Even if Americans were to heed calls to park their cars and make their
journeys on foot, they are hindered in this healthy endeavor by “a
range of other public policies that make these activities inconvenient,
unpleasant and above all, unsafe,” according to a report in the
September issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
“Per kilometer traveled, [American] pedestrians were 23 times more
likely to get killed than car occupants in 2001, while bicyclists were
12 times more likely than car occupants to get killed,” say John
Pucher, Ph.D., of Rutgers University and Lewis Dijkstra, Ph.D., of the
European Commission.
But Americans can learn some safety lessons from the Germans and Dutch,
who have reduced their rates of pedestrian and cyclist deaths and injuries
during the last two decades, according to the researchers.
For instance, streets in Germany and the Netherlands have more car-free
zones, median islands, well-marked crosswalks, and bike paths and lanes
joined in a coordinated network lacking in American cities.
“Dutch and German bikeway systems serve practical destinations for
everyday travel, not just recreational attractions, as with most bike paths
in America,” Pucher says.
Reduced speed limits, along with speed bumps, deliberate dead ends and
truck bans are also part of efforts to “calm” traffic in
residential areas in the two countries. City center speed limits and
limited and expensive
parking help regulate traffic in more urban areas. Neighborhood design
also encourages safe walking and riding by clustering residential and
commercial building developments together.
Pucher and Dijkstra say that German and Dutch traffic laws are strictly
enforced as well, with motorists “almost always found to be at least
partly at fault” in accidents with pedestrian and cyclists, and
jaywalking and running a red light on a bike severely fined.
Extensive traffic education in the two countries may also be a factor
in their safer streets, according to the researchers, who say that all
children receive safe walking and biking training by age 10.
“They are taught not just the traffic regulations but how to walk
and bicycle defensively, to anticipate dangerous situations and to react
appropriately. That sort of safety education is completely lacking in the
United States,” Pucher says.
The researchers say that similar traffic policies could be introduced
in the United States, “promoting safer, more convenient and more
pleasant walking and cycling conditions.”
“Repeated waves of fad diets, rising memberships in health clubs,
exercise equipment in more homes, diet pills and liposuction have all been
total failures in fighting the current obesity epidemic. Why not try integrating
walking and cycling into the daily travel routines of Americans?” Pucher
says.
The study was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
