Hit and Run

I learned yesterday that a very close relative of a friend was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Portland last Friday. She was crossing a street at 8:30 at night, pushing her elderly mother, who uses a wheelchair. The mother is gravely injured; the daughter was pronounced dead at the scene. 

It was on a two-lane street (plus parking spots) where it should be easy for a driver to see pedestrians. In Portland, where blocks are generally short, compared to many cities, and where traffic is somewhat calmer than a lot of places. Not on one of the four-lane highway-like "stroads" you may have heard about.

I am so sad and angry for her family, but also about the escalating number of deaths and injuries happening from cars, SUVs, and trucks currently, both to pedestrians and people inside vehicles. The latest NHTSA figures are coming out for the first nine months of 2021 and they're worse than 2020's, which were terrible. 

AAA did a survey that found the general reason for the increase in dangerous driving during the pandemic has been that the worst drivers (young men) are driving more, and they're driving worse than ever. At the same time, the people who have cut their driving are the safest drivers (older people and women).

My hero cartoonist Andy Singer has a pile of images that relate to street safety, cars, and car culture. (He has a book called CARtoons, after all.) Here's one that seems appropriate for today.