One of the many reasons that Summit was recognized as a Great American Street by the American Planning Association, was its park-like quality. On a daily basis, hundreds if not thousands of walkers, runners, bladers and bicyclists make their way up and down Summit Avenue.
Most days this is pleasant journey for all involved; Summit is shared by people in cars and people not in cars. On rare occasions, however, this is not the case. Two weeks ago a woman riding her bicycle was killed by an SUV that failed to observe a stop sign. It was a tragic accident. We extend our condolences to the friends and family of Virginia Heuer.
Article from the Pioneer Press:
Working toward more life — and less death — on city streets
By Russ Stark
Article Last Updated: 10/16/2008 06:13:34 PM CDT
When it comes right down to it, why do we live in cities? For me and many constituents I have spoken to, a primary motivator is proximity — the ability to be able to walk or bicycle to places easily.
Two weeks ago, a St. Paul resident lost her life and a family lost a loved one when Virginia Heuer was killed in a crash while riding her bicycle down Summit Avenue. Earlier this year, a woman who lives on my block was crossing University Avenue on foot when she was struck and killed. It turned out the driver lived just down the street, but the driver and victim did not know one another.
Everyone agrees these deaths are tragic, but still it's disturbing how complacent we have become in accepting that traffic "accidents" are just a part of life, that people die all the time just trying to get from here to there. Something about the deaths being unintentional, and we just shrug our shoulders and express regret.
We have to reduce injuries and deaths of cyclists and pedestrians in St. Paul, and we can.
Driving a car is very deceptive. The more we do it, the more we feel comfortable doing it. The deceptive part is that the passenger compartment of a modern automobile makes us forget that we are operating 1-ton to 2-ton vehicles at relatively high speeds. In vehicle-vs.-vehicle crashes, seat belts and air bags have made drivers and passengers much safer than in years past. But in vehicle-vs.-pedestrian and vehicle-vs.-bicycle crashes, the pedestrian and the cyclist are generally going to be hurt or even killed. In St. Paul in the past year, there have been 261 cyclists and pedestrians involved in crashes with automobiles.
As recent articles in this and other local papers have described, more and more people are bicycling. The cost of gas, growing concern about global climate change, improved facilities for bicycling — whatever the causes, the reality is more bikes on our streets.
More people riding bikes and walking benefits all of us, in the form of reduced traffic congestion, reduced air pollution, and reduced wear and tear on our streets. While there have been a number of cyclist deaths in the past couple of months, the experience nearly everywhere is that there is safety in numbers for both cyclists and pedestrians. The more of them there are, the more motorists look out for them, and the less likely crashes become. Each one of us has a stake in making it safer to bike and walk in our community.
We cannot solve the problem of pedestrian and bicycle deaths and injuries by pointing fingers at motorists. As the saying goes, we have met the enemy of safe streets, and that enemy is us. Most of us who walk and ride bikes also drive cars, and few of us follow or even know all the rules of the road. Many times as motorists, even if we are paying close attention and trying to be safe, the unpredictability of pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists can make it difficult to behave safely.
We can solve this problem by raising awareness about the rules of the road, by following those rules, and by using common sense. And this goes for everyone — motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists. And all of us, no matter by what mode we are traveling, can make a point of slowing down and paying more attention to everyone else. And yes, when we are motorists, we have a higher level of responsibility to ensure the safety of others because we are operating large machines that can easily cause harm to people.
My office partnered with St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health and many other community partners to kick off a pedestrian safety awareness campaign focused on North Snelling Avenue this week. The idea has been to educate pedestrians and motorists about their responsibilities and rights.
The St. Paul Police Department was assisting in this effort by stepping up enforcement of pedestrian safety laws. This is intended to be a pilot project that can and will be repeated in other parts of our great city. MnDOT and the Minnesota Department of Health are also engaged in the discussion with an eye toward more comprehensive statewide education.
To be a truly livable city, St. Paul needs to be a place where we feel safe walking, riding our bicycles and driving on our streets. If we're the problem, we can also be the solution.
Russ Stark represents Ward 4 on the St. Paul City Council. Send him e-mail at ward4@ci.stpaul.mn.us.
Also, he recommends the following Web sites for more information on the subjects addressed in this column: http://www.sharetheroadmn.org/ and http://www.bikewalktwincities.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment