From Congress for the New Urbanism — The morbid and mortal toll of sprawl

A federal report revealed that US traffic deaths have risen 9 percent over the last year and have totaled 19,100 in the first six months of 2016. More than 2.2 million people have been seriously injured in that time. The economic cost is estimated annually at $410 billion, or 2.3 percent of gross domestic product. The human cost is harder to calculate. They are the most frequent reason for fatality of children 5 and up and young adults. Much of the blame has been placed, predictably, on distracted and drunk driving and rising vehicle miles traveled. The “elephant in the living room,” the factor that nobody wants to talk about, is sprawl and the infrastructure of sprawl. The roads built to support sprawl, designed to modern safety standards, are contributors to the majority of US traffic deaths and injuries. Read more: The morbid and mortal toll of sprawl | CNU

From @NewUrbanism — Roads built to support sprawl designed to modern standards are contributors to the majority... https://t.co/u9f9M0QWTc

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) August 29, 2016

From PBS NewsHour — Traffic deaths surged in 2015

Fatalities rose 7.7 percent to 35,200 in 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. That overall rate was significantly outpaced by non-motorist traffic deaths: Bicycle fatalities were up 13 percent; pedestrian deaths rose 10 percent, and motorcyclist deaths rose by 9 percent. Last year was the deadliest driving year since 2008, when 37,423 people were killed. It was also the year in which American drove 3.1 trillion miles, more than ever before. The fatality rate for 2015 increased to 1.12 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT), up from 1.08 deaths in 2014. Read more: PBS NewsHour on Twitter: "Traffic deaths surged in 2015, federal data shows https://t.co/Z458qPQ9by"

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From Better! Cities & Towns — A city street is a terrible thing to waste

To stop the killing of pedestrians we have to change the way we build our streets. Until we prioritize pedestrian safety over traffic flow, we will never get to zero deaths for pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, or their passengers. But the good news is that when we do make streets that are safe for pedestrians, traffic still flows—and it becomes easy to design streets where people can want to get out of their cars and walk, enjoying public life. Which, after all, is what city life is all about. Read more: A city street is a terrible thing to waste | Better! Cities & Towns Online