A new organization and effort has been developed in Sacramento to encourage drivers to slow down, in order to protect walkers and bicyclists from the traffic violence of high speed traffic. You can read the organization intro and charter at Slow Down Sacramento, and sign up to join the effort.
This organization was created by Isaac Gonzalez, a community activist, in part due to the tragedy of a mother who was killed while waiting to pick up her child at Phoebe Hearst Elementary, the same school as his kids attend (KCRA: Husband of woman killed outside Sacramento school says changes to Folsom Boulevard would save lives for more info).
Gonzalez held a press conference yesterday (Tuesday, 2023-08-29) at Sacramento City Hall to kick off the organization. Isaac spoke at length about the need to improve driver behavior, following the speed limit and being respectful of other road users. He pointed out that though better infrastructure is the ultimate answer to traffic violence, that will be very expensive and very slow, but the solution we have available right now is for drivers to be more responsible. Press conference attendees included many local advocates, parents, and kids, as well as a number of city staff. Four council members attended, and city council members Eric Guerra, Lisa Kaplan, and Mai Vang spoke on the issues. City transportation planning staff also supports the effort.
I tend to be cynical about the prospect of improving driver behavior. Drivers become aggressive when they get behind the wheel, and infrastructure that prevents their recklessness and aggression is the long term answer. But in the meanwhile, for the many years it will take to create safer streets, drivers can act responsibly. If the Slow Down Sacramento effort saves even one life, it is worth it, but it has the potential to save more. I encourage you to follow the organization’s work. I think the fact that this is a citizen-led effort, rather than the safety theater of government agencies that blames victims more than perpetrators, increases the chances of success.
Getting Around Sacramento 
I saw Isaac’s posts about this on Reddit and was somewhat concerned about his responses to calls for a focus on infrastructure changes rather than “education”. He seems adamant that it’s less possible to pursue actual meaningful change here than it is to educate every individual driver that comes through the city. I really don’t understand how “education” or “awareness” is meaningfully effective at all in this situation. He seems to be an ambitious young man, but he is less interested in actual improvement and, in my opinion, more interested in efforts that look good without being at all effective or measurable. I hope this initiative shifts to focusing on actual infrastructure change soon.
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There is and will always be tension between the infrastructure fixes and human behavior fixes. There isn’t much evidence for the effectiveness of human behavior fixes. Nevertheless, I’m willing to support Slow Down Sacramento, and see if it has success. We need both. This is a ‘yes, and…’ situation. We have trillions of dollars invested in our transportation system, designed almost solely for motor vehicles and drivers, and it will take at least half that to fix it. Meanwhile, maybe we can get some people to slow down, and save lives.
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It’s a heartfelt goal that no one will disagree with or argue over, paired with a very visible intervention that is very difficult to measure the success of. Looks and feels like political fodder for a future campaign.
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Will Isaac’s new org be advocating around issues like speed limit reductions, etc or will that be more of his work on the City’s Active Transpo commish ?!? 😎
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My impression is that the effort is asking people to drive the posted speed limit, and not advocating for reduced speed limits. The Slow Down Sacramento charter at https://slowdownsacramento.org/our-charter/ provides some insight.
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Agreed, Dan. Isaac’s looming political career seems a likely backstory to this org, as evidenced by the presser turnout for an org w little actual content, but plenty of political weight in evidence. Eric’s successor, indeed… 🎪
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