Good Intentions Can Sometimes Backfire: Immature Los Angeles and Safer New York

When the issue our society is dealing with concerns human life and safety, which is true about the “Vision Zero” project, it is vital that the actions undertaken to resolve a certain aspect of the problem do not backfire by leading to a loss of balance in another aspect. Traffic engineers must be able to reduce the amount of vehicle-related injuries and deaths without increasing the risk of deaths caused by other factors, which is often a very difficult task.

Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles Mayor, considers “Vision Zero” to be the most important investment in transportation, and that is why he encouraged the City Council to adopt the “Mobility Plan 2035.” The key idea of the project is to remove automobile lanes in order to make more room for bike (see Figure 1 below) and bus lanes (Galles, 2015). The plan is supposed to save lives by reducing speed-related and other risk factors; however, the truth is that, if implemented, the plan will cost lives instead. First of all, about 36% of intersections would be heavily congested during evening rush hours, which is an increase of 14% from the value predicted in absence of the plan (Ljungdahl, 2015). Drivers that are trapped in a gridlock would not be able to clear the way for emergency vehicles.

 

 

Time becomes extremely precious in cases of cardiac arrests, and even slight delays of less than a minute can decide a person’s position on the border between life and death. According to Mayo Clinic physician Roger White, even “one-minute decrease in the call-to-shock time increases the odds of survival by 57% (Galles, 2015).” Randal O’Toole, economist and expert in urban transportation, estimates that “for every pedestrian whose life might be saved by traffic calming, more than 30 people are likely to die due to delays in fire trucks and paramedics (Ljungdahl, 2015),” which is not a reasonable tradeoff at all.

The plan of Los Angeles City Council would be a perfect example of an unbalanced, premature decision. Even though the intentions were the best, the Council failed to assess the risks posed by the proposed actions, which is totally irresponsible.

In contrast to the unhelpful “traffic safety” act of Los Angeles, “Vision Zero” proves itself as an efficient shield that protects people against traffic deaths in New York. Special attention is paid to the safety of children, since more than 100 children under the age of 13 were killed in motor vehicle accidents between 2003 and 2012 (Worland, 2015). According to the NYC Department of Health report, these crashes are the leading cause of injury deaths among children; however, “Vision Zero” helped bring the number of traffic deaths down to a 100-year low in 2014, even though the program was in its infancy at the moment (Belin, 2015).

Among all the legislation and techniques implemented in New York to ensure traffic safety, the crucial aspect appears to be the reduction of the speed limit to 25 miles per hour. A car that hits a pedestrian at 30 miles per hour is twice as likely to cause death than a car hitting a person at 25 miles per hour. Furthermore, a car that hits a pedestrian at 30 miles per hour is 8 times more likely to cause a death than a car moving at 20 miles per hour (Tangel, 2014). Indeed, a five-mile per hour difference is in a way equivalent to the difference between life and death – this statement should be the message and motivation kept in the minds of angry and aggressive drivers.

 

 

The difficulty in this key component of the project is the fact that drivers will only abide by the speed limits if such behavior is enforced, and it requires more than available time and resources to fully enforce the law. The police department has to make sure no single driver violates the speed law, which many city-dwellers think isn’t likely. Therefore, the question is about what goes on in people’s minds rather than about punishment or enforcement. One of the tools that allows us to affect drivers’ attitudes and driving habits is the defensive driving course, which is a 6-hour lecture that explains in detail traffic crash problems, the human factors, man-machine-environment interaction, and informs about the traffic laws that most of New Yorkers don’t know about even after passing the road test.

 

 

Even though slowing the roads reduces people’s potential mobility, the bright side of the change reminds us that researchers have found links between lower speed limits and increased physical activity, which means a decrease in the rates of obesity and diabetes (Tangel, 2014). After all, we have to be focused on two factors regarding city traffic – health and safety: walking and increased physical activity have almost become the new American dream, and, of course, we have to take actions to make our streets more forgiving, especially for the younger, inattentive generation.

 

 

Works Cited (MLA Format)

 

Belin, Matts. “Vision Zero – a Road Safety Policy Innovation.” International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion 19.2 (2015): 171-79.

Galles, Gary M. “Los Angeles Business Journal.” Traffic Plan May Fuel Health Risks. LABJ, 30 Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.

Ljungdahl, Katarina. “Right in the Middle of Vision Zero’s Blind Spot.” Road & Transport Research Journal 6.1 (2015).

Tangel, Andrew. “New York’s New Speed Limit Means a Healthier City.” New Perspectives Journal 17.3 (2014).

Worland, Justin. “This Is the Leading Cause of Injury Death for Children in NYC.” Injury Prevention Journal 12.6 (2015): 414-16.