John Vander Sluis Recognized as a Safe Routes to School Champion

John preps folks for a walking audit at Cedarhurst Elementary.

John Vander Sluis of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington received national recognition from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) for his strategic thinking and efforts to advance Safe Routes to School policies and programming in South King County. 

John is the manager of the Bicycle Alliance’s Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) Safe Routes to School project, which is funded by a grant from Public Health of Seattle and King County.  This project established Safe Routes to School programs at 17 schools in 6 school districts and provided safe biking and walking training to 1500 low-income kids in South King County.  The participating school districts were Auburn, Kent, Renton, Highline, Tukwila and Seattle.

As the project draws to a close, John has focused recent efforts on helping schools make sustainable, long-term plans for their programs and organizing a Safe Routes to School policy workshop for school officials, transportation planners, and community partners.

“It’s a nice acknowledgment of the work that the Bicycle Alliance and our partners have accomplished over a very short period of time,” commented John on the CDC recognition.  “I’ve been really impressed with the commitment of the school and city staff, not to mention of the parents and families, to creating healthier communities for their students.  I think there’s some good momentum for continuing to improve the opportunities for safe biking and walking in these neighborhoods.”

CPPW is a national initiative to prevent chronic disease and promote health through policy, systems and environment changes.  King County was one of 55 sites around the US awarded grant funding through the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.  Eighteen local individuals and organizations were recognized for their work to address health inequities and improve community health.


Thanks to Feet First for the photo.

State Legislative Update: Two Weeks to Go!!!

With barely over two weeks remaining in the legislative session, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington continues to collaborate with our partners, legislators, and a diverse array of organizations and cities from around the state to promote legislation that encourages complete and healthy streets, and grows bicycling statewide.

Happily we are still engaged on each of our legislative priorities that include (1) safer neighborhood streets; (2) Better design standards & Complete Streets; and (3) investments in transportation funding, including Complete Streets.

www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden

Safer Neighborhood Streets: We’ve had an especially busy week supporting our priority legislation, SHB 1217 – the NeighborhoodSafe Streets bill. Last Thursday, we held a fantastic public hearing in the Senate Transportation Committee that featured council members Jon Snyder (Spokane), Sally Clark (Seattle), Bicycle Alliance Executive Director Barbara Culp and former WSDOT Secretary Douglas MacDonald. Video of the testimony can be seen on TVW. 

Just yesterday, the Senate Transportation Committee passed SHB 1217 out in executive session without opposition! We are excited to now move forward in the Senate and to work with our over 35 partner organizations and cities on next steps to ensure the bill’s passage.

Better Design Standards & Complete Streets. SHB 1700 was also heard in the Senate Transportation Committee last week and passed out of the Committee on Monday. This bill promotes safe and flexible design standards by providing cities and counties the flexibility to use updated guidelines for designing bicycle and pedestrian projects, increasing safety and reducing project costs.

Healthy Communities. HB 2370, a bill led by Representative Andy Billig of Spokane adds health as a transportation system policy goal. After a fantastic public hearing in the House Transportation Committee, which included our own Barbara Culp noting the transportation changes occurring since she grew up in the Methow Valley, the bill passed out of the House two weeks ago. It is now slated to be heard Monday, February 27 in the Senate Transportation Committee.

www.pedbikeimages.org /  Mike Cynecki

Funding. Transportation funding is still very fluid as supplemental budgets in both the House and Senate have been introduced. The initial Senate proposal includes a smaller proportion allocated for Safe Routes to Schools funding (3% versus 4%, which amounts to approximately a $1 million difference). We are also monitoring the situation for funding the Complete Streets Grant Program, which originated out of the passage of last year’s HB 1071.

Your involvement. The Bicycle Alliance of Washington has succeeded over the past 25 years with a focus on collaborating and working with members, clubs, and individuals across the state to lend experience, expertise, and support. Legislators need to hear your voice and we can’t thank you enough for lending it over the course of the session. If you want to get involved, please contact me, join our e-activist list, and – most importantly – become a member of the BicycleAlliance!

