Right of Way: How Racial and Class Disparities Created a Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America

Originally aired September 24, 2020

In the last decade, pedestrian deaths in America have risen 50 percent — yet the epidemic has barely registered in public consciousness. The victims are disproportionately immigrants, low-income residents, and people of color, often blamed for their own deaths and then forgotten. Co-hosted by SSF and Island Press, this 90-minute session examines the systemic inequalities behind traffic violence and what planners, communities, and advocates can do to build safer, more equitable streets.

Speakers

Angie Schmitt

Author, Right of Way; Transportation Writer and Advocate

Angie Schmitt is one of the country’s best-known writers and experts on sustainable transportation. As longtime national editor at Streetsblog, and author of Right of Way: Race, Class and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America, she has brought national attention to the inequities embedded in American traffic policy. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Bicycling, and other publications.

Veronica O. Davis

Co-Founder & Principal Planning Manager, Nspiregreen

Veronica O. Davis is Co-Founder and Principal Planning Manager of Nspiregreen, an urban planning and environmental consulting firm in Washington, D.C. A registered Professional Engineer specializing in transportation, she uses her expertise to spark progressive social change in communities — centering equity, inclusion, and environmental justice in transportation planning and decision-making.

Jorge Cáñez

Researcher & Transportation Consultant, UCLA Department of Urban Planning

Jorge Cáñez is a researcher and transportation consultant in UCLA’s Department of Urban Planning. He is known internationally as Peatónito (“little pedestrian”) — a traffic safety superhero persona he developed in Mexico — and uses tactical urbanism interventions, including guerrilla street markings, to advocate for pedestrian safety and reclaim public space for walkers in underserved communities.

Anna Zivarts

Program Director, Rooted in Rights, Disability Rights Washington

Anna Zivarts is the Program Director of Rooted in Rights at Disability Rights Washington, a disability-led media initiative focused on changing narratives around disability, labor, and mobility. A low-vision mom who relies on others for transportation, she organizes to build transportation and mobility systems that are accessible, equitable, and designed to serve all people — especially those excluded by car-centric infrastructure.