Carnage | Streetsblog San Francisco

Posts from the "Carnage" Category

Thursday, January 28, 2010 1 Comment

Miami DWI Death Galvanizes Cyclists in South Florida

Cyclists rally in memory of Christophe Le Canne. Photo: rydel/Picasa via Miami Bike Scene

The horrific death of a 44-year-old resident of South Miami has enraged
cyclists across South Florida, igniting a debate over street safety in
a region historically dominated by devil-may-care drivers.

On January 17, Christophe Le Canne was out for a Sunday
morning ride on the Rickenbacker Causeway, which connects the city of
Miami with Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, when he was hit from behind
and knocked from his bike by Carlos Bertonatti, a 28-year-old aspiring
musician with a long history of traffic offenses. Bertonatti drove for miles with Le Canne’s blue Cannondale wedged beneath his Volkswagen Jetta.
Le Canne died before paramedics arrived on the scene.

Bertonatti was arrested outside his Key Biscayne apartment after a police officer observed him
dragging Le Canne’s bike. He was charged with DUI manslaughter,
vehicular homicide, resisting arrest, driving without a license and
leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

This could have been
written off as an isolated incident — another drunk driver with a
checkered driving record takes another life. But for several possible
reasons, that didn’t happen. Consider the arrogance of the killer.
Bertonatti’s website, according to the Miami Herald, "had boasted of his poor driving record." Police had to strap him to a fire department backer board in order to extract a blood sample. After the crash, Bertonatti issued regrets through his publicist. He is currently out on bail.

WHO Report Highlights Global Health Risk of Traffic

by Elana Schor

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Pro football player Donte’ Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in jail today after killing a pedestrian in an alcohol-related crash. Photo: AP

The disparity between the 13 percent of road fatalities suffered by non-drivers and the amount that the federal government spends on their safety — less than one percent — may come as a surprise to some Americans. But the situation is far worse in the developing world, according to a new World Health Organization report.

Surveying
data on crashes and driving from 178 nations, the WHO found that
wealthy nations such as the U.S., U.K. and Germany own more than half
of the world’s registered cars but suffer only 8.5 percent of global
traffic fatalities.

It is low-income nations, from Vietnam
to Ghana to Nepal, that must contend with more than 40 percent of
worldwide traffic deaths despite owning less than 10 percent of all
registered cars.

The WHO also found that non-drivers bear a
significant share of traffic’s health risks. Pedestrians and bike
riders of all types account for nearly one-half of the world’s 1.27
million annual deaths on the road.

Only 15 percent of
nations, according to the report, have laws that fully address the five
risk factors for traffic safety: speed, helmets, child restraints, seat
belts and drunk driving.

As the Washington Post
noted, the report’s authors (who received funding from Mayor Mike
Bloomberg’s philanthropic group) think their conclusions can provide
momentum for something resembling a global "complete streets" movement:

Until the current recession, auto sales in some developing countries
were increasing by more than 10 percent a year. The authors hope the
report will help stimulate governments and engineers to design roads
that can accommodate a huge influx of cars but also out-of-car users.