Thread by @RoadToZeroUS

We are now live with the #ZeroTrafficDeaths briefing. We will be live Tweeting the event from this account. If you still want to tune in: nsc.org/road/resources…

.@LorraineMMartin: "We are losing ground."

The US experienced a staggering 25% increase in the rate of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles driven last year. The highest increase in a century of records.

.@LorraineMMartin Together with leadership and action we can make it so no more families have to know this pain.

.@LorraineMMartin we can take inspiration in our #ZeroTrafficDeaths campaign from other industries.

During the last several decades, aviation fatalities, for eg, have decreased 95%.

We have to say no more to preventable death and injury. We have a similar very grand opportunities on our roadways.

Inaction on creating safer roadways is a bill we cannot continue to pay. The economic impact of unsafe roadways is enormous.

Traffic crashes cost an estimated $463 billion just in 2019. A huge economic cost that is often overlooked.

Next up Houston Mayor @SylvesterTurner

Houston has historically be known as a car city but like all great cities, Houston is evolving. We are committed to prioritizing people over cars.

We know wider roads with faster speeds will not solve our congestion problems.

Houston has more than 200 deaths and 1,000 serious injuries a year.

"We cannot encourage people to use other modes of transportation if our streets don't accommodate everyone.

That's why we're committed to our vision zero action plan."

People in Houston say speeding is their top traffic safety concerns. And completing a network of sidewalks and crosswalks is their top priority.

How can this be done in Houston?

@SylvesterTurner We will start with our most dangerous roads and intersections and our most vulnerable communities.

50% of traffic crashes occur on just 6% of streets. The most dangerous streets effect predominately low income people and people of color.

@SylvesterTurner I grew up in and still live in one of these communities.

"No loss of life is acceptable on our city streets and highways" Houston Mayor @SylvesterTurner 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Next up @leahbike at @Visionzeronet

There are cities as big as Houston and LA that have committed to vision zero but also smaller cities like Macon, Georgia and Ithaca, New York.

"We believe #zerotrafficdeaths is not only the right goal, the ethical goal but also an achievable goal." @leahbike

'Traffic deaths in the U.S. are equivalent to a mid-sized plane crashing and killing everyone on board every single day." @leahbike

We've become complacent.

"Rarely do we hear about traffic safety as a public health epidemic even those its one of the leading killers. We want to change that." @leahbike of @Visionzeronet

"Older adults are 60% more likely to be killed while drivers while walking. If we're not building a system that is safe for our youth or seniors, we've got to do better." @leahbike

"We get the results we design for. Over the last few generations, we have really designed for speed rather than safety." @leahbike

"We have a historic opportunity not only to #BuildBackBetter but to build back safer. And we really believe these two things go hand in hand." @leahbike

Here is how we can reduce traffic deaths 75% right now, says @leahbike from auto safety tech, to safer streets and better emergency response + alternatives to driving.

.@amylcohen of @Fam4SafeStreets other of Sammy Cohen, killed at 12 yo by a driver.

It's people like me who pay the highest price for the federal government's failure to act on traffic safety. In his memory I fight to prevent others from suffering.

"Ending this crisis requires political will. It requires us to fight back to make change happen." @amylcohen of @Fam4SafeStreets

"We need @potus to direct his administration to lead the way from complacency to action." @amylcohen

"Transportation is a social determinant of health."

"We have to pull back the layers and not just ask questions about unsafe road design but how these neighborhoods can to be located where they are located and who benefitted."

Jamila Porter of @BigCitiesHealth

These are the sides of town that have been maligned and red lined. Traffic fatalities occur disproportionately in these areas.

The system isn't broken it is working the way it was designed to work.

"They've never been included and they've never been prioritized" Jamila Porter

By looking at the individual and not at the system we are letting the system designers off the hook.

Enforcement efforts will never fix deeply rooted community issues.

-Jamila Porter @BigCitiesHealth

.@POTUS new infrastructure plan + the reckoning on racial justice that's happening right now make Jamila Porter of @BigCitiesHealth hopeful, she says.

Join out call to action! Sign our letter for #ZeroTrafficDeaths. Share on your own networks. Let your congressperson know you support #ZeroTrafficDeaths zerotrafficdeaths.org