Vision Zero Network
  • ABOUT
    • VISION ZERO NETWORK
    • WHAT IS VISION ZERO?
    • SUPPORT US
    • FAQ
    • OUR TEAM
    • OUR SUPPORTERS
  • RESOURCES
    • RESOURCE LIBRARY
    • WEBINARS
    • CASE STUDIES
    • VISION ZERO MAP
  • NEWS
  • CONNECT
    • GET INVOLVED
    • CONTACT
  • |
  • DONATE
  • ABOUT
    • VISION ZERO NETWORK
    • WHAT IS VISION ZERO?
    • SUPPORT US
    • FAQ
    • OUR TEAM
    • OUR SUPPORTERS
  • RESOURCES
    • RESOURCE LIBRARY
    • WEBINARS
    • CASE STUDIES
    • VISION ZERO MAP
  • NEWS
  • CONNECT
    • GET INVOLVED
    • CONTACT
  • |
  • DONATE
June 8, 2020  |  By Leah Shahum In Press, News

Acting for Racial Justice & Just Mobility

Vision Zero Advocates: Let’s Step up to Our Responsibilities

The Vision Zero Network expresses our support for and commitment to act on the growing calls to dismantle anti-Black and racist systems in our country.

Source: Oshua Roberts/Reuters

In light of continued, stark examples of institutionalized racism and police violence — too often in the name of “traffic safety” — we join with others calling to replace the failed police approach in this country with strategies that live up to Vision Zero’s goal of safe, healthy, and equitable mobility for all. We recognize the intersections between traffic safety and institutionalized racism and acknowledge that we need to make changes and help others make changes to ensure safety for Black people, Latinx people, Indiginenous people, and people of color.

Black people in the U.S. are more likely to be killed in traffic crashes and are also more likely to be stopped by and killed by police during routine traffic stops. We cannot focus on the first half of that reality without also working on the second.

And we cannot — whether out of uncertainty or fear or convenience or ignorance — deny that some of the strategies promoted for safe mobility, including Vision Zero, are intertwined with historical and current problems of systemic racism and police violence.

Source: Oshua Roberts/Reuters

Vision Zero, as first developed and as the Network supports it in the U.S., focuses on proactively improving the built environment and systems — such as safe street designs, slow speeds, and policies that promote safe movement — rather than on reactive, punitive enforcement methods or unproven, victim-blaming education strategies.

Yet, most (likely all) local Vision Zero communities’ plans, strategies, budgets, and messaging in the U.S. still rely on the traditional E’s framework — including Engineering, Education, Enforcement, etc. This is harmful. And we need to do more to change the thinking and actions around this and to help disentangle police activity from Vision Zero work.

The Network commits to being proactive and explicit in calling this problem out and making changes in our own work; encouraging others to do the same; and providing guidance to replace police actions in Vision Zero work with anti-racist strategies. There are better ways to promote safety in our public space than today’s police system.


Listening to, learning from and partnering with those with experience and expertise about racial justice, police reform, and working against institutional racism, we commit to the following steps:

  • Replace traditional enforcement roles and strategies in Vision Zero Network guidance with strategies that uphold our belief that truly safe  design and infrastructure, coupled with policies and processes that are anti-racist, won’t require enforcement; and encourage individual Vision Zero communities to do so too.
  • Promote alternatives to punitive, inequitable fine systems, particularly in relation to traffic infractions, given the disproportionate burden on low-income people, Black people, and Brown people.
  • Commit ourselves — and provide guidance to Vision Zero communities — to dedicate more resources and time to pay, center, and yield leadership to those whose voices have been marginalized.
  • Leverage — and help others in the Vision Zero space recognize, leverage, and share — our power to center equity in our work, including in shaping the built environment; influencing policies and budgets; and communicating with the public, policymakers, media and others.
  • Draw attention to and improve upon other worthy Vision Zero strategies that will lead to unintended racist consequences if anti-racism is not a core desired outcome of our work. Examples include the emphasis on data-driven decision-making, which usually rests on police-collected crash data and commonly undervalues the experiences and rights of marginalized community members. Another is automated (camera) enforcement, which has benefits over officer-initiated actions, and must be designed and managed in ways that prevent racial profiling by transparency and accountability.
  • Recognize and change the “we know what’s best for the community” attitude that often permeates white-centered planning spaces.
  • Elevate the voices of those who’ve been working to upend structural racism and whose lived experiences should be centered in this intention, particularly within the Vision Zero and related spaces we work.

