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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Street traffic academy to expand statewide, making roads safer for everyone
Large colored barriers and street murals sit at the intersection of Virginia Ave and S College Ave to reduce serious traffic crashes and fatalities. (Madelyn Hanes/Indiana Capital Chronicle) Hundreds of Hoosiers die each year in traffic collisions and thousands more are seriously injured. Numbers have fallen slightly but Indiana traffic safety groups are working to bring that number down even further statewide. According to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, traffic fatalities decreased to 894 in 2023 compared to 985 fatalities in 2022. Another 4,232 Hoosiers were seriously injured in traffic crashes in 2023 while 5443 were seriously injured in traffic crashes in 2022. Indianapolis-based nonprofit Health by Design is partnering with the Institute to expand its Indiana Road to Zero Academy, aiming to reduce serious traffic crashes and fatalities across the state. Solutions include tactical urbanism, which uses street murals, separators and pedestrian-only lanes to slow down traffic and accommodate bikes, wheelchairs and strollers. 'Streets need to be rebuilt every year,' said Andrea Watts, Health by Design's communications and policy manager. 'We want to rebuild them right, but not just car orientated infrastructure — safe streets for everyone.' Launched in 2022 with funding from the National Safety Council and Road to Zero Coalition, the academy initially offered virtual training over several weeks, spreading awareness and knowledge to various stakeholders working to improve Indiana's roadway. Now backed by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute Traffic Safety Improvement Program, the program is shifting gears. The Indiana Road to Zero Academy plans to offer two in-person regional training workshops — one in northern Indiana and one in southern Indiana — in mid- or late September. These hands-on sessions will teach the safe system approach: safe roads, safe speeds, and safe road users. It is designed for municipal staff, planners, engineers, safety advocates, and residents. 'Northern and southern Indiana were hungry to get this rolling,' Watts said. The expanded academy also introduces a statewide Vision Zero Working Group, building on the Indianapolis Vision Zero Ordinance adopted in August 2024. Vision Zero prioritizes eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries through smarter road designs that ensure safe travel for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike. Health by Design will provide customized crash analysis and technical assistance to high-risk areas, partnering with data experts and EMS records to track fatal crashes and identify solutions. The group has also teamed up with the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Department of Health to improve community safety. One of their initiatives, the Safe Routes to School program, is open to all Indiana schools — regardless of federal funding — and encourages more students to walk or bike safely to class. Through this program, the organization supports schools through grants such as one for bike helmets. Most recently, they supported Fort Wayne students participating in Bike-to-School Day, Watts said. Despite challenges from recent federal funding cuts and changes, the organization remains committed to enhancing traffic safety. Proposed federal funding cuts on green infrastructure attacks a lot of the work the nonprofit does, Watts said. Following threats to federal funding, state partnerships are becoming even more important. 'It has impacted us and we had to get more creative,' Watts said. 'There's an attack on a lot of the work we do and it feels like a step backward or we are stuck in time.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Indianapolis Star
27-05-2025
- Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis issues hundreds of no-turn-on-red tickets a year. Here are 5 hotspots
In August 2023, signs banning right turns on red went up at nearly 100 intersections in Mile Square as part of the city's effort to make streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. Some Republican state lawmakers pushed back on the restrictions as a "war on cars," introducing legislation that would have removed the no-turn-on-red signs. But the signs were allowed to remain after city officials agreed to stop putting up new ones downtown until July 1, 2025. The Department of Public Works has no immediate plans to install new ones and will conduct a study of their effectiveness before doing so, a spokesperson said. Since the wave of new signs, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has written 94 total tickets in Mile Square as of May 1, 37 of which were tied to the South Meridian Street and West Washington Street intersection, according to data obtained by IndyStar. Across the city, drivers received 411 tickets for no-turn-on-red violations in that same timespan. Police issued about 20 such citations a month. While nearly a quarter occurred in Mile Square — the downtown area bound by North Street, East Street, West Street, and South Street — there were multiple hotspots far beyond the city's urban core. IMPD's traffic unit tends to write tickets in daily and weekly blitzes near troublesome intersections, the data shows. The intersection of East Washington Street and Pine Street near downtown saw the most