According to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 28,190 people died in motor vehicle crashes from January through September, 2020, an increase of 4.6 percent from the same period in 2019. In California, according to provisional SWITRS data for 2019, the number of pedestrians killed in 2019 was 1,030, an increase of 48 fatalities from 2017. The number of bicyclists killed in the same period decreased from 164 in 2017 to 157 fatalities in 2019. These losses of life are unacceptable and preventable.
Words Matter
Photo: Vision Zero Network
Effective communications about road safety, whether in the media, in safety campaign materials or in community outreach efforts play an important role in ensuring the safe mobility for all road users. How the public thinks about the problem of traffic injury and fatalities and what can be done about it is significantly influenced by how the media reports on it.
Resources on the role of media
To assist traffic safety professionals and advocates with learning more about how to promote effective communications about road safety, we have published a new resource page that features a selection of strategies and best practices, publications, safety campaigns, and international resources on the role media plays in road safety. Some include approaches and ideas from other countries that have been practiced across the years and have shown promising outcomes.
We will continue to update our listing of resources as we come across new information. Have a related resource to share? Please contact us at safetrec@berkeley.edu!