Amy Cohen speaks to Chuck Marohn on Strong Towns about the importance of using both data and personal stories to drive change, some of Families for Safe Streets’ recent initiatives, and advice for local advocates on how to support people who have lost loved ones to traffic violence. Learn how victim-led advocacy can change the conversation in the fight for safe streets.

More than 70 communities in 29 states and Washington DC marked World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in the United States. FSS members, advocates, and community leaders organized rallies, memorial walks and bike rides, candlelight vigils, visual installations with shoes and flags to represent those killed in traffic crashes and called on leaders across all levels of government to implement life-saving safety measures. Mayors and other local and state elected leaders participated in many of the events, accompanied by people whose children, parents or friends had been killed or severely injured in crashes that could and should be prevented in the future. Check out the coverage in Forbes. Over 100 media outlets covered the events. Read the WDoR recap of events in the US.

FSS Co-Founder Amy Cohen joined Walk SF Jodie Medeiros and Kea Wilson from Streetsblog USA for a conversation on how to get government at all levels to take action for safer vehicles. Check out the webinar.

Eight months after surviving a horrific crash where she was not expected to live, FSS California member Anna Cornelius-Schecter shares her story in Next City and demands action for safer vehicles — starting with mandating anti-speeding tech in the federal fleet.

“This past February, right after the Super Bowl ended, I said goodbye to my friends and shared how excited I was to ride my new bicycle home. When I hadn’t texted my friends to confirm I’d arrived home safely, they checked my shared location and saw that I was in the hospital. There was nothing I could have done to prevent the near-deadly crash. But our leaders could be doing more to protect us all from this kind of random suffering.”

Portland’s FSS chapter joined with Bike Loud to honor two cyclists who were killed a few hours and miles apart from each other in NE Portland — demanding that cycling be safer so that 25% of travel in Portland to be done by bicycle by 2030. Check out the coverage.

FSS members share about the power of storytelling on the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety’s webinar. Check out the Heartbreak to Hope webinar.

FSS member Jessica Hart was featured last night on PBS News Hour, sharing her daughter Allie’s story, who was killed by a driver while biking in a crosswalk. Learn more about Allie’s story and potential NHTSA and IIHS regulations to reduce pedestrian fatalities.

Thanks to the hard-fought work of FSS and Transportation Alternatives, Governor Hochul signed the reauthorization and expansion of the red light camera program into law.

FSS members in New York attended Community Board 1 to speak in support of the 20 mph regional slow zone south of Canal Street. FSS successfully fought for NYC to lower speed limits with passage of Sammy’s Law by the NYS legislature but now it’s up to the NYC Department of Transportation to implement it.

Listen to the Mechanic of Transportation podcast to learn about FSS efforts, the new virtual StoryMap memorial, the call to action for safer vehicles, and what others can do to help make streets safer.

FSS efforts with America Walks to get anti-speeding technology on fleet vehicles, starting with the federal fleet featured in Streetsblog USA.

Listen to Professor Regina Bateson, Amy Cohen & Aly Gellar on the Keep Kids Alive Podcast. The conversation explores how personal narratives drive policy change, the role of community support, and the FSS story map that honors victims of traffic violence.

Kingston NY FSS member Rose Quinn on Radio Kingston’s O+ Radio Hour — discussing World Day of Remembrance, Families for Safe Streets, ghost bike memorials, the effort to lower speeds to 25 mph, and The Speed of Silence - a documentary in the making, highlighting the tragic impact of traffic violence in Ulster County. Through powerful personal testimonies, the film highlights the urgent need for change and the deafening silence from officials in response to community pleas for safer streets. 

Families for Safe Streets and America Walks along with the Vision Zero Network, Together for Safer Roads, Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety, and others are urging the Biden-Harris administration to implement anti-speeding technology in the federal fleet. Read the press release, fact sheet & FAQ, and sign the petition.

FSS members proudly joined NYCDOT after years of advocacy from our members and so many others to announce the first set of lower speed limits in NYC — on the street where Sammy Cohen Eckstein was killed. Coverage from NY1, PIX 11, NY Daily News, CBS News, US Sun, Staten Island Live, News 12, and AMNY.

Traffic safety expert and urbanist Peter Norton powerfully shares in this Next City OpEd why having a memorial for traffic violence like the FSS StoryMap is critical.

FSS members from California and across the country shared their stories to fight for proven, common-sense life-saving technology. Read OpEds from Amy Cohen and Colin Campbell, see Joe Martinez on ABS news, read Lori Argumedo’s petition that garnered nearly 5,000 signatures, and read our press release after Governor Newsom’s veto.

FSS Southern California member Michel Shane led a successful campaign to get permission for five speed safety cameras to Pacific Coast Highway where his 13-year-old daughter Emily was killed by a driver exceeding 70 mph. Over 17 people have been killed on PCH since 2015, and over 600 have been seriously injured. The deadly road is the subject of Shane’s acclaimed documentary 21 Miles in Malibu.

Amy Cohen honored at UN General Assembly Roadway Safety event. “It was an honor to join so many world leaders fighting to end traffic violence at this year's UN General Assembly. We won't stop fighting until everyone can get home safely.”

After ten years of study, Doctor Regina Bateson has published an article on FSS -- Finding Meaning in Politics: When Victims Become Activists. She demonstrates how through activism, FSS’ grief-advocates can re-conceptualize the losses and harms they have suffered as policy problems, rather than random, inexplicable events. She also argues that political involvement offers FSS members unique ways of finding meaning in the tragedies victims have suffered. Finally, she shares how emotional benefits often arise during collective action and meaning-making is an in-process benefit of activism.