🚴♀️Bicyclists and Pedestrians Killed by Vehicles
Goal A: Getting Around the Region
34 fatalities in 2019, 9.6% increase since 2010, 10.5% decrease since 2018
A healthier, greener, and less-congested region can only be achieved if we increase the number of trips made by walking and biking. However, the safety risks associated with walking and biking in auto-dominated environments are a major deterrent to mode shift; and the pedestrian and bicyclist deaths caused by autos are both unacceptable and avoidable. MetroCommon embraces Vision Zero, a concept that seeks to eliminate pedestrian and bicyclist deaths entirely so that all residents feel comfortable biking or walking to get around.
The region has a long way to go before we achieve Vision Zero. In 2019, a total of 34 bicyclists and pedestrians were killed in crashes involving motor vehicles in the MAPC region (83 in Massachusetts). This figure decreased in 2020, when the region saw a total of 32 bicyclists and pedestrians killed in motor vehicle crashes (68 in Massachusetts). The 2020 figures may be artificially low due to COVID-related reductions in travel. They are also still provisional, as they include open cases which MassDOT will close and finalize over time.
About 60% of these deaths resulted from crashes with passenger vehicles, but over the last several years light trucks have surpassed sales of passenger vehicles nationally (light trucks are defined as trucks or truck-based vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) up to 8,500 lbs.)[1],[2],[3] These vehicles pose particular risk to bicyclists and pedestrians, due to poor sightlines, higher bumpers, and more horsepower, making them demonstrably deadlier than passenger cars in the case of a vehicle/pedestrian collision.[4]
Reducing bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities to zero will require bold action from city, town, and state decision makers. Municipal and state budgets must prioritize capital funding for extensive, connected, and safe bike and pedestrian infrastructure completely separated from traffic; traffic calming and speed reduction interventions; and robust bike and pedestrian planning efforts that include bike and pedestrian advocates, community leaders, residents, and local businesses to ensure infrastructure priorities are aligned with community need.
MetroCommon goals: Traveling around Metro Boston is safe, affordable, convenient, and enjoyable
MetroCommon Recommendations: Convenient Transportation Connecting the Region, actions 3.1, 3.2, and 4.1
Footnotes:
1. https://www.transportpolicy.net/standard/us-vehicle-definitions/
3. Light truck sales and leases out-perform passenger cars: https://www.bts.gov/content/new-and-used-passenger-car-sales-and-leases-thousands-vehicles
4. https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/the-hidden-dangers-of-big-trucks/
Last updated