Slowing down is gaining momentum



Pedbikeimages.org/Dan Burden

Last year, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington championed a bill that would give cities and towns the discretion to set speed limits to 20 miles per hour on non-arterial streets.  The bill passed 92-0 in the House but ran out of time in the Senate Transportation Committee.  We are leading the charge again in 2012 for SHB 1217, the Neighborhood Safe Speeds Bill.

There are many benefits to passing the Neighborhood Safe Speeds Bill.  It allows local governments to determine safe speeds for local streets, and it removes the additional costs and red tape currently required by the state.  Reduced speeds improve neighborhood safety and save lives.  Making neighborhood streets safer can encourage physical activity and active transportation, resulting in a healthier society.

The desire to slow down our communities is not unique to Washington.  In Idaho, local jurisdictions have the capacity to set lower speed limits on portions of state highways that pass through residential, urban or business districts to enhance safety.  New York City established its first “neighborhood slow zone” earlier this year.  20’s Plenty for Us is the British movement that has successfully campaigned to lower residential speed limits in cities and towns. 

Writer Will Doig took an in-depth look at the resurging popularity of slower streets in a Salon article published last week.  In his article, Doig observed:

Now, gradually, the pendulum appears to be swinging back toward slower streets, partly because walkable neighborhoods and urban density are in vogue again. A lazy streetcar, a strolling pedestrian or a languidly pedaling bicyclist are all signs that neighborhood life in that area is healthy and abundant. They indicate that you’re somewhere that’s packed with businesses, parks, playgrounds — things that people want to stop and use — and, in circular fashion, they encourage even more of that stuff to be built.

Commuting: The Best Part of the Day

Commuting is the best part of the day?  Many folks will disagree with me but, since I am a bicycle commuter, it often feels like the best part of my day.  After spending a long day tethered to my desk, it’s invigorating, stress relieving, and sometimes an adventure to hop on my bike and pedal home.

A recent study by Swedish researchers bears this out.  They found that people who commuted to work by car, bus or train reported more adverse health conditions than those of us who bike or walk to work.  You can read more about that study here.



It's easy to check out Harbor Island when you're on a bike.

Besides reaping the health benefits, I find that biking to work is more interesting and spontaneous than using transit.  It’s easy to alter my route or stop on my bike to check out something attention-grabbing.

My bike commute is from West Seattle to Pioneer Square.  One evening this summer, I detoured over to Harbor Island to watch workers unload freight containers with forklifts.  Not only was the activity interesting to observe, but I glimpsed some unusual views of the city.

More recently, my commute provided me with an up close vantage point of the viaduct tear down.  While car and transit commuters had some pretty horrific commutes to and from West Seattle, my bike commute time didn’t change.  Reporter Eli Sanders filed a Slog post about the West Seattle bike commute during the viaduct demolition.

Enough about the cool sights and experiences I have thanks to my bike commute.  What interesting things have you seen or experienced on your bike commute?

Dispatch From The SPC: Density Is Good For Our Health!

This piece was originally posted on Monday October 10, 2011 on Citytank
http://citytank.org/2011/10/10/dispatch-from-the-spc-density-is-good-for-our-health/

Dispatch From The SPC: Density Is Good For Our Health!

by Kadie Bell Sata

Editor’s note: This is the first installment of an ongoing series of dispatches from the Seattle Planning Commission.

Thornton Creek in Seattle's Northgate neighborhood

The way Seattle is planned and ultimately shaped has an immense impact on the health of the population living, working and playing within its bounds. There are numerous reports and articles that cite residents of Seattle as being healthy overall compared to others across the nation. However, our area experiences vast health inequities. The disparities in rates of chronic disease in low-income and communities of color are the result of preventable, systemic, unjust social and economic policies and practices that create barriers to opportunity.

