Let’s face the truth: Safer streets are ours to create
The Chronicle has concluded its “Out of Control” series about Houston’s dangerous streets. The statistics are staggering — 697 deaths and 3,198 serious injuries in 2017. With a fiscal impact of $7.2 billion — more than 1 percent of the Houston area’s economy — it’s a “crash tax” that is surely over the national average of $784 per person.
More important is the real story: the personal pain and anguish.
Why are our streets so dangerous? Our road culture values speed and convenience over life and limb and accepts that “accidents will happen.”
Almost every time we take a trip, nothing bad happens. The odds of a fatality? One in 10 million. Naturally, we focus on the here and now, getting to our destination quickly and letting our attention drift to the radio or our phone. Almost every time, our trip is uneventful, and any discomfort comes from sitting at those pesky traffic signals.
The problem is the almost. When we do something enough times, it catches up with us and our loved ones. According to American Automobile Association (AAA) Foundation’s “Traffic Safety Culture” surveys, about one in three drivers report “having had a relative who was seriously injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash.” The most recent AAA survey found that just under 90 percent of respondents had engaged in a risky driving behavior in the last 30 days. Those behaviors matter. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that “human choices ... are linked to 94 percent of serious crashes.”
In 2018, the nine-county area reversed its trend in deaths, achieving an estimated 20 percent reduction attributed to awareness, enforcement in dangerous corridors, reduced rates of impaired driving and free tows off of Houston freeways. For the most part, these are changes in individual behavior.
Let’s face the truth: You and I are the ones responsible. The individual choices we make are by far the biggest single cause of the death, injury and economic loss we all share.
I’ve worked in the petroleum industry since 1980. In that time, I’ve been part of a cultural shift from “it is a dangerous business” to “everyone goes home safely.” Many organizations now recognize that safety adds value. Change in culture can happen. I’ve lived it.
So, when you and I dedicate ourselves to the idea that “no one gets hurt on my trip,” we’ll pay attention to the task at hand, slowing down when we see potential hazards and blind corners ahead, maintaining a “space cushion” around us, watching for pedestrians, pulling over and resting when we’re tired, along with the givens of wearing our safety belts and not driving impaired.
When you and I challenge the notion that “accidents will happen,” we will act to value life and limb over speed and convenience, and we’ll reduce fatalities. There are other places, such as Edmonton, Bogota and the entire nation of Ireland, that didn’t accept the status quo. They adopted strategies and tactics that have halved their carnage in the last 5 to 15 years. We’ve done it here in limited areas and time frames. North Eldridge Parkway from Interstate 10 to Clay Road saw 26 fatalities from 2003 to 2011. Since the installation of rumble strips, a traffic light and a speed reduction, there have been no fatalities. In the nine-county area, September 2018 saw fewer than 36 fatalities, compared with 45 in the best month of 2017.
When we as a community act to improve our road culture, we’ll elect officials who will engineer safer roads, provide effective enforcement to discourage unsafe driving and facilitate continuing education for you and me so we can get to our destination safely. As the “Out of Control” series showed, we are paying a heavy price, emotionally and economically, for our road culture. The odds are one in three that you will pay that emotional price. You already pay much of the “crash tax” in your insurance premiums.
You and I can do something about it. If our prime objective is “no one gets hurt on my trip,” and we act accordingly, we can all live better. This is within our control. We can do this.