Call

Blog

Law
02

Blog

Philadelphia Takes Vision Zero Seriously

Joe Reports On Best Practices

Piscitello Law – Bike Law PA is pleased to share highlights from the third annual Vision Zero conference, held March 17 in West Philadelphia.  The event was hosted by Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition and opening remarks by the Executive Director Sarah Clark Stuart encouraged 250 participants to “listen, learn and be inspired….”  

Mayor James Kenney set the tone in his keynote address by affirming his Administration’s commitment to bring traffic-related crashes in Philadelphia from 100 per year to 0 per year by 2030. He went on to announce a pilot project to address some of the core issues underlying traffic crashes including speed and street infrastructure. The nine-month pilot set to begin in the Spring of 2018 will involve Market and JFK Boulevard, between 15th and 20th streets. The current four lanes of traffic will be reduced to three as one lane will become a protected and dedicated cycling lane. This pilot is a huge victory for pedestrians of all ages and cyclists throughout the city. Data gathered from this pilot will inform future Vision Zero initiatives in Philadelphia.

Later in the morning, Attorney Joseph Piscitello led a panel discussion on Best Practices of Vision Zero in the United States and Europe. Drawing from his own personal and professional experience as a cyclist and attorney, Joe discussed the need for greater education and awareness of vulnerable road users by members of the legal community, including law enforcement and attorneys. He shared a cyclist’s video showing a bike-car crash when a motorist turned right without using a blinker or checking for cyclists. Many audience members were visibly shocked to learn that the legal system found the cyclist to be 50% responsible for the crash.

Joe proceeded to present each of the five speakers on the panel who touched on the core principles and best practices of Vision Zero, including Engineering, Education, Evaluation and Equity. The panel included two city council members; Helen Gym from Philadelphia and Mary Chey from Washington, D.C. Seated in 2016, Philadelphia’s City Council member Gym leads a new initiative to revitalize public transit in Philadelphia, bringing a focus on racial equity. She discussed a visit to Copenhagen to study their multi-modal transportation systems and noted the comprehensive shift of focus present in that city; from car-centric to people-centric.

Council member Mary Chey of Washington D.C. shared that her city has plans to eliminate traffic crashes to zero by 2024, which is an even more aggressive city plan than Philadelphia. Chey has served on the Council since 2007 and is currently Chair of the Committee on Transportation & the Environment. She spoke to her city’s extensive use of cameras to reduce speeding. Indeed, D.C. has red-light cameras, speeding cameras and even stop-sign cameras.

William Armbruster representing the AARP spoke to the issues surrounding transportation and aging members of our communities. Bill discussed mobility challenges facing older adults when crossing a multi-lane road within the time limit of a traffic light. According to his organization, many older adults fear for their safety on the road which leads to more time spent indoors, in isolation instead of staying involved in their community.  

The critical issue of science-based evaluation of transit initiatives was the focus of Steven Suggitt’s presentation. Steven is an executive of Miovision, a Canadian-based analytics company. The firm designs multi-modal transportation solutions using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning video analytics. He made a compelling argument on the merits of using motion-sensors in video surveillance on streets to better understand both “Compliance” and “Near Misses.”  Compliance monitoring captures data related to how well and how often road users follow the rules of the road. For example, their analytics can quantify the percentage of drivers and cyclists who run a red light or fail to yield to pedestrians/cyclists. Their system can also be used to capture data related to the “Near Misses” so that city planners have data to quantify the number of averted crashes.

Joe introduced David Shephard as the final panelist for the morning session. For David, safe transportation is not just a public policy issue, but is deeply personal. David created “Families for Safer Streets” in New York city after losing his Fiancée Sonya Powell to a speeding driver in 2009.  He presented how cities and families can “Turn Grief into Action” which underlies the compassionate work of his organization; to support families impacted by unsafe roads and to advocate for change. As David’s presentation concluded, there was a palpable energy in the room; we were reminded of the tragic cost of unsafe streets and the urgency to make change NOW.

Read Joe’s previous piece on the history of Vision Zero here. 

***

Photo Caption: L-R: Bill Armbruster (AARP); Steven Suggitt (Miovision); Joe Piscitello (Piscitello Law-Bike Law PA); Council member Mary Chey; Council member Helen Gym; David Shephard (Families for Safer Streets NYC).

 

Comments

Ann Groninger Jan 04, 2024

Many of our cycling clients find themselves having to interact with the criminal justice system. Typically, it’s because the driver who hits them (or their family member) is charged with a crime or traffic offense. Occasionally bicyclists themselves are charged with traffic offenses! Every state’s criminal laws are different, but there is a lot of […]

Read More
Bike Crash Road Defect Georgia
Peter Wilborn Jun 14, 2023

We recently shared the story of a trial victory from the State of Texas where a bicyclist was injured due to a defect in a road maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas Road Defect   We now can tell the story of another huge win in a road defect case, this time from […]

Read More
Road defect dangerous to cyclists
Charlie Thomas Mar 14, 2023

Recently, attorneys with the Bike Law network took a case to a trial against a titan of a defendant: the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT was represented by the Attorney General’s Office, one of Texas’ largest legal teams. We had a great client, but it was a tough case to prove. So tough, in fact, […]

Read More
bike path charlotte
Ann Groninger Jan 13, 2023

  2023 got off to a rough start for Charlotte, North Carolina, particularly in the context of road safety. Within about a week, we lost a young woman who was riding her bicycle, a pedestrian killed in the same area of town, and four people were killed in a car wreck on I-85 in the […]

Read More
North Carolina Bike Crash
Ann Groninger Dec 06, 2022

Unless you’re a very recent follower of ours, you’ve heard us talk before about “contributory negligence.” To recap: “pure contributory negligence” is the law in North Carolina and only 3 other states (Alabama, Virginia, Maryland). In pure contributory negligence states, if a person is injured by someone else’s fault and the injured person contributes even […]

Read More
Is It Illegal to Ride Your Bike on the Sidewalk bikelaw
Peter Wilborn Aug 01, 2022

The laws dictating whether you can ride your bike on the sidewalk differ depending where you live. Different states have different laws on this matter, and local ordinances also vary. Let’s take a look at the legal framework behind various state laws related to cycling on sidewalks. The laws of sidewalk-riding can be very complicated […]

Read More
Ebike crash
Bruce Hagen Apr 26, 2022

DRIVER ON METH KILLS 17 YEAR OLD BICYCLIST, BARROW COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY REFUSES TO CHARGE DRIVER WITH FELONY.   On August 23, 2020, at approximately 8:40pm, 17-year old Obianuju Osuegbu was on her way home from her summer job working at a grocery store. She had earned enough money that summer to buy herself a […]

Read More
Stop as Yield
Brian Weiss Apr 25, 2022

Finally, “Stop As Yield” (the much sought after common sense traffic law for bicyclists) is coming to Colorado in 2022, likely July 1st.   Stop as Yield, aka the “Safety Stop” After the Governor Polis signs the law and the Safety Stop becomes effective, anyone who rides a bicycle or scooter on public roads will […]

Read More
Contributory Negligence
Ann Groninger Apr 25, 2022

It took losing at trial and a long appellate process, but it ended in a blow to contributory negligence in North Carolina. We just won an appeal on a bicycle crash case that happened in 2016 and came to us in 2018. The case went to trial during the spring of 2021. Our client was […]

Read More
Load More