Vision Zero Action Plan

The risk of accidents rises gradually with BACs from 0.01 to 0.08 percent, but increases dramatically after a person’s BAC reaches or exceeds 0.08 percent. According to the article Drunk Driving on Gale Groups, drunk drivers in 2009 only, caused 10,839 deaths. This number represents almost one-third of all traffic related deaths that year. ! 0,839 people is a HUGE number of deaths and is a result of letting drunk people onto the roads.

“...Much of the recent crime increase threatens the vitality of America’s cities–and thousands of lives–it is not, in itself, the greatest danger in today’s war on cops. The greatest danger lies, rather, in the delegitimation of law and order itself’ (Mac Donald). In the book “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe,” published in the year of 2016, author Heather Mac Donald provides credible evidence to expand on her viewpoint of our country’s current criminal crisis. In addition to “The War on Cops, Mac Donald has written two other books. Her works “Are Cops Racist?”

Some will disagree, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that texting and driving is the number one killer of teens in the United States. Is Texting and driving the new addiction, is it the leading cause of deaths on our nation 's’ highways, and is there a solution? Texting and driving is an addiction according to Dave Simon “it appears that addiction is no longer just about drugs, alcohol, junk food, or tobacco. The inability to disconnect or postpone an activity is an addition.” Simon further states that “distracted driving lessons appear to be the norm if we are to believe a new survey done by State Farm and reported by USA Today”.

With 136 recorded unarmed deaths from 2015 to 2016, there is a need for reform within policing procedures (“Number of People…” 1). Further, Castille’s death gives rise in efforts to stop police brutality, such as the notable Black Lives Matter Movement. Sensing a biased attitude, minority groups perceive policing figures as untrustworthy and unreliable, demonstrating a decline in police accountability. However, police accountability in Castille’s case is disputable because traffic stops are known as the most dangerous part in policing, and the shooting may have been carried out for self-protection rather than personal satisfaction (“Police Brutality: Do…” 8). When discussing possibilities of reform based on the circumstance of the brutal act, there is an evolving debate of whether community involvement is effective in fulfilling a role towards regaining democratic order and public security, or if the police force should continue to take law enforcement matters into their own hands (Friedmann

Informed policy needs to be created so the appropriate steps can be made to move from our current system of mass incarceration to a system that effectively rehabilitees offenders which results in lower crime rates. After all our criminal justice system was not established solely to incapacitate offenders, it should also aid in reducing recidivism. Rehabilitation, alternative sentencing, and mental health all used to be crucial components of the criminal justice system. Then our society saw a massive decrease in mental health facilities as well as a perceived increase in crime. Crime was perceived to have increased due to politicians and the federal government preying on society’s fear of crime to further their political campaigns and agendas.

What people do not understand is that sometimes the victim is actually the one causing the problems. In certain situations police body cameras are very helpful and affective. “Since the pilot program started in 2014, complaints have dropped by 40.5 percent and the use of "personal body" force by officers fell 46.5 percent. Officer's use of pepper spray was reduced by 30.5 percent, according to a report released by the Police Department for the City Council's Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee” (Prall 1). If this trend continues it is less likely for police to be viewed in the public eye as the wrong doers.

Gregg Easterbrook, a fellow of the Brookings Institution and author of The Progress Paradox, argues in his article “Road Kill,” that people in the United States are not paying attention to a major killer: our roads. In his essay, Easterbrook explains the lack of attention to the threat of road accidents, even comparing it to 9/11, which has become a serious threat to Americans on the road, and even worldwide. Many Americans dismiss the problem, even though it is huge even if it is not perceived as a huge threat like terrorism. Some causes of the rise in accident casualties proposed by Easterbrook are distracted driving and the rapid increase of horsepower. Easterbrook proposes multiple solutions to the problem, such as increased legislation on distracted driving and reducing horsepower in cars (A1-4).

Do you think texting while walking should be banned? The first reason was there has been deaths and serious injuries from distracted walkers while they where on their phones. the second reason was also people need to be responsible and pay attention to their surroundings while walking and people need to be aware of there surrounding and don’t need to look at their phone more then they do the sidewalk. For example, according to the article Take Steps to Avoid Injury While Walking there has been way more fatalities injury’s form distracted walkers while they where on their phones.

Speed limits are vital to ensure people’s safety, both the driver’s and surrounding pedestrians. The most common cause of road accidents are because of speeding. The higher speed increases the chance of an accident. Enforcing speed limits may help prevent accident that occur on roads. Statistics show the Each year over 700 people are killed in crashes involving someone exceeding the speed limit.

Restrictions that only target the consumer have not worked. This is due, in part, to the ease

Furthermore, most of this increase is the result of Chicago 's murder rate increasing so significantly. We are thrilled that crime rates are decreasing, but wish to know what is driving up the murder rates in certain cities. Some experts believe it is due to fewer police officers and/or fewer programs designed to prevent violence. Poverty does appear to play a role in this problem, and the same is true of a rise in gang violence in these cities. With the current administration looking at gun control laws, this may be changing, but no one can say what impact this will truly have.

The other 96% are continuing adding to our pollution and waste of resource. To make a big impact on our environment more than 50% should contribute. Cars and factories play a big role in our pollution, causing Global Warming. People don’t notice the way they take advantage of transportation. Seeing people walk to a 2 min store destination is never seen, people prefer to drive their vehicles.

Trace L. Meares(2015) is the one who claims that the increase in crime is because of the “Ferguson effect”, and that long term data most likely will show a decline in crime. She uses a visual chart showing the shootings in NYC since 2004. She says that there has been frequent raises and declines in crime, and this particular raise is not because of the police backing off because of criticism. I found it really persuasive after seeing the visual to support her argument. James Alan Fox uses statistics to support his argument and says, “Reported jumps in crime in some cities reflect only a few months, a statistically unreliable indicator of a trend.”

News reporters and media outlets frequently paint a picture that portrays the decrease in crime due to an increase in stop-and-frisk procedures. According to Evans and Williams (2015), those who agree with stop-and-frisk feel that this policy helps police officers to prevent crime from occurring. Many believe that it is drastically decreasing the amount of illegal firearms, therefore making cities safer. However, this is not the case as many often perceive it. According to the New York Civil Liberties Union (2012), on average less than one of every 800 stop-and-frisk scenarios resulted in the confiscation of a firearm.

Controversies In an article, “Controversies and Speed Cameras: Lessons Learnt Internationally.” written by Amanda Delaney, Heather Ward, Max Cameron, & Williams, A. (2005) it seeks to explain that controversies in which speed camera causes and the ineffectiveness of Doppler radar that is used by law enforcement officers such as police officers to help reduce the rate of speeding within the United States. In the modified annotated bibliography it states that speed cameras are effective but it is the way in which it is used makes it effective. Statistics have proven from studies that in the United States one out of every three accidents is due to speeding.