Three people were hit by cars in Philly on Wednesday. Two died. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Unlike gun violence or opioid overdoses, solving traffic crashes in cities is not a complex social problem. Mayor Parker has the tools she needs to make it happen.
I’m a former Philadelphia transportation official and father who bikes my 3-year-old to preschool and walks with my 11-year-old to school. So it felt both personally devastating and professionally disturbing when, in a single day, drivers took the lives of a cyclist and one pedestrian, and left another pedestrian with life-threatening injuries.
On Wednesday, Christopher Cabrera, a 38-year-old man standing behind a parked car, was killed by a driver who jumped the curb in Kensington; a 26-year-old woman was critically injured crossing an East Germantown street; and a 30-year-old medical resident, Barbara Friedes, was killed by a driver while biking in the Spruce Street bike lane.
I wish I could say these kinds of deaths are unusual in Philadelphia. In just the first three months of 2024, 10 pedestrians were killed by drivers, accounting for more than 60% of all traffic fatalities over that period. On average, five school-age children are hit by drivers while walking each week. A map of the locations where 28 people riding bikes and 261 pedestrians have been killed by drivers since 2019 shows that there is no corner of the city that is safe.
I wish I could say these kinds of deaths are unusual in Philadelphia.
While most of these tragic and preventable deaths never received the coverage we have seen the last few days, the stories are no less poignant. Last year, Woodsen Jones, a 55-year-old man, was struck and killed while biking in a designated bike lane in Olney. His family said he was bringing breakfast home to his wife. Earlier this year, Toby Bryant, a 47-year-old father of three, was killed crossing the street on the way home from his East Mount Airy barbershop. The driver fled the scene.
Unlike gun violence or opioid overdoses, solving traffic crashes in cities is not a complex social problem. Dramatically reducing traffic crashes in cities is a matter of simple engineering and enforcement. In other cities — such as Montreal, New York, London, Hoboken, N.J., and Jersey City, N.J. — safer streets have been propelled by a clear set of values and political savvy that prioritizes the safety of people walking and biking.
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Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has both clear values and political savvy, uniquely positioning her to be the leader who gets the job done in creating a safer transportation landscape for all of Philadelphia.
In many ways, Mayor Parker has a good track record when it comes to road safety, and persuading fellow elected officials to do the right thing. This was evident in her leadership launching and expanding speed cameras across the city, which have led to dramatic safety improvements. Mayor Parker has retained a strong team in the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems that, with sufficient financial and political capital, could make a big difference.
Here are four ways Philadelphia could transform safety on our streets:
Repeal the 2012 law that made Philadelphia unique among American cities in requiring City Council approval for safety improvements, including bike lanes, to city streets. City Council approvals too often result in yearslong public processes, require councilmembers to make technical judgments they are not trained for, and always require street configuration changes to compete against pressing issues. All of this delays or derails safety.
Boost funding for Vision Zero, the city’s plan to eliminate traffic injury and death. Parker’s first proposed budget allocated only $1 million to the program, a drop from the $2.5 million set aside by former Mayor Jim Kenney. (City officials say this is not a “budget cut,” as they have tucked spending on safety measures into other budget lines, such as speed cushions by the Streets Department.)
Support the passage of “Jay Alerts” by the Pennsylvania legislature, which would require police to notify body shops about hit-and-run crashes that result in serious bodily injury or death, so they can look for vehicles that match the description.
Support the passage of HB 1283, which would allow for the installation of protected bike lanes on state roads. Protected bike lanes have documented safety and economic benefits for cities, and as it stands, Harrisburg blocks the way in bringing these benefits to Philadelphia.
When I learned Friedes was a pediatric oncologist early in her career, I couldn’t help but think how many lives would she have saved if she got to live her fullest life. I also think about Bryant, whose children have lost their father. And the wife of Jones, who was just waiting for him to return home so they could eat breakfast together.
I hope Mayor Parker will consider how many lives she could save by asserting her leadership in City Hall and Harrisburg and directing the engineers who report to her to bring order and safety to our streets.
Andrew Stober was the chief of staff of Mayor Michael Nutter’s Office of Transportation and Utilities.