywalking to prioritize auto velocity over the security of pedestrians and cyclists and using different modes of transportation.
Cities ought to study from these errors and as an alternative make guidelines that don’t “promote or allow a selected expertise,” the report says.
“Ought to conflicts emerge between the pursuits of road customers and expertise firms (akin to sidewalk drones that jeopardize the entry of these utilizing wheelchairs), advocates and policymakers ought to stand with the individuals whose mobility is beneath risk,” the report abstract states.
The report concluded that dense neighborhoods are prone to expertise modifications in transportation security sooner than different areas, provided that they “induce extra brief journeys” and usually tend to have “high-quality networks of motorcycle lanes and sidewalks.”
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