Four things contribute to fatalities in cities like Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond was among several U.S. cities included in a national report calling on localities to create safer streets.

The report, “Beyond Blame: How Cities Can Learn from Crashes to Create Safer Streets Today,” was released Tuesday by Strong Towns, a nonprofit focused on creating content to help build better communities

“There are many, many things cities can do, there are many things local leaders can do, people who care in their community. There are many things we can do and many of them are quick and cheap, and they’re easy to do and make our streets substantially safer,” said Charles Marohn, founder of Strong Towns.

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The report’s findings are made up of 18 in-depth crash studies from the past year and a half.

“In most of the crashes we observed, people were using the streets in a very reasonable way. The streets are designed and built in a way that makes them dangerous for even the most careful driver,” Marohn said. “And what we put together in this report is designed to give local leaders a path, a way to act.”

He said cities can learn from every fatal crash, and in a presentation highlighted four of the main things outside of human error that contributed to accidents:

1. Design of high-speed roads
2. Road designs that do not equate to people walking and cycling
3. Dangerous intersection design
4. Visibility and lighting problems

“We saw time and time again places where we had driving surfaces that were properly lit in a way that put people on bikes, people walking, people in wheelchairs in the glare or in the shadows,” Marohn said.

The 2023 crash that killed VCU student Mahrokh Khan was included in the report. The analysis indicates that the location where he was hit has a dangerous intersection design.

“There have been students hit at this location after we looked at it, and it just had a number of design flaws, things that we would design if we were only concerned about moving traffic, but if we were concerned about safety, we would. relieve and do differently,” Marohn said.

With these findings, the organization made several recommendations that city leaders can implement quickly and inexpensively.

They include establishing a crash analysis study and using temporary traffic control devices to respond quickly.

“Inexpensive plastic flexible bollards for a total cost of $140. That $140 can save a human life. This kind of low-cost investment and quick-build solution and effect on safety makes it worth it. contemplate it in other communities”. said Hoboken, New Jersey Mayor Ravinder Bhalla, who was part of the report’s launch.

Marohn said it’s vital that more cities begin to aggressively address this problem.

“Cities can find themselves in a position where they can take care of their residents, make their streets work better,” he said. “Big cities, mid-sized cities, small cities in every way, what we’re seeing is that our design is not safe, the way we approach it is not creating safety, we’re seeing tens of thousands of people die and we have the ability to actually do it.”

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