Transportation For America Help us send a message to Secretary LaHood and the USDOT

Help us send a message to Secretary LaHood and the USDOT

10 Nov 2009 | Posted by Steve Davis | 5 Comments | biking, complete streets, dangerous by design, featured, lahood, safety, walking

As our new Dangerous by Design report illustrates, pedestrian safety is a matter of life or death for thousands of Americans each year. With a loss of life equivalent to a jumbo jet going down roughly each month, it is a tragedy that simply does not get enough attention at any level of government. Tragic, because these are preventable deaths, largely on roads that are not safe for walking or biking.

As a follow-up on the release of the report, Transportation for America is working to arrange a meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, perhaps as soon as next week. At this meeting, we plan to deliver the message from our hundreds of partner organizations and thousands of supporters across the country that safer streets must be a priority!

Sign our petition today and help us send a strong message to the USDOT!

Secretary LaHood has already demonstrated a strong interest in safety with a distracted driving initiative and the creation of a new Safety Council, and we have praised his vocal commitment to livability in our towns and communities. Because the Department of Transportation holds the purse strings, if Secretary LaHood adds Complete Streets to his list of safety priorities, we can ensure that every road project facilitates safe travel for everyone — including vulnerable pedestrians.

So if you have not yet signed the petition, go and sign it now so we can take an enormous stack with names from across the country to Secretary LaHood soon. This is our chance to make a big impression and to let him and the DOT know how many of you care about making our streets safer for everyone.

If you have signed the petition already, be sure to post it to Twitter or Facebook with the links below, or tell a friend about it.

Post about this action on Twitter!

Post a link to your Facebook profile

5 Comments

Jessica Meaney
15 years ago

As a car free angeleno – please help us reprioritize our community investments. We all deserve communities that we can safely walk and bicycle in – for people of all ages and abilities. As someone who has been hit by a car as a pedestrian and way too many scary close calls as a cyclist – we need a change and to really rethink what defines quality of life. Thank you.
Michelle Marcus
15 years ago

It is time to start designing our public spaces for people, not just for people in cars.
Allen Bussell
15 years ago

I agree with ALL of the reasons these changes need to take place. The problem I see is that the federal govt. has little or no real authority to make changes in local communities on neighborhood streets. What is Sec. LaHood or the U.S. DOT going to do exactly? They control few of the streets where the majority of pedestrian access issues exist.

Again, changes need to be made to standards, but I do not think the Federal government has the authority to make those changes.
John McCann, MD
15 years ago

Dear Secretary LaHood,

My wife and I are strong supporters of the Complete Streets campaign for many reasons.

It is about time that we catch up with the many European countries that have streets that are far friendlier to both pedistrians as well as bicyclists.

Please support this movement.

John McCann, MD
Stefanie
15 years ago

Allen, while it’s true that the US DOT controls few roadways, they do control much of the purse. Approximately 40% of transportation $ spent nationally emanate from the US DOT and Federal Highway Administration. They can also take the lead in policy, as states may defer to federal guidance.