Do we need a D.A.R.E. program to reduce pedestrian and car driver deaths? Press Herald articles this month on road user fatality statistics highlight car crashes as a grim source of injury and death for Mainers. Thousands of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers (and their passengers) are injured and killed every year on Maine roads. And while last year was marginally less deadly for drivers, it remained “stubbornly” deadly for people who were just trying to cross the street.

The solution to road violence is not to scold drivers or walkers or run another public service campaign to discourage bad driving behaviors. We know these sorts of behavior-based campaigns, like D.A.R.E. in the 1990s (which focused on preventing youth drug use via scare tactics and cringe-worthy adverts), are doomed to have little to no impact on their intended audience or the underlying systemic issues.

Rather, the solution to saving Mainers from the epidemic of car crashes is to build safer roads. More sidewalks, narrower streets, raised crosswalks, protected bike lanes and roundabouts. Drivers in heavily populated areas must be forced by the road infrastructure to drive more slowly and more safely. When residential roads are designed to allow high car speeds – and the needs of walkers and cyclists are deprioritized – crash-related tragedies and “stubborn” pedestrian death statistics are inevitable.

Ned Melanson
Portland

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