Carroll described the loss of life as “devastating” and noted the figure reflected an 82% increase over the previous five-year average.
So far in 2021, the city’s rate of traffic deaths remains high but Carroll said the trend shows some signs of abating.
“There is no simple answer to addressing the fatalities, the crashes,” Carroll noted, adding that speed and aggressive driving are major factors and the infrastructure improvements underway aim to address those things.
‘We have to double down’
Raceway-like Roosevelt Avenue, long known as the city’s deadliest route, and where the cyclist was killed Tuesday, connects many African American and immigrant communities across North and Northeast Philadelphia.
Across Philadelphia, communities of color are disproportionately harmed in traffic with crashes concentrated in areas where Black and brown residents make up the majority of the population. “That’s unacceptable and that’s preventable,” Carroll said. “We have to double down on our efforts to save people’s lives.”
Raised medians, like those installed on North Broad, cut traffic crashes by up to 46%, according to Rich Montanez, the city’s Deputy Streets Commissioner.
The medians, he said, “will make Broad Street safer and comfortable by slowing turning speeds down, improving driver visibility, creating a protective space for pedestrians, easing crossing for slower pedestrians, reducing risky behaviors such as U-turns and weaving and defining left turns at intersections to guide turning movement.”