Salem’s roads are unsafe.

Each year, dozens of people are struck in traffic and far too many of them are seriously injured or die as a result of those crashes. The Salem Keizer Area Transportation Study, the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, has developed an interactive crash location viewer, which identifies where each crash in the Salem area (not just within city limits) has taken place and the severity of the crash. There are limits to the data and crash data, particularly for people walking and biking is regularly undercounted. Even with the incomplete picture, a sobering picture is revealed.

To reduce serious and fatal crashes, we need to design our streets to be safer. Adding protected bike lanes and slowing traffic are two of the most cost-effective ways to do that.