Agencies team up on pedestrian and cyclist safety

The City of Philadelphia has kicked off its new pedestrian safety education and enforcement strategy aimed at reducing deaths and injuries, supported by a US$525,000 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) grant initiative to help address a three year trend of increased pedestrian fatalities. Philadelphia will use the funds to address pedestrian safety in downtown areas by increasing police visibility and ticketing during high risk hours in 20 high-crash locations. The grant will also be u
October 17, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The City of Philadelphia has kicked off its new pedestrian safety education and enforcement strategy aimed at reducing deaths and injuries, supported by a US$525,000 834 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) grant initiative to help address a three year trend of increased pedestrian fatalities.

Philadelphia will use the funds to address pedestrian safety in downtown areas by increasing police visibility and ticketing during high risk hours in 20 high-crash locations. The grant will also be used for marketing to reach pedestrians in these areas and to train officers on pedestrian safety.

In Philadelphia, a total of 31 pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, representing 29 percent of the city's total traffic fatalities. Research shows such safety campaigns significantly increase safer behaviour by drivers, such as yielding appropriately to pedestrians.

The city’s deputy mayor for transportation Rina Cutler says the grant from the federal government will let the city and Pennsylvania DOT expand pedestrian safety education and enforcement efforts.

“This program is specifically working to change the culture and the attitude of Philadelphians towards traffic safety.”
Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Intersection collision avoidance system trial
    January 31, 2012
    Although much of the emphasis of research into intersection management has tended to concentrate on the needs of urban locations, there remain specific issues pertaining to rural intersections which need to be addressed. Here, Rebecca Szymkowski and Greg Helgeson, Wisconsin DOT, Todd Szymkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Craig Shankwitz and Arvind Menon, University of Minnesota detail progress on an intersection collision avoidance system for more remote locations.
    Read More
  • Project Edward: 43 fatalities reported in 31 participating countries, Europe
    October 23, 2017
    There are 43 road deaths across 31 participating European countries, according to the latest results by European Day Without A Road Death (Project Edward). The figures have been published by the European Traffic Police Network, Tispol. Findings also revealed that 16 countries had zero fatalities. The project aims to raise awareness of road safety issues and to draw attention to value of national and Europe-wide road safety targets.
    Read More
  • No sign of a decrease in motor fatalities says National Safety Council
    August 24, 2016
    Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate that motor vehicle deaths in the US were nine per cent higher through the first six months of 2016 than in 2015, and 18 per cent higher than two years ago at the six month mark. An estimated 19,100 people have been killed on US roads since January and 2.2 million were seriously injured. The total estimated cost of these deaths and injuries is US$205 billion. The upward trend began in late 2014 and shows no signs of decreasing. Last winter, t
    Read More
  • ITE applauds release of NTSB recommendations on speed-related crashes
    August 16, 2017
    The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has applauded the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for the release of recommendations aimed at reducing speed and speeding-related deaths and injuries on US roads. According to the NTSB, more than 112,000 people died in speeding-related crashes in the United States from 2005 to 2014, averaging more than 10,000 deaths annually. This is on par with the number of drink-driving fatalities during the same period, the NTSB reported, yet receives far less
    Read More

Highlighted Content