While many feel these health problems are the result of individual behavior, the issue must be considered in a larger context. Individuals make decisions based, at least in part, on their environments. If residents live in an area where it is uncomfortable to engage in daily physical activity because they feel unsafe due to traffic speeds, noise, a lack of appropriate infrastructure or perceptions of crime, they are less likely to participate in the physical activity needed to live a healthy life.

The update of Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan and the work the city is doing in Transit Communities such as Othello, Mt. Baker, Beacon Hill, Capitol Hill, Roosevelt and West Seattle provide a primary vehicle to address barriers to opportunity. By creating healthy, sustainable and livable communities which provide housing opportunities not only for the privileged, but also for residents across the spectrum, we can ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to choose healthy behavior for themselves and their family.

Vancouver, BC: the Dorothy Lam Children's Center, the Elsie Roy School, and the playground in David Lam Park, with Yaletown in the background; photo by Catherine Benotto
In order to accomplish this goal, the City of Seattle should increase development capacity within close proximity to high capacity transit, schools and parks, and discourage development in areas which lack the essential components of livability or are in areas that can lead to poor health outcomes, such as freeways or places that don’t have access to open space, playfields, community centers, etc. We must plan communities where people can comfortably and easily walk, bike and ride transit to their meet their daily needs, such as their job, school, park and grocery store. Ensuring these opportunities for current and future residents can help to address some preventable health problems such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancer.

Planning was once closely allied to the profession of public health in addressing concerns of population well being, safety and welfare. Over the course of the last century, planning and public health have diverged into separate disciplines lacking institutional ties. Emerging threats to public health arising from community design decisions are revitalizing the ties between the two disciplines. Seattle has played a key role in use health and equity to inform planning and investments. However health indicators reveal that there is more work to do.

KADIE BELL SATA is a member of the Seattle Planning Commission. She currently works for Public Health – Seattle & King County on a federal chronic disease prevention initiative. She has experience in health policy, social and racial equity as well as environmental sustainability. Community activities includes youth mentorship, neighborhood advocacy and serving as an affiliate instructor at University of Washington’s School of Public Health.

Planning for 2012 Legislative Agenda Underway

The Bicycle Alliance’s Legislative & Statewide Issues Committee gathered at REI corporate headquarters in Kent in late June to begin planning for the 2012 legislative session.

Nineteen individuals representing bike clubs, bike groups, and partner organizations with shared interests participated in this meeting. Cascade Bike Club, Skagit Bike Club, Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club, and the Vancouver Bike Club, were among the clubs in attendance. Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition, Foothills Rails to Trails Coalition, Transportation Choices Coalition, Washington Coalition Promoting Physical Activity also had representatives participating in the meeting. The geographic representation included Anacortes, Bremerton, Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Yakima.

The group reviewed the results of the 2011 session, then discussed possible legislative priorities for 2012. Among the potential legislative and statewide priorities that emerged were:

• Continue to push for the passage of HB 1700, which would offer additional design standards as a complement to Complete Streets.
• Continue to pursue the passage of HB 1217, the 20 mph bill.
• Supporting the transportation funding package that shakes out of Transportation for Washington campaign.  The Bicycle Alliance is a member of this coalition.
• Seek funding for the Complete Streets program that was passed in 2011.
• Use 2011-2013 to see if there is support for a 3- to 5-feet safe passing bill (no intent to resurrect the Mutual Responsibility Bill).
• Work on the US Bicycle Route System (USBRS) in Washington State.
• Revise Department of Ecology’s stormwater rules that currently inhibit widening shoulders or adding bikes lanes due to the creation of additional impervious surface, ability to mitigate, and cost.

Representatives from the partner organizations briefed the committee on what their upcoming priorities were likely to be. Transportation Choices is interested in potential tolling revenue changes and promoting mileage-based insurance to reward those who drive less. Washington Coalition Promoting Physical Activity continues to be interested in Complete Streets and Safe Routes to School. They and the Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition want to increase community access to physical activity through joint use agreements for facilities like schools.

