We mentioned this on Twitter when the issue came out back in July, but National Geographic had a nice one-page feature on Dangerous by Design, our study from 2009 ranking metro areas on their relative danger to those on foot and bike, focusing on Florida’s overall risk based on having 4 of the top 10 most dangerous metros. In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community, and it’s high time that more attention was paid to this preventable loss of life that we far too often ignore or simple believe to be inevitable.

A couple of years ago, we profiled Dr. Scott Crawford, a wheelchair user and resident of Jackson, Mississippi who has long fought for accessible buses with wheelchair lifts, curb ramps and better sidewalks. As Dr. Crawford’s story reminds us, there is still a lot of work to do, but he’s had a powerful legal tool in his fight to make streets and transit services equitable and accessible for all users: The Americans with Disabilities Act, which turned 20 years old just this week.

Do yourself a favor and check out this short video from PBS’ Blueprint America series that aired in just the last few days. The overall package is about “disappearmarks” — earmarks totaling millions in the last federal transportation bill that have never been allocated or spent, according to the Sunlight Foundation. But this from Atlanta focuses much more specifically on how unsafe, incomplete streets and outdated transportation planning has resulted in a major road in Atlanta (and countless others) where pedestrians take their lives into their own hands each and every day, just to get to work, school, or the closest bus stop.

We’re facing an epidemic of childhood obesity, and this could very well be a generation of children who live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents. A healthier transportation system for America’s kids requires change in federal policy. But change will remain out of our grasp without a sense of urgency from everyday people on the ground. So where’s the meeting point between policymakers in Washington and citizens in their neighborhoods?

Transportation for America was proud to co-author and circulate a letter thanking Secretary Ray LaHood for USDOT’s policy statement elevating walking and biking in national policy. Last Friday, several of us at T4 cycled with a handful of national partners to DOT Headquarters across town to thank the Secretary in person.

Hundreds of organizations from around the country joined together to thank U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood today for his leadership in making bicycling and walking safer and more accessible. Secretary LaHood accepted a thank you letter at DOT Headquarters from bicyclists representing America Bikes, Safe Routes to School National Partnership and Transportation for America and more than 200 national, state, regional and local organizations from every state in the nation.

Sec. LaHood issued a new directive yesterday that officially shows DOT’s support for improving safety for walking and bicycling — treating them as equal modes of transportation. Last fall we released a report chronicling the 76,000 preventable pedestrian deaths over the last 15 years on streets unsafe for walkers or bikers. Today, DOT made some progress on the issue.

Today, along with numerous other partners like Rails to Trails, League of American Bikers, America Bikes, and America Walks, we’re asking all of our supporters to make a phone call to your Representative to support this new bill — the Active Community Transportation Act. With the National Bike Summit in town this week, more than 700 advocates for safe walking and biking are visiting the offices of their congressional delegations today, asking them to sponsor this bill and letting them know about all the benefits of making it easier to safely get around on foot or on bike. We want to back them up and have all of our voices heard loud and clear in the halls of Congress today. So take just 2 minutes and call your Representative and ask them to co-sponsor this bill. It’s quick and easy.

In an hourlong show that was overwhelmingly informative, shocking and sobering, Oprah Winfrey focused her top-rated talk show on the epidemic of distracted driving and the injuries and fatalities that it causes each and every year. Secretary Ray LaHood for one, appreciated the focus on an issue that he’s spent his first year trying to elevate in our national consciousness.

Maybe some people just need a little visual aid to help grasp the devastating toll that our roads have on those who walk them everyday. 400 people are killed in America every single month, just crossing the street, walking from A to B, or riding their bike through town. That’s like two busloads of Americans being killed… every single week.