This isn’t intended to be a complete list of actions, but a starting place. We thank the many people we’ve learned from to shape our thinking — now and in the future. We acknowledge that real change won’t be quick or easy. And we welcome input and ideas. Check back in the near future for more details about our immediate next steps and longer-term plans to achieve these aims.


Following are some related writings & resources:

  • City Rising: Video series documenting the journey of California’s neighborhoods advocating for responsible development
  • The Untokening: Principles of Mobility Justice
  • SPUR: A Letter to White Urbanists
  • The Planners Guide to the Black Lives Movement
  • CityLab: ‘Safe Streets’ are not Safe for Black Lives
  • Vox: How to Reform American Police, According to Experts
  • Medium: A Tale of Two Truths: Transportation Nuance & Nuance in the Time of COVID-19
  • Prevention Institute: Black Lives Matter. Coming Together to Take Action
  • The War on Cars: The Automotive Police State
  • Campaign Zero: End Broken Windows Policing
  • Vision Zero Network: Vision Zero Equity Strategies for Practitioners (2017)
equity
Previous Story“Distracted Pedestrians”: Distracting from the Real Issues
Next StoryTalking with Offer Grembek, Transportation Researcher, about Safe Systems & Speed

Newsletter Sign Up

Fields with a * are required.

Latest Posts

  • Reflecting on lessons learned and working to advance justice and equity in Vision Zero Monday, 11, Jan
  • Recommendations to the Incoming Administration: Vision Zero Priorities for Safe Mobility for All Tuesday, 15, Dec
  • Webinar Recap: Understanding & Addressing Transportation Equity in Latino Communities in the U.S. Tuesday, 8, Dec

Recent Tweets

  • In case you missed this: Encouraging example of @PeteButtigieg #CompleteStreets leadership at the local level. Let'… https://t.co/VhMjWI1ciY
  • @martharoskowski These are just getting better & better!
  • @bikejc @StevenFulop Thank you @StevenFulop for this #VisionZero leadership! We hope more mayors will join you in s… https://t.co/Saln8isgKI
Follow Us

Categories

About

The Vision Zero Network is a collaborative campaign aimed at building the momentum and advancing this game-changing shift toward safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. The Network brings together local leaders in health, traffic engineering, police enforcement, policy and advocacy to develop and share strategies, policies and practices that make Vision Zero a reality.

Tags

#crashnotaccident (11) advocacy (23) automated enforcement (9) Boston (13) careers (5) Chicago (2) collaboration (10) equity (17) evaluation (5) Families for Safe Streets (14) fleet safety (4) GHSA (3) High Injury Network (2) international (16) Los Angeles (7) map (5) mayor (4) mid-size city (15) MPO (3) New York City (23) Portland (3) public health (4) restorative justice (2) rideshare and taxi (2) Road to Zero (5) Safe Systems (14) San Francisco (14) Seattle (8) speed (40) standards (3) Vision Zero Action Plan (14) Vision Zero Task Force (7) VZ US Cities (15) Washington D.C. (6) webinar recap (42) World Day of Remembrance (20)

WHO WE ARE

  • VISION ZERO NETWORK
  • WHAT IS VISION ZERO?
  • OUR TEAM
  • FAQ
  • CONTACT

WHAT WE DO

  • RESOURCE LIBRARY
  • CASE STUDIES
  • VISION ZERO COMMUNITIES
  • GET INVOLVED
  • WEBINARS

ABOUT US

The Vision Zero Network is a collaborative campaign aimed at building the momentum and advancing this game-changing shift toward safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. The Network brings together local leaders in health, traffic engineering, policy and advocacy to develop and share strategies, policies and practices that make Vision Zero a reality.

FIND US ELSEWHERE

The Vision Zero Network is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives.

© Vision Zero Network 2018 – 2020