For me, one of the things that can make for good community are a variety of easy and safe ways to get around town, whether walking, cycling, busing, driving, or other.

Which is why it was a little concerning to see this recent study by the Governors Highway Safety Adminsitration referencing that ​pedestrian deaths are up in Maryland, opposite national average:

Maryland saw an 18% increase in pedestrian deaths in 2023 amid a 5% decrease nationwide, according to preliminary data from the Governors Highway Safety Association released in June.

We’ve probably all sensed this at some level in our daily comings and goings (I know I have). Some possible helps referenced?

The Maryland Department of Transportation, which includes MVA, implemented a new Complete Streets policy June 1 that requires all its divisions to follow planning and design principles that consider the safety, access and mobility of all users in projects in state rights of way involving more than one mode of transportation, starting next year.

And there’ll even be a demo the latter part of this year to see suggested ways of designing streets better:

The first visible signs of Maryland’s new Complete Streets policy are to be temporary demonstration projects in partnership with advocacy group Smart Growth America. Targeting intersections or corridors with histories of fatalities or crashes in Bel Air, Hagerstown and Howard County, they are to be completed by fall and removed by the end of the year.

I also use it as a reminder to myself to ​take things a little slower out there, avoid feeling in a rush, be patient on the roads, and be extra courteous to people moving about without the protection of a car around them.

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