1. Why aren’t states achieving results on safety? In the last five years, more than half of the people hit and killed while walking were struck on state-owned roads. Find out what’s causing this trend and how it can be addressed. Ask anyone at a state department of transportation, and they’ll tell you that safety is their top priority. Despite these good intentions, our streets keep getting more deadly. To reverse a decades-long trend of steadily increasing pedestrian deaths, state DOTs and federal leaders will need to fundamentally shift their approach away from speed.
2. Dangerous roads are no accident. The number of people who died while walking on our roads reached a 40-year high in 2022, highlighting the need to design for safety over speed. Learn more. Our roads have never been deadlier for people walking, biking, and rolling and the federal government and state DOTs are not doing enough. If we want to fix this, we have to acknowledge the fact that our roads are dangerous and finally make safety a real priority for road design, not just a sound bite.
3. Three ways quick builds advance safe streets. Quick-build demonstration projects combine cheap materials and temporary designs to meet safety needs faster. Learn more about how this strategy can benefit your community. It will take years to unwind decades of dangerous street designs that have helped contribute to a 40-year high in pedestrian deaths, but quick-build demonstration projects can make a concrete difference overnight. Every state, county, and city that wants to prioritize safety first should be deploying them.
4. Small towns need safe streets too. Safe streets aren’t just an urban issue. Watch this video to learn how they benefit rural communities. As we strive to create more inclusive and resilient communities, implementing Complete Streets in rural communities is a key step toward ensuring that everyone can live safely, affordably, and healthily. In our new video, created in partnership with AARP, we explain why a Complete Streets approach is needed—and can be made possible—in rural communities.
5. Understanding the danger. Smart Growth America’s Dangerous by Design report highlights the need to design for safety over speed. Read it here. Our nation’s streets are dangerous by design, designed primarily to move cars quickly at the expense of keeping everyone safe. Unfortunately, this crisis will continue to get worse until those in power finally make safety for everyone who uses our roads a top priority.
6. How our three principles can guide Complete Streets. Heidi Simon, Director of Thriving Communities, recently reflected on how Transportation for America’s three principles support a Complete Streets approach. Learn more. As the National Complete Streets Coalition works with communities to develop, adopt, and implement Complete Streets policies, we look to Transportation for America’s three key principles for guidance on what to prioritize and how to move to a brighter future in transportation.

Transportation for America is a program of Smart Growth America.

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