Earlier this month, the Federal Highway Administration quietly removed a set of recommendations — including bike lanes and speed cameras — from a list of “Proven Safety Countermeasures” that have been vetted by agency staff and shown to improve road safety. These are highly effective, data-driven strategies or physical modifications implemented on roads and highways that provide safety for road users and help guide states and local governments toward roadway designs that reduce crashes and save lives.
Bike lanes, road diets and speed management unequivocally make roads safer and are some of the most effective infrastructure we have for solving the traffic death crisis in the U.S. By taking down these strategies, the Federal Highway Administration is effectively telling states and local governments that they no longer encourage states and local governments to invest in safety! No extent of erasure will change the physics that make speed management critical to safer streets. Removing them from the list of proven safety measures makes it harder for communities to find and implement proven safety solutions and lives will be lost as a result.
We need to call on Congress to ask USDOT why these recommendations were removed as official guidance. We deserve an explanation on why the administration is erasing protections for vulnerable road users.
“It’s not just changing the web page, but it’s really going to put lifesaving projects at risk,” said Josh Naramore, a policy expert at NACTO, the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
In taking down these strategies, the Federal Highway Administration is effectively telling states and local governments that they no longer encourage states and local governments to invest in safety! USDOT has also told Congress they want to prioritize motor vehicle travel over bicycle lanes.
USDOT needs to explain why it is putting politics ahead of safety.
Recently, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), ranking Democrat on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee released a statement asking for a briefing from the USDOT about why these safety measures are no longer encouraged, adding that “It’s not political to say bike lanes and speed cameras improve safety; it’s a statement of fact.”
We need your help in amplifying Rep. Larsen’s message. Please ask your member of Congress to join Rep. Larsen in asking for a briefing. We deserve an explanation on why the administration is erasing protections for vulnerable road users.
