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Philadelphia's Vision Zero: Making Streets Safer For Pedestrians, Bicyclists And Motorists

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia held a day-long conference with stakeholders in the effort to promote safer streets, for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.

The aim of Vision Zero in Philadelphia is to lay out proven strategies to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030, through education, engineering and enforcement.

The participants included UBER, AAA, city and state agencies, urban designers, transportation planners, and host Jefferson University, where Dr. Murray Cohen is the Director of Trauma Programs at its hospital.

"90% of our patients are blunt injured, pedestrians, car versus cars and transfers from the surrounding community of high-speed autos," Cohen said.

Bill Armbruster of the AARP says one way to make getting around safer is to concentrate on where the accidents are happening.

"Are the majority of these collisions happening on 6% of the roads, or are they equally dispersed around?"

Advocates are crunching the numbers on crash data, while pushing for safety improvements at intersections, and better enforcement of traffic laws.

Executive Director Sarah Clark Stuart of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia says they're also trying to create a culture that has folks thinking safety, first.

"Having people understand the importance of being more careful, and being more courteous," she said.

The Vision Zero concept began in Sweden in the mid 1990's, where traffic deaths have been dramatically reduced. Now, a growing number of American cities are hoping similar policies will produce better outcomes.

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