[sustran] ped/bike traffic safety (fwd)

Eric Bruun ebruun at rci.rutgers.edu
Fri May 5 05:28:52 JST 2000


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 13:59:11 +0000
From: John Pucher <pucher at email.rci.rutgers.edu>
Reply-To: pucher at rci.rutgers.edu
Subject: ped/bike traffic safety

Dear colleagues,

In case any of you are interested, here is the abstract of a 
brand-new article I just finished last month, which will be appearing 
in the SUMMER 2000 issue of TRANSPORTATION QUARTERLY,
Vol. 54, No. 3, summer 2000.  Topic is ped/bike safety in 
international comparison:  differences among USA, Germany and the 
Netherlands, trends and public policies.

If anyone is interested, I can send a PDF file with the pre-print 
version of the article, although it does not contain the ten photos 
that will appear in the actual TQ article in July 2000.  Just send an 
email to my address and I will reply with the PDF attachment.

Here's the cut-and-paste version of the abstract.  Feel free to share 
this abstract with your members, who are welcome to email me to 
request the preprint, PDF version.  Photos not included.  Can only
respond to email requests for the paper preprint. 

John Pucher

Forthcoming article in SUMMER 2000 TRANSPORTATION QTLY,
Vol. 54, No. 3:


TITLE: Making Walking and Cycling Safer:  Lessons from Europe

AUTHORS:  John Pucher and Lewis Dijkstra

PUBLICATION:  Transportation Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 3, 
            summer 2000 issue, forthcoming

ABSTRACT:

The neglect of pedestrian and bicycling safety in the United States
has made these modes dangerous ways of getting around.  Pedestrian
fatalities are 36 times higher than car occupant fatalities per km
traveled, and bicycling fatalities are 11 times higher than car
occupant fatalities per km.  Walking and bicycling can be made quite
safe, however, as clearly shown by the much lower fatality rates in
The Netherlands and Germany.  Pedestrian fatalities per billion km
walked are less than a tenth as high as in the United States, and
bicyclist fatalities per billion km cycled are only a fourth as high. 
The Netherlands and Germany have long recognized the importance of
pedestrian and bicyclist safety.  Over the past two decades, these
countries have undertaken a wide range of measures to improve safety:
better facilities for walking and bicycling; urban design sensitive to
the needs of non-motorists; traffic calming of residential
neighborhoods; restrictions on motor vehicle use in cities; rigorous
traffic education of both motorists and non-motorists; and strict
enforcement of traffic regulations protecting pedestrians and
bicyclists.  The United States could adopt many of the same measures
to improve pedestrian and bicycling safety here.  The necessary
technology and methods are already available, with decades of
successful experience in Europe.


Anyone interested in obtaining a preprint version as a PDF file 
should send an email to PUCHER at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU.

Otherwise, keep an eye out for the summer 2000 issue of TQ.
You will probably want to see that issue anyway, since it will
contain many photos not included in the PDF preprint version, and it 
will also benefit from better formatting.

John Pucher


***************************************
John Pucher
Department of Urban Planning
Rutgers University, Bloustein School
33 Livingston Avenue, Suite 302
New Brunswick, New Jersey   08901--1900
Fax:  732-932-2253
Phone:  732-932-3822, ext. 722
email: pucher at rci.rutgers.edu
***************************************




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