America Walks hosted this free webinar earlier this month, and has now posted a recording of the session. Some BPCYC members and friends attended and said it was fantastic.
In an interview with Angie Schmitt and discussion of her book, Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America. This webinar is hosted by America Walks Board Member Charles Brown, who wrote the foreword.
Right of Way documents the traffic violence that occurs daily on America’s streets and reveals the racist policies and practices that create and perpetuate these tragedies. Contrary to popular opinion, pedestrian deaths are not unavoidable “accidents,” but highly predictable events, occurring in stark geographic patterns that tell a story about systemic inequalities. The victims are disproportionately those marginalized by society: immigrants, People of Color, those with lower incomes, the elderly, and the disabled.
The interview and book discussion with Angie Schmitt (author of Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America) was designed to address the following critical questions:
- Why do we accept pedestrian fatalities as the status quo?
- Why do we hold pedestrians, not drivers, responsible for traffic collisions?
- How do political inaction, victim blaming, lack of media interest, and cultural apathy block change?
- What does the national walking movement need to do to implement solutions that save lives?