Many thanks to REI for the use of their facilities and their ongoing support of bicycling and bicycle advocacy and to the individuals from around the state who serve on or participate with the committee. Additional thanks to Ralph Wessels and Brian Foley, who co-chair the committee, and to our lobbyist Michael Temple for his guidance and work on our behalf. The committee will reconvene in September to make a final decision on what priorities to move forward for 2012.

Winners: Saris Bicycle Poster Contest

Saris Cycling Group sponsored a national bicycle poster contest for fifth graders earlier this year and the Bicycle Alliance coordinated the contest effort for Washington State.  Here's a link to an earlier blog post about the contest.

More than 5000 students from 17 states submitted posters centered on the theme, "Bicycling is fun...and healthy too!"  The winning poster for Washington, pictured here, was created by a student at Orca K-8 in Seattle.  The student winner will receive a bike, bike light and helmet and the school will receive a Saris bike rack.

The winning national poster came from a student in Oklahoma.  You can view the winning poster here.

Coming to a City Near You: Car-free summer events

What happens when you take cars off the streets for awhile?  Folks come out to bike, walk, skate and socialize with each other!

Ciclovia (Spanish for bike path) refers to events that temporarily close streets to vehicle traffic, turning them into public space for people.  Bogota, Columbia, the city that pioneered the Ciclovia movement, has closed streets to cars every Sunday since 1976.  People of all ages and classes pour into the streets to do everything except drive.  Watch a video on Ciclovia in Bogota.

Ciclovia style events are appearing in US cities, including communities in Washington.  Seattle Summer Streets are car-free events scheduled in four different neighborhoods.  The city also closes a portion of Lake Washington Boulevard to vehicles most Sundays between May 1 and September 25 for Bicycle Sunday.

Spokane is bringing its SummerParkways to three neighborhoods, one of which will be an evening event.  Four miles of roadway will be closed and citizens are encouraged to come out for fun and physical activity.

Although Vancouver does not organize a car-free event, folks can head across the Columbia River and experience Portland’s Sunday Parkways.  Five parkway events are planned in different neighborhoods throughout the summer.

Folks in Tacoma can have a car-free experience every weekend. Five Mile Drive in Point Defiance Park is closed to vehicular traffic every Saturday and Sunday morning until 1PM.  Details are here.

Did I overlook a ciclovia event in your community?  Please share the details with us.

8+ Fabulous Reasons to Bike

At a staff meeting this week, we discussed our favorite reasons to bike to work. I developed the following list, and encourage you to add to it:

1. FRIENDLY & Fabulous

2. ACTIVE & healthy activity outdoors

3. BEAUTIFUL bodies

4. UNDERGROUND out of the rain 24-7 parking

5. LOSE weight

6. ONE LESS CAR on the road

7. UTILITARIAN -- combine with bus

8. SHOP by bike, SAVES time and gas

Time for an Insurance Check-Up

Today's guest blog post was submitted by Mimy Bailey, a bicycle attorney practicing in Seattle.  She handles cases involving collisions and roadway defects.  She is a member of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.

Spring is upon us (supposedly), so now is a great time to review your insurance coverage as you get ready to spend more time on your two-wheeler (yay!).

If you've never taken a close look at your auto coverage, be thankful, because it means you've probably never been hit on your bike.  That's right, your auto policy provides coverage if you are hit by a car while riding.  Of course you hope that the driver is adequately insured, but you can only hope for that.  There are a couple coverages that will ensure you're taken care of if the unexpected occurs.

Two coverages are especially important for cyclists.  I'll go through each coverage is, explain why it's important, and provide general advice on a coverage amount.  Of course, insurance polices can vary, and coverage can get complicated, but I'm boiling this down to make it easy to see whether you need to make changes.

