Tag: Slow Down Sacramento

Strong Towns approach to roadway safety

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Strong Towns, an organization which provides leadership and thinking through five priority campaigns: End Highway Expansion, Transparent Local Accounting, Incremental Housing, Safe and Productive Streets, and End Parking Mandates and Subsidies. Safe and Productive Streets are the focus this week, with a podcast Prioritizing Safety in Street Design: A Conversation with Melany Alliston, posted today, and tomorrow, Beyond Blame Press Conference: How Cities Can Learn From Crashes To Create Safer Streets Today, and release of a report Beyond Blame: How Cities Can Learn from Crashes to Create Safer Streets Today.

Strong SacTown, the ‘local conversation’ or affiliate of Strong Towns is an active participant in the City of Sacramento Street Design Standards Update. Please join Strong SacTown. Slow Down Sacramento (Isaac Gonzalez) is also playing a major role in bringing awareness of roadways safety to the public, and his emails inform this post. Please join Slow Down Sacramento. Civic Thread and SABA, along with many other organizations, are providing both leadership and technical expertise on roadway safety. Please support them!

Strong Towns has offered the Crash Analysis Studio for two years now, with 19 studios. I have participated in several of these, and I think they are great, though only a part of the necessary response.

Traffic Safety Forum

Dan Allison1 Comment

Slow Down Sacramento has announced a Traffic Safety Forum for March 2, 2024. The forum is in association with the Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association.

A recent email from Isaac Gonzalez said:

“I invite you to join us at our first-ever Traffic Safety Forum on Saturday, March 2nd, at Tahoe Elementary. We’ll delve into how we arrived at this critical juncture and brainstorm community-specific solutions that are both practical and swiftly implementable. This forum isn’t just about discussion; it’s about empowering each of us to initiate the change we desperately need. This past week’s events have reinforced the urgency of our mission. In our shared pursuit of solutions, your insights and experiences are invaluable. Let’s come together to turn the tide on this crisis, starting with our own neighborhoods.”

The announcement flier is below. Note that the link doesn’t work at this time, but the QR code does, or use https://secure.qgiv.com/for/slowdownsacramento/event/slowdownsacramentotrafficsafetyforum/.

Traffic Safety Forum flier
Traffic Safety Forum flier

Slow Down Sacramento

Dan Allison6 Comments

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.

Slow Down Sacramento logo
Slow Down Sacramento logo

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.

Isaac Gonzalez speaking at Slow Down Sacramento press conference

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.