5d ago

Lack of political will and poor coordination hamper LA goal to eliminate traffic deaths, audit finds

laist.com Lack of political will and poor coordination hamper LA goal to eliminate traffic deaths, audit finds

When Los Angeles established Vision Zero in 2015, the goal was to eliminate traffic deaths by this year. Instead, fatalities in L.A. grew faster than the national average.

In 2015, the city adopted Vision Zero, a policy framework from Sweden with the principle that no one should be killed in traffic. Then-Mayor Eric Garcetti set benchmarks for reducing traffic fatalities over a decade, culminating in the final goal of getting to zero traffic deaths by 2025.

The opposite has happened. Since the program’s adoption, traffic fatalities in L.A. have increased. In 2024, 303 people died in traffic fatalities in L.A., according to preliminary LAPD data reviewed by LAist.

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Extremist take: Every single accident involving a car and a pedestrian should be, with no investigation performed, declared the fault of the driver. This may sound insane, but even gun zealots understand "I was just shooting and someone walked in front of my barrel" isn't a valid defense and that's why they don't spray. If gun zealots understand responsibility when handling a killing machine, so can drivers. Specially because their killing machines are statistically more dangerous.
- The threshold to take away someone's license in the US should be a LOT lower as well.
  
  lol yes. So many times I've heard American drivers complain that they got a ticket when they were "only going 10 over the limit".
- The Netherlands more or less does this, so i'm not sure this take is that extremist.
  But the Netherlands also doesn't have nearly as much of a car culture, with infrastructure that favors alternatives like public transport, cycling and walking. And puts large emphasis on separating these different kinds of commuters from each other as much as possible.
  This is also why it's relatively safe cycle around routinely without any kind of protective gear. Something that most (especially overseas) tourists I meet think is wild.
- @stevedice @technocrit
  Not extremist at all. People have a right to walk or ride a bicycle without permission from the state. Walking or riding a bicycle poses little or no danger to others. Cars are known to be a deadly dangerous product and their use is not a right; it's a revocable privilege. A driver is intentionally using a dangerous product in public and if someone who is not using the same dangerous product is injured, the driver is 100% responsible. #FuckCars
- Interesting point, but there's also to consider that guns are completely optional to possess and use. On the other hand, depending on were you live, you are bound to drive a car to go to work and have a decent life.
  I think that this distinction is worth considering.
  
  It is definitely worth considering but Ford alone raked in almost 6 billion dollars in 2024. An itty bitty tax increase would be enough to get public transportation to a point where cars aren't a necessity.
  
  I absolutely agree

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