PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 28, 2021
The number of pedestrians and cyclists hit by drivers is at its highest level in decades, and deaths from those collisions are rising even faster. Those statistics will both continue to head in the wrong direction as long as road designs fail to consider anything beyond car and truck traffic. Collisions between vehicles and pedestrians and/or cyclists are more likely to be fatal for the people outside the vehicle than they used to be, the result of the popularity of SUVs and trucks. The vehicles’ size cuts down on the driver’s field of vision, making it harder to see someone walking on the road, and their high bumpers and huge grills make them much more deadly. We need roads that make pedestrians and cyclists feel safe and welcome, and which show drivers that they aren’t the only ones with a right to be out there.