While listening to a lecture about alcoholism, a slide presenting the annual mortality rate by substances struck me when I saw just how many people die each year. Furthermore, I wanted to know how many people are injured or killed just by being pedestrians or bicyclists. While the injury rate was about 4% of the total (combined substance and pedestrian/bicyclist injuries) the investment for bicycle and pedestrian safety is only 0.2% of substance abuse prevention.
I would like to see bicycle and pedestrian safety investment increased to include programs and infrastructure build-out to match that of the current injury rate. Enormous amounts of investment were made available when the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in 1966. The same needs to be done in 2016 to build out proper infrastructure for people who are moving around today's cities and towns by walking or biking.
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