Last week the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) removed bike lanes, road diets, and speed management from their Proven Safety Countermeasures website. Proven Safety Countermeasures are highly effective, data-driven strategies or physical modification implemented on roads and highways that keep us safe, and which the USDOT highly recommends states and local governments implement.
For instance, if you were able to read the now-removed bike lanes one pager you would find that bicycle lane additions can reduce all crashes—not just bicyclist crashes—up to 49% for total crashes on urban 4-lane undivided collectors and local roads, and 30% for total crashes on urban 2-lane undivided collectors and local roads. That FHWA document from 2023 also notes studies and experience in cities has found that adding bike lanes to roads did not cause congestion.
The same is true for speed management proven safety countermeasures. Research (and common sense) shows that high speed increases crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
Proven safety countermeasures are lighthouses to guide officials towards safer roadway designs. They rest on a mountain of evidence. They are prominent and illuminating, suggesting the most effective infrastructure for solving our nation’s traffic death crisis.
By taking down these strategies, the Federal Highway Administration is effectively telling states and local governments that they no longer encourage states and local governments to invest in safety! No extent of erasure will change the physics that make speed management critical to safer streets. Removing countermeasures is like turning the light off. Communities unaware of the guidance will see crashes—ones we know can be prevented through proven countermeasures—and lives will be lost as a result.
USDOT needs to explain why it is putting politics ahead of safety.
On Friday, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), ranking Democrat on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee released a statement asking for a briefing from the USDOT about why these safety measures are no longer encouraged, adding that “It’s not political to say bike lanes and speed cameras improve safety; it’s a statement of fact.”
We need your help in amplifying Rep. Larsen’s message. Please ask your member of Congress to join Rep. Larsen in asking for a briefing. We deserve an explanation on why the administration is erasing protections for vulnerable road users.