Road Safety

Reducing Driving Speeds Requires More Than Lowering Posted Speed Limits
Without additional changes to roadway design, lower speed limits only slightly reduce driving speeds.

Study: Bike Lanes Improve Road Safety
Bike lanes delineated with bollards or traffic cones are most likely to slow drivers and reduce crashes between cars and bikes.

Olympia Draft Transportation Plan Zeroes in on Complete Streets, Bike Infrastructure
The city’s comprehensive plan update could signal a shift in transportation planning priorities to a more comprehensive approach that ensures safer roads for all users.

Philly Council Wants to Crack Down on Bike Lane Parking
The city council passed a bill that would raise penalties and eliminate a grace period for drivers who stop in bike lanes.

NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Tesla’s Autonomous System
The agency will probe the “Full Self-Driving” system in the wake of crashes that include a pedestrian death.

Over and Over, Studies Show Bike Lanes Don’t Cause Congestion
Bike infrastructure tends to make vehicle travel faster, improve road safety, and bring more revenue to local businesses.

Chicago Could Join Other Cities in Lowering Speed Limits
Lowering speed limits by just 10 miles per hour can have a major impact on traffic safety.

Banning Right Turns on Red: Lessons From Atlanta
How road safety activists passed a law that could make roads much safer.

California Transportation Commission Reluctant to Incorporate Complete Streets Guidelines
The agency plans to update its road design guidelines by the end of the year — before a new law that prioritizes pedestrian and cyclist safety takes effect.

DC’s Traffic Cameras Are Working, but Not a Panacea
Automated enforcement is reducing speeding, but bigger changes to street design and the built environment are needed to make the District’s streets safer and more pleasant for people walking.

Milwaukee Road Safety Efforts Paying Off
The city is seeing fewer speeding violations after installing traffic calming measures and boosting enforcement to limit reckless driving.

US Street Design Manual Inches Toward Safer Roads
The guiding document for U.S. road design is starting to recognize the needs of people walking and biking, but safe streets advocates say more significant changes are needed to reduce the high number of pedestrian deaths and improve connectivity for all road users.

How “Walking Audits” Can Improve Neighborhood Mobility
A simple walk through your community can reveal infrastructure gaps and highlight where cities can make streets safer for pedestrians.

‘Modular Roundabouts’ Offer Quick-Build Traffic Safety Solution
The prefabricated roundabouts can be installed more quickly and at a much lower cost than traditional concrete traffic circles.

California Governor Vetoes Autonomous Truck Ban, Approves New Guidelines for AVs
A new law will allow police to issue citations to self-driving car operators and create stricter guidelines for crashes and interactions with first responders.

Banning Right Turns on Red Just One Step Toward Vision Zero
Experts caution that blanket bans on right turns on red make only a slight contribution to reducing fatal crashes, and other interventions are needed to bring down traffic fatalities.

California Governor Signs Complete Streets Bill Into Law
The state’s transportation agency will be required to prioritize multimodal transportation infrastructure and improve transparency.

IIHS: Drivers Using ‘Autonomous’ Features More Likely to Be Distracted
Despite warnings that drivers should remain attentive, people behind the wheel of cars equipped with ‘autonomous’ assistance often take their eyes off the road.

Sacramento’s Traffic Safety Crisis Could Be Declared a Public Emergency
Street safety advocates are calling for a stronger declaration that would focus on road design and equity.

St. Louis Zeroing in on Safe Streets
The city is creating its first Department of Transportation and using hundreds of millions in federal funding to launch road safety projects.
Pagination
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research