Tag: reduce fatalities and injuries

Front Page of the Globe – “How Dangerous, No One Knows” highlights gaps in Boston crash data

Front Page of the Globe – “How Dangerous, No One Knows” highlights gaps in Boston crash data

This article was featured on the front page of the Boston Globe, Tuesday, 8/19/2014 – click here for the full story 

By not reporting crashes to the state, [Boston] may have missed out on grants and programs such as an innovative MassDOT effort to improve enforcement, awareness, and infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Announced in April, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Awareness and Enforcement Program will share about a half-million dollars to help 12 communities around the state pay for stepped-up enforcement and awareness campaigns such as training for the public and police.

Landman and WalkBoston have been participating in walking audits in high-crash areas like Fall River and Chelsea. That information, along with feedback from the program’s enforcement component, will help to identify hazards, with the state helping to make infrastructure improvements in the future.

“Understanding what’s going on is important before you come up with solutions,” Landman said. 

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MassDOT Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program

MassDOT Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program

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With MassDOT and the Massachusetts Dept of Public Health (DPH), WalkBoston and MassBike are helping develop and implement pedestrian and bicycle safety strategies aimed at achieving the state’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) goal of reducing fatalities and injuries among bicyclists and pedestrians by 20% in the next 5 years. 

The three major components of the strategy are:
1.     Enforcement
2.     Education/Awareness
3.     Preparation of communities for infrastructure improvements 

The pilot program is focused on 12 communities which were selected based on high rates of non-motorist crashes, high rates of walking and biking activity, and participation in the DPH Mass in Motion program (8 of the 12 communities selected are Mass in Motion communities).

The community-based efforts to increase walking and biking in Mass in Motion communities provides an excellent platform to support increased pedestrian and bicycle safety strategies, and then make effective infrastructure investments to make the built environment safer for those trips.

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