The League of American Bicyclists has put out a call to action in support of a Senate Bill that proposes increased funding for pedestrian and bicycle safety.
Pennsylvania is a typical state, in that approximately 12-14 percent of the serious injuries/fatalities on local roadways involve pedestrians or cyclists. Pennsylvania is also typical in that they spend less than 1 percent of their federally provided Highway Safety funding to address the safety needs of pedestrians and cyclists.
A request is being criculated by the League of American Bicyclists to encourage Senate support (in the form of co-sponsorship) of a Senate Bill that would require States to allocate a portion of their Highway Safety funding to non-motorized users of the roadway.
The details can be found below.
The link for contacting your elected representative is here:
http://cqrcengage.com/lab/app/write-a-letter?1&engagementId=32449
Please share this with your walking and biking friends, neighbors and co-workers. This is important.
Take Action: Toward Zero Deaths
Joy Covey helped catapult Amazon.com from a small company to a global powerhouse. But, earlier this year, on a bicycle ride in San Mateo County, Calif., she was struck by a delivery van and killed. She was 50 years old.
Joy is one of hundreds of men and women killed while bicycling or walking on our streets each year. This has to change -- and a one-sentence bill in Congress could do it.
Please contact your members of Congress today to ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 3494 / S. 1708, which requires the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) and state DOTs to account for and work to reduce bicyclist and pedestrian deaths.
Take Action Here
Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed that biking and walking fatalities have continued to increase – now representing 16.3 percent of all traffic deaths and a total of 5,469 people killed.
Last year, Congress mandated the US DOT to set performance goals, including safety goals. We believe that those goals should include a plan to make biking safer. However, the US DOT has refused to set a safety goal for non-motorized transportation.
Congress doesn't agree: Members of the House and Senate, from both sides of the aisle, have introduced identical bills specifically requiring US DOT to set a goal to reduce the deaths of those biking and walking.
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act states clearly that the lives of all roadway users are important -- and creates accountability toward ending needless deaths. It gives US DOT the flexibility to determine the best method to meet these safety measures, and calls on our leaders to reduce the number of people biking and walking who are killed or injured on our streets every year.
It’s time that we all stand together to say that the deaths of bicyclists and pedestrians deserve to be counted and prevented, too. Please help us build the momentum for this important legislation by contacting your members of Congress to ask them to co-sponsor these bipartisan bills.
Without it, people who bike and walk, like Joy, will remain in the blindspot of our transportation system.
Join this effort, and tell your lawmakers to vote for these straightforward, bi-partisan bills. Take action.
The League has also compiled a media packet for advocates to use in their local communities -- click here for more information:
http://bikeleague.org/content/support-bicycle-ped-safety-act