Personal Injury Protection (aka PIP)

What?  PIP pays for medical and other expenses, such as wage loss and household services.  PIP is no-fault coverage, so it does not matter who caused the collision, your bills will be paid.  The bills are paid as they are incurred (similar to health insurance).

Why?  PIP is vital if you don't have health insurance.  Without it, you'll be personally responsible for 100% of your medical treatment costs.  If you do have health insurance, it's still important.  PIP pays approved bills at 100%.  There are no copays or deductibles.  PIP will also cover a limited amount of wage loss and household services.

How much?  PIP is usually offered at $10k, $25k, and/or $35k of coverage.  If you can afford it, purchase one of the higher levels.  With a trip to the ER potentially costing $5k or more, you want to make sure there's enough coverage to cover all of your treatment.

Under/Uninsured Motorist Coverage (aka UM/UIM)

What?  Liability coverage is mandatory in Washington, but some people drive without insurance and others carry the minimum ($25k).  UM/UIM coverage will provide insurance if you are hit by someone who is uninsured or whose coverage is inadequate to cover your damages.

Why?  Without this coverage, if you are hit by a driver who is uninsured, there will be no recovery.  You can still get your medical bills paid under your PIP, but you will not be compensated for your general damages (pain and suffering, disability, loss of enjoyment of life, etc).

How much?  Unlike PIP, that's just covering your medical bills, this coverage may need cover the kitchen sink – medical bills, wage loss, and general damages.  Seriously consider coverage that's at least $75k.

If you have other questions about insurance or some of the information provided is unclear, send me an email and I'll be happy to clarify mimy@seattlebicycleattorney.com

Mimy's website is at www.seattlebicycleattorney.com and her Twitter handle is SeattleBikes.  

Bringing Safe Routes to School to South King County

ped-bikeimages.org/Chris Metka

When I was a kid, I walked to school. In fact, most of my classmates either walked or biked to school and it was probably the same for you. Biking and walking to school, my neighborhood library, the corner market, and my friends’ homes was routine for me.

Just a generation ago, almost half of all kids in the US biked or walked to school. Today, less than 15% of kids arrive at school under their own power. Conversely, childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the past 30 years.

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington is leading a project in south King County designed to reverse this trend. Funded by King County Public Health, we are working with Feet First, school districts, community groups, and fantastic volunteers to bring Safe Routes to School to underserved communities in this region.

School and community members are invited to participate in walking and biking audits around schools to become familiar with traffic flow, hazards and barriers to biking and walking.  We also train teachers how to instruct students on bicycle and pedestrian safety using a proven curriculum and we provide a fleet of kids bikes for use by the schools.  Teachers have been trained in Kent, Renton, Seatac, and Auburn elementary schools.

“It’s exciting to have an opportunity to improve the social equity of communities,” commented project manager John Vander Sluis.  “People living in low-income neighborhoods have real challenges to accessing regular exercise and nutritious food.  The Bicycle Alliance has a chance to make a serious impact with this project.”

Volunteers are needed.

The Bicycle Alliance is looking for volunteers to assist teachers with bike safety skills training in the participating schools.  No experience is required – just follow the teacher’s instructions.  Time commitment is flexible and times vary.

We’re also looking for a pickup truck and driver with some flexibility this spring to move bikes and trailers between schools in south King County.  The truck must be rated to pull around 2000 pounds, and a receiver hitch or 2 5/16” ball mount is preferred.

Contact John Vander Sluis at johnv@bicyclealliance.org or 206.224.9252 x324 if you can help us out.

Biking Investments Yield Health Care Savings

ped-bikeimages.org/LSandt

Many of us are drawn to bicycling because it's fun and healthy.  Now there's a study that shows a community can reduce its health care costs by investing in bicycle infrastructure.  We need only look south of us to Portland.

