Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about safety

Active Trans and AAA Chicago Launch Joint Road Safety Campaign

By John Greenfield | Jun 13, 2014 | 24 Comments

It’s tempting to be cynical about the Active Transportation Alliance and AAA Chicago’s new “same rights, same responsibilities” campaign, promoting safe behavior by people on bikes and people in cars. After all, cyclists and drivers don’t really have the same rights yet. Despite the growing Complete Streets movement, our nation and our city’s transportation systems […]

How the Self-Driving Car Could Spell the End of Parking Craters

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 26, 2014 | No Comments

Here’s the rosy scenario of a future where cars drive themselves: Instead of owning cars, people will summon autonomous vehicles, hop in, and head to their destination. With fewer cars to be stored, parking lots and garages will give way to development, eventually bringing down the cost of housing in tight markets through increased supply. […]

FHWA Proposes to Let States Fail Their Own Safety Goals With Impunity

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 14, 2014 | No Comments

Secretary Anthony Foxx has made clear that safety — and specifically, safety for bicyclists and pedestrians — is a priority of his administration. If that’s true, his administration sure has a funny way of showing it. The Federal Highway Administration’s proposal on safety performance measures allows states to fail to meet half their own safety […]

Before We Build, We Should Review How a Project Will Affect Safety

By Jim Aloisi and Tanzeel Merchant | Feb 11, 2014 | No Comments

Jim Aloisi is a Boston-based lawyer, historian and transportation policymaker. He is a former Massachusetts state secretary of transportation. His most recent book is The Vidal Lecture. Tanzeel Merchant is a Toronto-based urban designer, architect, planner and writer. He writes for Forbes India. As cities across North American densify, innovate and refocus their priorities, there […]

Trucks and Cities Are Like Oil and Water. Is There a Solution?

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 9, 2014 | No Comments

About 350 pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are killed each year by large trucks in this country. Big freight trucks are incompatible with cities in many ways, bringing danger, pollution, noise, and traffic congestion. They park in bike lanes and have shockingly big blind spots, putting everyone around them at risk. And yet, most cities haven’t […]

Fight Street Crime With Speed Bumps and Crosswalks

By Tanya Snyder | Nov 25, 2013 | No Comments

In Gabe Klein’s exit interview with Chicago Mag, the outgoing transportation commissioner predicted that in the next few years, cities will be paying more attention to the correlation between lawbreaking by drivers and other kinds of crime. “I think it’s a broken windows effect,” Klein said. “If you get control of the traffic crime, I […]

Old Solutions: U.S. DOT’s Proposed Strategic Plan Falls Short

By Andy Clarke | Sep 6, 2013 | No Comments

Andy Clarke is the president of the League of American Bicyclists. This article originally appeared on the League’s blog. On Tuesday, August 27th the U.S. Department of Transportation released a draft strategic plan for public comment. The 94-page document lays out how the U.S. Department of Transportation proposes to manage our transportation system for the […]

A Note on the Personal Choices Facing Women Who Bike

By Michelle Stenzel | Mar 29, 2013 | 19 Comments

Editor’s note: After Michelle reported on the Women Bike Chicago Conference earlier this month, the Tiny Fix posted a critique of Cynthia Bell‘s advice to “not look too sexy” at a workshop on comfort, safety, and style. This is Michelle’s response. The Tiny Fix article begins: As part of a gang of female bikers, I should […]