Boulder says pedestrians and bikers are safe, statistically speaking
City releases 40-month report on biking and walking in Boulder
Between January 2008 and April 2011, only 7.8 percent of all collisions in Boulder involved a bicycle or pedestrian, according to the recently released Safe Streets Boulder report.
The report analyzes more than 8,000 collisions in Boulder – involving motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians – over a 40-month period. The main take-away: walking and biking in Boulder is safe, and these modes represent only a small percentage of all collisions reported on city streets.
The report also identifies the top 15 locations with the most motor vehicle collisions (with bicycles and pedestrians), the most common types of crashes and what the city is doing to help decrease collision rates. It also outlines collision demographics and at what time of day most accidents occur.
“Among many things, the report speaks to the safety of Boulder’s transportation system – specifically for walking and biking,” said Director of Transportation for Public Works Tracy Winfree. “Reports like this are powerful because the numbers help to identify successes and areas for improvement, as well as dispel myths.”
For instance, the safety of flashing crosswalks has been an underlying community conversation, but the results show that collisions in these crosswalks account for less than 1 percent of all collisions.
2 Responses to “Boulder says pedestrians and bikers are safe, statistically speaking”
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It would be nice if the the report really said what city staff seems to think it does about flashing crosswalks, but it doesn’t. We have very few flashing crosswalks, so it isn’t at all surprising that we have few collisions in them. Anyone with basic understanding of statistical reasoning can see that.
Now if you actually had data to show that the collision rate was lower for one type of crosswalk than another type, the city might have a sound statistical argument as to why that the community has been mistaken in questioning the safety of the flashing crosswalks.
But in this report you don’t have the collision rate data nor do you point out the disparity in terms of the total numbers of crosswalks of each type. This makes me wonder why the city is not being intellectually honest in its use of statistics. I can see two possible explanations — either incompetence or a desire to spin the data.
We agree Tim. In addition The flashing crosswalks are terrible. You can’t see them during the day when the sun is in your eyes. The lights are tiny. In Europe the lights are big and cannot be missed by motorists.