citations, with 96 drivers ticketed at the site. IMPD reported 49 tickets on nine non-consecutive days of August and September 2023. Then enforcement largely cooled off until February 2024, when officers logged 20 tickets on six days. When officers in the traffic unit are on patrol, they don't focus solely on enforcing no-turn-on-red violations, IMPD Sgt. Amanda Hibschman told IndyStar. Traffic officers also watch for drivers who are speeding, running red lights or breaking other rules of the road. "We tend to focus on higher-traffic areas, busier intersections, school zones and locations where we receive the highest number of traffic complaints," Hibschman said. One of the main advocates for no-turn-on-red restrictions in Mile Square, the public health nonprofit Health by Design argued that crash data shows how drivers' failure to yield and turning movements are among the top contributors to pedestrian injuries and deaths citywide. In 2024, 41 pedestrians and cyclists died in vehicle crashes while 832, a record high, were involved in non-fatal incidents, according to Safe Streets Indy, a group that tracks collision reports. Health by Design CEO Marc McAleavey said that while 411 tickets citywide and 96 in Mile Square may seem low compared with the actual number of violations, he understands that IMPD lacks the officers to do more robust enforcement. And enforcement alone can't be expected to make drivers comply with no-turn-on-red rules, he said — that will take smarter road designs with enhanced visibility for pedestrians, along with a cultural shift toward safer walking and bicycling. "The core of the issue is that our downtown streets should be designed for people first — not just as a pass-through for cars," McAleavey said in an emailed statement. From Aug. 1, 2023, to May 1, 2025, here are the five Indianapolis intersections where drivers received the most tickets for illegally turning right on red, according to IMPD data:
Indianapolis Star
27-05-2025
- Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis issues hundreds of no-turn-on-red tickets a year. Here are 5 hotspots
In August 2023, signs banning right turns on red went up at nearly 100 intersections in Mile Square as part of the city's effort to make streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. Some Republican state lawmakers pushed back on the restrictions as a "war on cars," introducing legislation that would have removed the no-turn-on-red signs. But the signs were allowed to remain after city officials agreed to stop putting up new ones downtown until July 1, 2025. The Department of Public Works has no immediate plans to install new ones and will conduct a study of their effectiveness before doing so, a spokesperson said. Since the wave of new signs, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has written 94 total tickets in Mile Square as of May 1, 37 of which were tied to the South Meridian Street and West Washington Street intersection, according to data obtained by IndyStar. Across the city, drivers received 411 tickets for no-turn-on-red violations in that same timespan. Police issued about 20 such citations a month. While nearly a quarter occurred in Mile Square — the downtown area bound by North Street, East Street, West Street, and South Street — there were multiple hotspots far beyond the city's urban core. IMPD's traffic unit tends to write tickets in daily and weekly blitzes near troublesome intersections, the data shows. The intersection of East Washington Street and Pine Street near downtown saw the most citations, with 96 drivers ticketed at the site. IMPD reported 49 tickets on nine non-consecutive days of August and September 2023. Then enforcement largely cooled off until February 2024, when officers logged 20 tickets on six days. When officers in the traffic unit are on patrol, they don't focus solely on enforcing no-turn-on-red violations, IMPD Sgt. Amanda Hibschman told IndyStar. Traffic officers also watch for drivers who are speeding, running red lights or breaking other rules of the road. "We tend to focus on higher-traffic areas, busier intersections, school zones and locations where we receive the highest number of traffic complaints," Hibschman said. One of the main advocates for no-turn-on-red restrictions in Mile Square, the public health nonprofit Health by Design argued that crash data shows how drivers' failure to yield and turning movements are among the top contributors to pedestrian injuries and deaths citywide. In 2024, 41 pedestrians and cyclists died in vehicle crashes while 832, a record high, were involved in non-fatal incidents, according to Safe Streets Indy, a group that tracks collision reports. Health by Design CEO Marc McAleavey said that while 411 tickets citywide and 96 in Mile Square may seem low compared with the actual number of violations, he understands that IMPD lacks the officers to do more robust enforcement. And enforcement alone can't be expected to make drivers comply with no-turn-on-red rules, he said — that will take smarter road designs with enhanced visibility for pedestrians, along with a cultural shift toward safer walking and bicycling. "The core of the issue is that our downtown streets should be designed for people first — not just as a pass-through for cars," McAleavey said in an emailed statement. From Aug. 1, 2023, to May 1, 2025, here are the five Indianapolis intersections where drivers received the most tickets for illegally turning right on red, according to IMPD data:
