Red light running: "The real way to save lives is to #slowthecars through road design that makes drivers feel uncomfortable moving quickly."

"Pedestrians and cyclists should make eye contact with drivers, according to AAA, which also recommends not wearing headphones while commuting."

I've known about the "eye contact" rule for years. You?

It's essential for bicycling, but increasingly difficult to manage because of drivers opting for tinted glass. That's why I refer to tinted glass as the last refuge of narcissistic sociopaths.

Strong Towns commented:

Here's the thing: of *course* people race yellow lights and end up running reds. You and I do it too, especially when every other thing about the road you're driving on besides that one little light is signaling to you that it's time to drive fast.

Most good traffic control really isn't about traffic signals or signs at all. The real way to save lives is to #slowthecars through road design that makes drivers feel uncomfortable moving quickly. (Bonus? Those road designs are exactly the kind we can actually afford to maintain—unlike the stroads we've got in our neighborhoods now.)

AAA's spokesperson predictably is a tad too harsh on "distracted" pedestrians, a phenomenon that largely isn't, being the invention of imaginative car-centrists to condone their own imperialistic impulses.

Sorry, but there's nothing in the Constitution about the supremacy of your vehicle. It speaks instead of the equality of all, including those of us wishing to walk or ride a bicycle.

Deaths From Red Light Running At A 10-Year High, AAA Study Finds, by Bobby Allyn (NPR)

Deaths caused by motorists running red lights have risen to a 10-year high, a newly released study finds.

At least two people are killed this way every day in the U.S., according to the study of government data by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

The study looked at fatalities from 2008 to 2017, the most recent year data are available. Drivers blowing through red lights killed 939 people in 2017. That's an increase of 31% from a low in 2009, when 715 people were killed.

More than half of those killed were passengers or people riding in other vehicles. About 35% were the drivers who ran the red light. Pedestrian and cyclist deaths connected to red light running represented about 5% of total deaths.

The precise reason for the jump in fatalities isn't clear. But AAA's director of traffic safety advocacy and research, Jake Nelson, says distracted driving is likely a major contributor ...