Pedestrian fatalities within the U.S. have been rising steadily for greater than a decade, and a few teams are disproportionately impacted. For instance, individuals who establish as American Indian or Alaska Native are virtually 4 instances extra more likely to be killed whereas strolling than the common American.

Analysis reveals that car pace is the crucial issue.  When a pedestrian is hit by a automobile at 20 mph, the fatality danger is just 5%, however this rises to 85% for a car touring at 40 mph. And this downside is compounded by highway designs that encourage extreme speeds, particularly in tribal communities the place tens of millions of Native folks reside.

To know and begin addressing this tragedy, America Walks is internet hosting an ongoing sequence of Coverage Spherical Tables on Tribal Pedestrian Security, with funding assist from the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.  The next “downside assertion” was developed to outline the scope of the dialogue.

Tribal communities are sometimes bisected by County, State, or Interstate highways with high-speed site visitors, which create security, well being, and quality-of-life issues for residents.

The primary Coverage Spherical Desk was held just about in December 2022.  Greater than forty tribal leaders, planners, engineers, public well being professionals, state and federal DOT officers, researchers, and security advocates participated.

The group mentioned the varied methods through which communities are harmed:

• Residents are killed or injured whereas strolling or biking.
• Quick journeys that contain crossing the freeway are accomplished by driving.
• Dad and mom don’t permit their kids to play outdoors with out supervision.
• Entry to restricted bodily exercise causes/exacerbates power illness circumstances.
• Noise and air air pollution negatively affect psychological and bodily well being.
• Vacationers go by means of the neighborhood with none cultural alternate.
• All of those circumstances create stress and cut back high quality of life.

And recognized a number of potential methods:

• Cut back car speeds to twenty miles per hour inside communities.
• Create a site visitors calming “gateway” on the location the place autos enter neighborhood.
• Use slender lanes, visible friction, terminating vistas, creative and cultural designs, informational indicators, and so on. to encourage/compel drivers to decelerate.
• At a number of places inside a neighborhood, set up landscaped medians, pedestrian crossings with bulb-outs and/or central islands, and intersections with STOP indicators.
• Check site visitors calming designs by creating and evaluating short-term “pop-up” tasks.
• Incorporate all options right into a Tribal Pedestrian Security Motion Plan (TPSAP).
• Discover Reconnecting Communities and different funding alternatives.

Learn the entire Ultimate Report and Suggestions for Subsequent Steps following the preliminary Coverage Spherical Desk on Tribal Pedestrian Security

A second Coverage Spherical Desk on Tribal Pedestrian Security was held in September 2023 on the Nationwide Transportation in Indian Nation Convention in Anchorage.  Throughout this dialogue, particular plans to develop coaching classes and steering paperwork, and conduct a “pop-up” gateway or roundabout mannequin set up mission have been superior.

Keep tuned for extra updates!