Traffic deaths are the leading cause of death of youth in the U.S. This preventable epidemic disproportionately affects people walking and biking, seniors, communities of color, and low-income communities.
Over 44,000 people were killed in vehicle crashes in 2022. Millions more suffer life-altering injuries that destroy careers, strain income, and alter family relationships. These staggering numbers represent a dramatic increase over pre-pandemic numbers. Our roads are more dangerous than they’ve been in nearly two decades. The numbers keep rising.
Photo: Alix Fernandez
115 people are killed each year, on average, while walking, biking, or scooting in Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton counties. Black and brown Atlantans are disproportionately at risk because high-speed, high traffic roads are concentrated in neighborhoods that are home to predominantly Black and immigrant residents. As housing costs rise, people are being displaced into parts of the region that have access to transit but are even less safe for people walking, waiting for the bus, or using wheelchairs, bikes, and scooters.
World Day of Remembrance honors those affected by road traffic crashes, providing a space for reflection, remembrance, and advocacy for safer streets.
We all have the right to get to our destination safely. We have the tools and know-how to prevent most traffic deaths and severe injuries. We *can* save lives by investing in safe road and vehicle designs and by prioritizing safety over speed. We see safety improve in communities across the country and countries around the world where they lower speeds and add traffic calming measures.
But not enough communities in the U.S. are making these proven, life-saving changes.
We have the tools and know-how – right now – to prevent traffic deaths and severe injuries. We know what works. What we need – more than anything – is the political leadership invest in safety first.
Because this is a preventable crisis.
In the City of Atlanta, we are glad to report fewer that fewer people were killed while walking in 2023 than the years prior. We are working with the Atlanta and Georgia Departments of Transportation to design safer streets, until we completely eliminate fatal crashes–and those that cause serious injuries.
Now, we need to spread the safe systems approach known as Vision Zero, emphasizing safer street designs that protect people outside of cars and reduce motor vehicle speeds, throughout the MARTA counties of DeKalb, Clayton, and Fulton.
Photo: Propel ATL
At Atlanta Streets Alive on Sunday, we recognized World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
We placed a pair of shoes in honor of each life lost to traffic violence last year.
We heard from family members of those killed and crash survivors:
- Veronica Watts
- Satya Bhan
- Wendy Heaps
- Geo Gerard
- Paul Leonhardt
- Cole Smith, Atlanta Department of Transportation Vision Zero Program Manager
Photo: Alix Fernandez
And we honored those families not in attendance and their loved ones lost to traffic violence:
- Courtney Thompkins & family of Quanisha Ball, killed by a driver while crossing Scott Boulevard on her way to work. The driver was not charged.
- Valerie Handy-Carey & family of Brittany Glover, killed by a hit & run driver on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. The driver has not been found, despite a $10,000 reward.
To take this effort further, we announced that we are raising support to create an Atlanta chapter of a national movement called Families for Safe Streets in 2025. Atlanta Families for Safe Streets will support and organize family members and crash survivors to advocate for safer street designs that engineer for traffic safety and to spread policy adoption of Vision Zero in DeKalb, Fulton, and Clayton counties.
Learn more & take action:
1. Read our crash report coming in early 2025
2. Make a year-end donation to support Propel ATL
3. Learn about Atlanta Families for Safe Streets
4. View ATLDOT’s Vision Zero Dashboard