Swiss epidemiologist Thomas Gotschi selected Portland, Oregon as the subject for his paper "Costs and Benefits of Bicycling Investments in Portland, Oregon,"  published in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health. His paper provides the first cost benefit analysis of an urban bicycle network in the US.  Gotschi's analysis was made possible because of Portland's nearly 20 years of bike investments and growth in the number of people who bike, and by the long-term data analyzing the impact of their investments.

In short, Gotschi concludes that Portland will see a savings in health care costs due to its investments in bicycle infrastructure– – possibly in excess of $500 million over 40 years.
Furthermore, Gotschi's analysis shows that you don't have to invest in world-class facilities to reap the benefits. Even basic investments in bicycling can lead to an increase in the number of people who bike and a decrease in health care costs over time.

Isn't this the kind of cost efficient investment all of our communities should be making?

Poster Contest for Fifth Graders: Bicycling is fun...and healthy too!

Calling all 5th graders!

The Bicycle Alliance is serving as the Washington State lead for a national poster contest for fifth graders. The objective is to ask the students to create a poster that reveals his or her understanding of the significant purpose bicycling can play in their community. We want the posters to show the students’ enthusiasm for why bicycling is fun, healthy and green!

Each state’s first place winner receives a Schwinn bike, Planet Bike light, and Lazer helmet and the school will receive a Saris Bicycle Parking System. Each state submits its winning poster to the national contest, and the national winner receives an all expenses paid trip for two to the 2012 National Bike Summit in Washington, DC.

The deadline for submitting posters to the Bicycle Alliance is April 22, 2011. State and national winners will be contacted by National Bike to Work Day on May 20.

Interested? You can find contest details on our website.

You can also contact me at davej@bicyclealliance.org or 206.224.9252 Ext. 302.

And please help spread the word!

Advocacy Through Fresh Eyes

Bicycle Alliance member Kristi Moen attended her first Transportation Advocacy Day this year.  She shares her impressions of the event in this guest blog post.

Advocates on Capitol campus.

Be pleasant, be friendly, smile. That was the number one tip for successfully advocating in Olympia. The advice was offered to those who converged at the state’s capitol on February 10 in support of Transportation Advocacy Day. As it turned out, the advice was excellent. Being kind helps lawmakers better understand our viewpoints and relate to the issues on the table.

And as it turns out, you also have to be fast. The meetings with our legislators and our senator were only 15 minutes long. But that was long enough to understand where they stand on the bills in work this session and to explain why supporting them is good for the constituents.

Key issues were:

• Emergency transit funding for public transportation that cannot sustain their current funding in the short run because of the economy (HB1536 and SB5457)

• Kickoff and awareness of a new campaign called Transportation for Washington that will address specific initiatives (find out more at www.t4washington.org/)

• Bills sponsored by Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Cascade Bicycle Club that will increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians:
• Washington Vulnerable Users Law (SB 5326, HB1339)
• Complete Streets for Washington (SHB 1071)
• Traffic Safety Education (HB1129)

The bills sponsored by BAW will not cost the state a penny, yet will substantially improve the safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Kristi (L) meets with Rep. Eileen Cody (C).

The day was not just about cycling. Groups from pedestrian, environmental, public transportation advocacy, parks and health organizations were among the nearly 20 participating sponsors. And yes, I mentioned “health.” That was the first time I had equated health to cycling advocacy. I understand the connection and consciously benefit from it – health benefits are part of the reason why I cycle. But bringing health to the forefront for legislators to consider while thinking about bike trails, bike lanes, safe pedestrian routes and linking up public transportation was a bit of an epiphany for me. In a meeting, our legislator from the 34^th district said, “She’s speaking my language,” when someone in our group brought up the health benefits of cycling. Aha! Each lawmaker has passions that will sway them. It’s our job as advocates to find those passions.

Of course, key players brought up the usual arguments for better transportation and cycling laws including sustainability, connectivity, green house gas reduction and safety. Any of those could stand on their own as valid reasons for our lawmakers to better support cycling.

