5,000 bicyclists and pedestrians die on our roads in the U.S. every year.

That represents a full 16% of all roadway fatalities. These deaths are preventable through better design, policies, and implementation. So what is the United States Department of Transportation planning to do to address this issue? Effectively, nothing.

Within its recently-released proposed safety measures, USDOT does not establish any goals, accountability, nor any attempt to reduce fatalities for people who bike and walk for transportation.

According to analysis of the proposed safety measures by the League of American Bicyclists:

The overall safety performance measure lacks vision, accountability, and urgency. There is NO actual target set for reducing the number of people killed on our roads. States are asked to make “significant progress” towards two of four proposed measures, with a margin of error that could see fatality and injury numbers actually increase.

Cities like New York and San Francisco have set aggressive “Vision Zero” goals to reduce pedestrian and bicycle fatalities. Here in Massachusetts, MassBike recently announced a partnership with MassDOT and DPH on a new program to increase bicyclist and pedestrian safety.

Please take just two minutes to let USDOT know that we must have a national goal to reduce biking and walking fatalities by creating a specific non-motorized safety performance measure. Here are two easy options:

Option 1: Utilize the League of American Bicyclists’ Action Center automated form to submit your comments. Click here to get started.

Option 2: You can submit your comments directly to Regulations.gov by clicking here, then clicking on the blue “Comment Here” button atop the right sidebar and following the prompts. In the comment section, copy and paste this message, or modify it if you prefer:

I am writing to endorse the comments submitted to Docket # FHWA-2013-0020 by the League of American Bicyclists.

I believe there should be a specific non-motorized safety performance measure – such a measure is technically feasible and timely given the increasing share of traffic fatalities represented by bicyclists and pedestrians. FHWA’s leadership in establishing such a measure will enable states to collect and analyze critical transportation data that has been needed for decades.

Further, I share the League’s view that the proposed performance measure lacks vision, accountability and urgency. State Departments of Transportation should be held accountable as active partners with the Federal Highway Administration in dramatically reducing the death toll on our nation’s roads.

Thank you for taking action. After you submit your comments, please let us know by emailing [email protected].