We humans are innately creative. Surely we can come up with innovative ways to prevent permanent devastation from vehicle violence. Here’s a perspective which embraces that idea:
“If you know what tactical urbanism is, tactical transit is the same principle applied to transit. So it means something like this: Don’t just fight for giant infrastructure projects that take many years to fund, approve, and complete. Try things now, with what you have, in ways that (a) make a measurable improvement and/or (b) inspire people to see what’s possible. And often: Use temporary materials, as appropriate, to present things as experiments, so people can experience them before passing judgment on them. “
Read more here: Tactical Transit: A Fast Path to Transit Infrastructure
Here’s an example:
HOW TACTICAL TRANSIT COULD SHIFT TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
In Everett, Massachusetts, a pilot project recently transformed a parking lane in a heavily congested portion of Broadway/Route 99 into bus-only lane during rush hour. Requiring no engineering investment, the project merely relies on orange safety cones and temporary signage to demarcate the lane. Initial data indicates that commute times have been reduced anywhere from 4-8 minutes, and both bus riders and car commuters have embraced the project because it has improved traffic flow overall. According to City transportation planner Jay Monty, Everett has decided to extend the pilot indefinitely and is exploring ways to expand the route. Why Tactical Transit is the Next Big Thing
What would be some ways that this principle could be applied more specifically to preventing vehicle violence tragedies?
Wikipedia on Road Traffic Safety: Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, and passengers of on-road public transport (mainly buses and trams).
Best-practices in modern road safety strategy:
The basic strategy of a Safe System approach is to ensure that in the event of a crash, the impact energies remain below the threshold likely to produce either death or serious injury. This threshold will vary from crash scenario to crash scenario, depending upon the level of protection offered to the road users involved. For example, the chances of survival for an unprotected pedestrian hit by a vehicle diminish rapidly at speeds greater than 30 km/h, whereas for a properly restrained motor vehicle occupant the critical impact speed is 50 km/h (for side impact crashes) and 70 km/h (for head-on crashes).
— International Transport Forum, Towards Zero, Ambitious Road Safety Targets and the Safe System Approach, Executive Summary page 19 {International Transport Forum (2008). “Towards Zero, Ambitious Road Safety Targets and the Safe System Approach”. OECD. Retrieved 26 January 2012. It recognises that prevention efforts notwithstanding, road users will remain fallible and crashes will occur.[dead link]}
Tactical: adroit in planning or maneuvering to accomplish a purpose