Transportation is an investment into a stronger future. Even those who never touch a bike, who only drive, will benefit. Call your legislator to let them know how you feel. And be kind. You might just be the one who tips the scale.

What Sir Isaac Newton Would Say to Washington's Drivers, Lawmakers, and Traffic Engineers

Funny thing about the laws of physics: You can study them, you can conduct experiments about them, and you can expand your understanding of them. But you can never, ever, break them.

This in contrast to, say, the laws of the Washington State Legislature.

This is a distinction that many drivers do not seem to have grasped. How many times have you seen a half-dozen cars tailgating each other up the fast lane at 80 miles an hour? If the State Patrol's not around, nobody gets a ticket. But if the guy in front has to hit his brakes suddenly, there's gonna be a crash, police presence or no. Sir Isaac could have told them that.

Drivers aren't the only ones who could use a physics lesson. Lawmakers and traffic engineers who set speed limits could use a refresher course, too.

Let's begin with vehicle stopping distance. There are two components to consider: driver reaction time, and braking distance once the driver does react.

Logic dictates that the higher a vehicle's speed, the farther it will travel before the driver reacts to, say, a pedestrian who has stepped off the curb. According to an excellent paper by the Australian Academy of Science, small increases in speed can make a big difference. For example, given typical driver reaction time, a car traveling at 65 km/h (40.4 mph) will travel almost 89 feet between the time the driver sees the pedestrian and the time he or she slams on the brakes. That's about seven feet farther than a car traveling at 60 km/h (37.3 mph). And reaction time can be significantly longer for distracted drivers.

Add to this the fact that braking distance is proportional to the square of velocity, and you end up with strikingly longer total stopping distances given relatively modest increases in speed. For instance, in the example above, the car traveling at 65 km/h will take almost 15 feet longer to stop than the car traveling at 60 km/h--a 12 percent increase in stopping distance, even though the speed difference is a little more than 3 miles an hour.

But there's more: if a car does hit a pedestrian, the chances that the pedestrian will die increase drastically with speed. This is because force of impact increases as the square of speed; in other words, a car traveling at 40 miles an hour will strike the pedestrian with four times the force of a car traveling at 20 miles an hour. Here's what that means for pedestrian death and injury rates, according to statistics from the UK as cited on SF Streets Blog; a wealth of information from other sources supports these numbers:

In Europe, a growing number of countries have moved to lower residential speed limits to 30 km/h (about 20 mph). Look at the chart above and you'll see why. 30 km/h speed limits are widespread in the Netherlands, which has the lowest vehicle accident death rate (and safest cycling) in the world.

And the BBC reported that the introduction of 20 mph zones in London cut road injuries by more than 40 percent and reduced by half traffic deaths and serious injuries among children. In all, researchers estimated that 200 lives a year had been saved. A British safety official called 20 mph zones "one of the most effective ways of protecting vulnerable road users, especially children."

What can we take away from this little physics lesson? For drivers it's obvious: slow down, don't push the speed limit, and don't tailgate. A few miles an hour, and a few feet, can mean the difference between life and death (Note to Seattle drivers: No, it's really not OK to average 40 mph in 30 zones).

For traffic engineers: expand traffic calming and consider lowering speed limits, sometimes dramatically. Just as important, police should emphasize strict enforcement.

And for our state's lawmakers: consider lowering the default speed limits set under state law, and give local officials the clear legal authority to establish widespread 20 mph zones. Current state law appears to prohibit this except under special circumstances, such as in school zones.

I'm sure that everyone agrees that saving lives is more important than saving a few minutes. Now it's time to act on that belief.

DOT, First Lady & Childhood Obesity Task Force

Three months ago, President Obama established a Childhood Obesity Task Force headed by First Lady Michelle Obama to encourage children to exercise more and adopt healthier eating habits. Now she's teaming up with the Department of Transportation on a shared goal:

http://fastlane.dot.gov/2010/05/dot-first-lady-childhood-obesity-task-force-share-goal-lets-move.html