. decreed October to be the first ever “Pedestrian Safety Month.”
Yet NHTSA’s pedestrian-blaming “playbook” MASSIVELY misses the point & completely excludes people with disabilities. Let’s discuss, & then hear from you on how to improve it. trafficsafetymarketing.gov/sites/tsm.gov/
Conversation
Let’s start with ’s advice to drivers to follow the speed limit. Helpful, sure, but remember that so many roads are designed TO speed, and that speed limits are often far too high. (2)
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Look at this Florida road. Would driving at 35 mph—a speed deadly to pedestrians—be enough to create a safer environment for people walking? (3)
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.’s messaging for Walk to School Day doesn’t blame kids for getting struck and killed by drivers, but fails to mention that so many kids don’t have the privilege of basic sidewalk infrastructure near their homes.
Don’t worry NHTSA, we fixed your graphic for you. (4)
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And now the pedestrian-blaming begins! According to , distracted drivers and distracted pedestrians are equally dangerous.
Yes, the person walking and the person operating a 5,000 lb vehicle have equal responsibility to ensure road safety. Makes total sense. (5)
The pièce de résistance: At night, advises people to carry FLASHLIGHTS when walking. Not for cities and states to design better-lit, safer streets.
There is not a world in which reflective materials will protect you from huge pieces of metal hurtling towards you. (6)
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A “Pedestrian Safety Month” that doesn’t focus on street design does more harm than good.
Instead of spending their communications budget on calling for more personal responsibility, how would you have liked to see celebrate this month? (7)
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If you're as upset as we are that is wasting money on a campaign that does nothing for pedestrian safety, mark your calendars:
Next Thursday at 1:30pm ET we're hosting A ROAST OF NHTSA on Twitter Live! #RoastNHTSA
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