Turning Grief into Action

On this episode of the Mechanics of Transportation, I speak with Families for Safe Streets co-founder Amy Cohen. 

The non-profit was founded in 2014 in New York City by families who either lost loved ones who were killed in crashes or who were severely injured. Amy, who lost her son Sammy, is in this group.

120 people are killed everyday in America due to traffic-related accidents, which is about 46,000 people every year, according to their website.

Families for Safe Streets helps those affected by traffic violence by connecting them to support groups and by helping communities change legislation to make the streets safer for everyone.

Recently, they launched a nationwide digital memorial database for families to post stories and pictures about their loved ones; and the group also put out a call to action for the federal government to install speed limiting technology into all their fleet vehicles, just like many other countries have done. Some cities, like New York, have this in place. You can sign a petition supporting their efforts.

We talk about their work, about the memorial, the call to action and what others can do to help make streets safer.

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