A suboptimal but creative solution I saw recently was neighbors working together to remove their backyard fences to create a large and safe play area for children in the suburbs.
I don’t know what the solution is but it is frightening how society at large just accepts the deaths and injuries. And in my neighborhood how people drive fast around blind corners knowing there is an elementary school 5 blocks away and kids everywhere on all manner of bike/board/walk.
This is something I would love to do, but still feels so impossible. I see some homes compromise and put gates in the fence. Where I am, I see probably 70%+ of homes with backyards using them as bathrooms for their dogs, and I imagine that many people would have a problem just with the basic social contract of who cleans dog poop.
Particularly due to COVID, I've begun to appreciate just how severely the suburban structure negatively impacts all aspects of our lives. You have HOAs that invest in common playgrounds, cities that have invested in parks, and virtually everyone reports extremely high satisfaction with these things. Yet my own feelings of isolation tells me that we need much much more. I'm at the point that I would seriously seek out and move to a place with a walk-able kid-friendly setup. But it just doesn't exist.
The rub is that they make driving less convenient, so it’s hard to get people to support them. But between making our streets safer for kids and making driving a little easier I will always choose safety.
We worked hard canvassing and educating and “only” got a 52% turnout and a 100% yes vote for traffic calming. So the vote failed.
I wrote a 10 page report on all of the ballot design failings, administrative issues, equity issues, etc and they are reforming the program and introducing digital ballots. Still working on that 67% requirement though (a recent 9 figure school bond passed with a 37% turnout).
As someone involved in election systems to some degree it was eye opening seeing something so poorly designed and executed.
That said traffic calming isn’t necessary if the roads are designed to prioritize pedestrians from the beginning. It is a patch to a bad design- or at least a design that prioritizes the wrong thing.
This assumes that maniacs and teenagers won't work their ass off to make those traffic calming methods ineffective.
My neighborhood has regular speedbumps, curvy roads, and a speed limit of 25mph. The local crazies accelerate to 50+mph right after they drive over the speed bump.
Beyond that, yes, even with traffic calming some people will be reckless. That’s when enforcement comes into play, but it only works effectively on neighborhood streets in concert with traffic calming. (Otherwise you’ll waste your resources and make people mad because everyone will be speeding!)
Yes! This is my issue as well. Drivers on residential streets have gotten so much worse since I was a kid in the '80/90s.
I read a really great book about this recently -- no vested interest beyond just really liking it. Check it here [1]
And in suburbs across the US, it is very normal to have numerous arterial roads (40mph speed limit) cut through suburbs that are 4, 6, 7, and even 8 lanes wide.
How even a healthy, mobile adult is expected to cross these 60ft+ wide intersections without being scared, I do not know.
There will be 3 lanes going straight through, and a right turn lane and a left turn lane. And half the people will be in SUV/pickup trucks sitting so high they will not see you in front of them, and their giant A pillar will prevent them from seeing you on the side of them.
For me:
1> My kindergarten was adjacent to my subdivision. My Catholic elementary school was less that one mile away and very walkable. The public Jr. High and High Schools I went to were a bit over a mile. None of these required crossing busy four lane roads ("Stroads" in Strong Towns parlance). The one exception was my Pre-K that was more like 3 or 4 miles and would involve crossing a busy four lane road.
My kids went to private schools that all required getting on an interstate to get to. Even if they went to public school, the nearest build is 2.8 miles and involve walking along parts without sidewalks.
2> Growing up, I had a big public park adjacent to my subdivision (on the opposite side as the kindergarten) I had most of my soccer and baseball practices there and I walked to them.
Similar parks would be 3-5 miles drive across very busy four lane highways where I live now.
3> Nearest grocery store was 1.2 miles from my childhood home.
Now, it is 4 miles up and across a very busy four lane highway.
Of course a lot of this is just where I happen to be buy my house as an adult and I was fortunate to grow up in a flatter part of town, but it would not be surprising that sprawl has increased the distances on average of these and other basic amenities.
I like the idea of not allowing highway vehicles near people. Park your interstate cruiser on the edge of town and then drive a golf cart to your house.
Bonus: driving a golf cart is fun and feels fast at low speeds.
Snark aside, the key point is that the statistics that you are worried are still increasing are still nonetheless Black Swan events on an individual scale. Their increase should absolutely be a concern at the political, urban planning, and public health levels, but it should never be a reason to discourage or forbid activities that in all regards are healthier and more formative as a person than their avoidance.
You’re right, of course - I would much rather my kid have the same feeling of independence that I did than be stuck at home or tethered to their parents. I’ve just moved to one of the only remaining reasonably walkable/bikeable suburbs in my area for that reason. Doesn’t mean it won’t still be hard though given the rising risks.
(I’ve also been trying to get involved in safe streets advocacy lately for the same reason. Who knows if that’ll ever have an impact but I have to try.)