New bill introduced in Congress to improve bicycle, pedestrian safety measurements

Streetsblog is covering a major bike/ped story out of Washington, DC, this week--a bipartisan group of congress members has introduced a bill to improve the reporting of bicycle and pedestrian injuries.

Congressman Blumenauer (center, back row) met with the Missouri delegation to the National Bike Summit on the Capitol Steps a few years ago. Also pictured: Missouri Congressmen Russ Carnahan and Lacy Clay.

That sounds like a really wonky thing to be working on.  But the Federal Highway Administration is measuring things, setting goals, and thus spending highway safety money on all other roadway safety issues.  So why not biking and walking, too?

League of American Bicyclists Executive Director Andy Clarke sums up the reasons for this new bill:

First, this is about much more than just statistics — every one of these fatal crashes robs a family, a community and our nation of a precious human life. The costs to society are huge, and these are usually very preventable crashes.

Second, bicycling and walking are healthy and enjoyable ways to get around that we should be doing everything possible to promote: we know that lack of safety is a major deterrent to people walking and riding more frequently, and we know exactly what we can do to improve traffic safety — not just for people riding bikes and walking but for everyone on our roads.

Establishing simple safety performance measures – holding ourselves accountable to eliminate these needless crashes – will prioritize roadway designs that are safe for all users, and encourage education and enforcement programs that rid our communities of the scourge of distracted driving, speeding, and drunk/drugged/drowsy driving. That’s good for everybody.