You may not choose to drive a car for number of reasons. Bicycling improves your health while being an environmentally friendly method of transportation. But when you bicycle on Los Angeles roads, you can face significant danger.
Los Angeles started Vision Zero in 2015, seeking to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries to zero. But since the plan started, bicyclist and pedestrian deaths have reached record highs. While Los Angeles has worked to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, the work done so far has not been successful.
Vision Zero inspired by New York City, doesn’t match results
Vision Zero is a traffic plan inspired by a similar plan in New York City. New York City’s Vision Zero has led to historic lows of traffic deaths since it started in 2014.
Los Angeles’ Vision Zero plan started in 2015. The following year, cyclist and pedestrian fatalities hit historic highs. And in the years since the plan started, 932 cyclists and pedestrians have died in traffic accidents. This is more than the number of people who died from shootings in the same time frame.
Without infrastructure change, Vision Zero moving slowly
Most critics of the plan say that the city has not done enough to make Vision Zero work. Infrastructure changes like adding bike lanes or reducing motor vehicle lanes in dangerous areas seem to be the best way to reduce accidents. But the main changes so far have been improving traffic signal timing and repainting crosswalk lines.
When you choose to ride your bike instead of a car, you make a choice for the benefit of you and the environment. But in Los Angeles, you also put yourself at risk of a severe accident.
While Vision Zero hopes to make your ride safer, progress to improve bicycle safety remains slow.