Councilmember Tammy Morales representing District 2 is calling for a public hearing on the status of the city’s Vision Zero funding in the wake of two more people struck and killed by drivers recently in Seattle.
Last Wednesday morning, a bicyclist was struck and killed by a driver in SoDo. May 6th, a pedestrian was struck and killed in West Seattle.
Councilmember Morales said there have been multiple other recent incidents where people were killed as she called for the council to fulfill its pedestrian and bike infrastructure funding commitments, and requested a Vision Zero briefing be held in the Transportation and Utilities Committee.
Another person was struck and killed by a car in SoDo last week. My deep condolences to their friends and family.
These pedestrian and biking deaths are unacceptable because they're completely avoidable. There is no excuse for not creating safer streets and sidewalks. None. pic.twitter.com/F9UtryZ3Fn
— Councilmember Tammy J. Morales (@CMTammyMorales) May 18, 2022
The council’s transportation committee is chaired by Northeast Seattle representative Alex Pedersen.
Last year, 31 people were killed in car crashes in the city, the Seattle Time reports, the most since 2006. 19 of those deaths were pedestrians, according to SDOT data reported by the Times.
According to the city, people walking and biking are involved in 7% of the traffic collisions in Seattle and account for 66% of the traffic fatalities. Seattle’s Vision Zero program was launched in 2015 with a goal to end serious injuries and fatalities citywide by 2030.
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Anyone know the details of these most recent pedestrian /biker deaths?
First, we need to rename/rebrand, “Bike Lanes,” to become more inclusive to Personal Electric Vehicles such as scooters, one wheels, and electric unicycles. This should increase utilization, thus demand, and the political will to spend big money on non-car infrastructure.
Second, continue to provide incentives — including more tax breaks for electric bicycles. Manual bicycles are the past/present, while electric bicycles are the future. At least with the E-Bike, you have the power to get out of nasty situations quickly. A lot of regular cyclists travel 8ish mph which is dangerously slow in mixed situations. 15-20 mph is the sweet spot.
Third, don’t be afraid of personal responsibility. I commute through the downtown core on a regular basis and the audacity of jaywalking pedestrians is way higher than pre-pandemic IMO. There are a dangerous amount of pedestrians who a) do not look when jaywalking and b) do not seem to care when they are caught in the middle and continue to walk slowly because they DNGAF.
Being a walker and driver I understand how hard it is to do both in the city. As a driver our streets couldn’t be more confusing if you tried. With mis-timed lights, buses that now stop in the lane rather than the side of the road, crossing parking and bike lines when making a turn and increased congestion it’s harder than ever to drive here. As a walker I see more and more speeding throughout the city and often on neighborhood side streets. I see cars not stopping for stop signs or yielding the right of way and at times I’ve seen cars run through lights purposely. All of these I attribute to a lack of police patrols which Councilmember Morales has had a hand in the reduction of those patrols. We learned in the past and it seems we’ll need to learn again, without repercussions people don’t always follow rules.
31 people died last year in car accidents! SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!
30 people died from work-related COVID last year. Meh.
Vision Zero needs to be repealed as COVID has shown just how much the representatives do not care about public health and safety. Vision Zero is just for show.