On January 4, a pedestrian was killed by a vehicle on a road in South Hadley, Massachusetts. James Collins was 68 years old. Traveling by walking or riding a bicycle rather than by car is one of the best ways to prevent climate change. Sidewalks, crosswalks, and bicycle paths that are separated from cars by a physical barrier save lives. More information on how people are working to make walking and bicycle riding safer is at:

-for Massachusetts www.MassBike.org and www.WalkBoston.org/who-we-are/mission (both groups work state-wide)

-for New Hampshire www.bwaNH.org

-for Vermont www.LocalMotion.org

The man who was killed by a car while walking in Brattleboro in December 2013 was the fourth pedestrian killed by a car in Brattleboro in two years. About 12,000 people live in Brattleboro.

According to the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts web site, “Traffic calming is a way to design streets, using physical measures, to encourage people to drive more slowly, in order to provide a more livable environment and allow people to walk and bicycle more comfortably and safely.... The reason traffic calming is such a powerful and compelling tool is that it has proven to be so effective. Some of the effects of traffic calming, such as fewer and less severe crashes, are clearly measurable. Others, such as supporting community livability, are less tangible, but equally important.”

That quote is at this web page:

www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Transportation/design/trafficcalming.aspx

According to the history of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition at www.SFbike.org, the group's “biggest victory in the 1990s were the bicycle lanes on Valencia Street, supported by the Board of Supervisors despite a Department of Parking & Traffic Director who declared 'there will be bike lanes on Valencia Street over my dead body.'"

According to www.TransAlt.org, “Transportation Alternatives’ mission is to reclaim [New York] city’s streets from the automobile, and to promote bicycling, walking, public transit and better traffic enforcement across the five boroughs. T.A.’s 100,000 active supporters and five Activist Committees work to bring safety improvements like protected bike lanes, dedicated bus lanes and pedestrian safety islands to our city’s streets.”

In Northampton on December 9, 2014, Chloe Rombach, age 22, was walking when she was hit by a car. As of February 2015, she was still unconcious.

Walking and riding a bicycle reduces obesity. Obesity causes health problems that cost American taxpayers billions of dollars annually.

In Keene in November 2011, a pedestrian was killed by a truck. The pedestrian was Robert C. Wells of Keene. He was 52.

One of the busiest roads in Brattleboro, Putney Road, has traffic lights at several intersections, but most of the intersections do not have pedestrian crosswalks and none have "walk" signals. On some sections of the road, the shoulder is about six inches wide and there is no sidewalk or bike lane. The speed limit on most of the road is 40 miles per hour. Dozens of pedestrians and people on bicycles use the road daily.