Hartford Business.com
August 28, 2008
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To the Editor:
Your recent article on high-profile violent events and security issues in Hartford, “Hartford’s Black Eye” (6/16/08), neglected to mention what is by far the most serious threat to our public safety.
So-called “unintentional” traffic-related incidents, often caused by speeding, are much more likely to kill or seriously injure residents of our communities than high-profile hit-and-runs or random crime. Even though traffic-related injuries are a leading cause of death, we do almost nothing to prevent them. Although we have spent billions of dollars to eradicate the threats posed by pollution, our society seems to have no problem when common mistakes made on our public streets often result in death or serious injury.
Other countries have committed to reducing the number of traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 100 percent by 2020. Why do we, as a country, believe that it is ethical to accept 42,000 deaths (120 per day) and 350,000 serious hospitalizations per year caused by traffic? Many of these are preventable through a combination of road engineering, traffic calming measures, narrowed crosswalk distances, improved pedestrian visibility, education and public policy.
This is not just a safety issue. Studies have shown that walkable streets are critical to: 1) Encouraging residents to walk or bicycle more frequently, increasing worker productivity and helping to support neighborhood-based retail; 2) Attracting new businesses and employees; 3) Slightly reducing traffic speeds, which supports retail districts and; 4) Improving overall public health, the environment, and the sense of ownership people feel towards their neighborhoods and public spaces — even the number of friends they report having.
Walkable city centers will continue to flourish over the coming decades, whereas communities that use outdated policies and traffic-planning guidelines will continue to see struggling retail districts, eroding neighborhoods, and unacceptable numbers of traffic-related injuries. For the sake of our public safety and economic prosperity, it is time to design our neighborhood streets for people again.
I hope that the Hartford Business Journal will join with other Connecticut residents in promoting this cause.
Mark Abraham
New Haven, Conn.
Mark Abraham is a coordinator of the New Haven Safe Streets coalition.
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