1w ago

Lack of political will and poor coordination hamper LA goal to eliminate traffic deaths, audit finds

In 2015, the city adopted Vision Zero, a policy framework from Sweden with the principle that no one should be killed in traffic. Then-Mayor Eric Garcetti set benchmarks for reducing traffic fatalities over a decade, culminating in the final goal of getting to zero traffic deaths by 2025.

The opposite has happened. Since the program’s adoption, traffic fatalities in L.A. have increased. In 2024, 303 people died in traffic fatalities in L.A., according to preliminary LAPD data reviewed by LAist.

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"Lack of political will" could be used to describe every shitty thing in the USA for the last god damned fifty years.
"Lack of political will" is why we have avoided trying to finalize whether or not a President is actually above the law since Nixon, and now it's biting us in the ass with full-on authoritarianism.
Lack of political will is why we have all these trucks and SUVs built to run over people instead of follow any sane safety standards.
Lack of political will is why Teslas are still on the road despite being deathtraps more dangerous than the fucking Ford Pinto.
Lack of political will is why we can't import small, cheap EVs from Europe.
Lack of political will is why we don't have good public transit or bullet trains crosscrossing the country.
- For real. It's really just a fancy way of saying "they don't wanna"

Extremist take: Every single accident involving a car and a pedestrian should be, with no investigation performed, declared the fault of the driver. This may sound insane, but even gun zealots understand "I was just shooting and someone walked in front of my barrel" isn't a valid defense and that's why they don't spray. If gun zealots understand responsibility when handling a killing machine, so can drivers. Specially because their killing machines are statistically more dangerous.
- The Netherlands more or less does this, so i'm not sure this take is that extremist.
  But the Netherlands also doesn't have nearly as much of a car culture, with infrastructure that favors alternatives like public transport, cycling and walking. And puts large emphasis on separating these different kinds of commuters from each other as much as possible.
  This is also why it's relatively safe cycle around routinely without any kind of protective gear. Something that most (especially overseas) tourists I meet think is wild.
- The threshold to take away someone's license in the US should be a LOT lower as well.
  
  lol yes. So many times I've heard American drivers complain that they got a ticket when they were "only going 10 over the limit".
- @stevedice @technocrit
  Not extremist at all. People have a right to walk or ride a bicycle without permission from the state. Walking or riding a bicycle poses little or no danger to others. Cars are known to be a deadly dangerous product and their use is not a right; it's a revocable privilege. A driver is intentionally using a dangerous product in public and if someone who is not using the same dangerous product is injured, the driver is 100% responsible. #FuckCars
- Interesting point, but there's also to consider that guns are completely optional to possess and use. On the other hand, depending on were you live, you are bound to drive a car to go to work and have a decent life.
  I think that this distinction is worth considering.
  
  It is definitely worth considering but Ford alone raked in almost 6 billion dollars in 2024. An itty bitty tax increase would be enough to get public transportation to a point where cars aren't a necessity.

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