Safety
Streetsblog LA
Planetizen Talks to UCLA Professor About Women’s Safety on Buses
Thanks to an excellent submission by Enci Box last year, we've had a couple of great discussions on women's safety on the streets, both for cyclists and pedestrians. However, we haven't spent nearly as much energy discussing safety for bus riders, especially women bus riders. Fortunately, Planetizen Editor Tim Halbur sat down to have an in-depth discussion of this issue with UCLA Professor Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris. You can read the full interview at Planetizen, and I strongly recommend it for anyone interested in this issue as both Halbur and Loukaitou-Sideris do a great job. For those without the time to read the full interview, here's an except.
February 11, 2010
ABC 7 Poses Backwards Poll Question While KPCC Takes a Second Try at Bike-Car Conflicts
As we mentioned last week, there is reason for concern about the way the traditional media is covering the "bike v car" controversy in the wake of the verdict in the trial of Dr. Christopher Thompson. Sometimes there is a soft bias, such as in the wording of the question in today's "Question of the Day" by KABC and sometimes it is more pronounced on radio shows or other two-way communications.
November 9, 2009
Update on “Eastside Safety Ride” Next Friday
One week from today the Eastside Bike Club, Streetsblog and the Bus Bench will meet at the Union Station Entrance to bike the six-mile Gold Line Extension to document what we see concerning crossings and safety. I've been getting a lot of questions about the ride, so I'm going to answer as many of them as I can here.
November 6, 2009
C.I.C.L.E. Wants You and Your Family to Ride Your Bikes
Sometimes when there's breaking news, such as dissolving light rail contracts, verdicts from trials, public hearings on major transit or bicycle plans, it's easy to lose sight that sometimes Livable Streets activism can be as simple as encouraging your children, or parents, to use their bikes, take transit or think of ways to move around without cars.
November 4, 2009
To Limit Distracted Driving, Congress Leans Toward a Carrot-Stick Combo
Partisanship is a fact of life in Washington, often slowing down progress on issues from health care to climate change.
But when it comes to preventing the use of electronic devices behind
the wheel, a congressional consensus is emerging in favor of federal
action -- even as the extent of GOP support for a punitive approach
remains decidedly unclear.
November 2, 2009
Will “Crash-Proof” Cars Make Drivers More Dangerous?
Via TreeHugger, Copenhagenize
reports that Volvo is in the final stages of testing technology to
improve safety for people outside its products -- a "pedestrian
detection" system available in S60 models next year:
October 28, 2009
Times Gives Metrolink’s Safety Record an In-Depth Critique
Last week, the Times took a close look at the Metrolink rail system to zero in on how the embattled agency is doing when it comes to improving safety for passengers and the drivers and pedestrians that cross the tracks. Their results? Over a year after a crash that killed 25 people when a freight train and a Metrolink train collided head-on, the agency still isn't making the grade.
October 1, 2009
Distracted Driving Laws Lack Teeth in Some States, Not CA
For a story today
on the political challenge of outlawing texting behind the wheel, the
Washington Post sent its reporter to a downtown intersection to track
whether drivers were obeying the city's ban on hand-held cell phones.
August 13, 2009
The Peculiar Federalism of Transit Safety: No National Standards Exist
The recent crash of two D.C. Metro trains has laid bare a glaring
lack of authority at the obscure local committee that is supposed to
ensure transit riders' safety, as the Washington Post reported today.
But the problem is bigger than the nation's capital: The Federal
Transit Administration (FTA) has not issued broad safety rules for rail
transit, leaving the issue in the hands of state oversight agencies.
August 10, 2009
McCain & Coburn: Let’s Make Roads Safer — by Slashing Safety Money
A report released today [PDF] by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), timed to coincide with debate on a $7 billion highway trust fund fix, accuses their fellow lawmakers of “raiding” the fund for transportation “pet projects.” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) (Photo: City-Data.com) What wasteful projects have drawn such scorn from the duo? … Continued
July 30, 2009