Road Diets: Designing a Safer Street
Videos
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Engineering
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Provided by Vox
What it is
- This video explains the benefits of road diets, which convert four lane roads into two lane roads with a middle lane for lefthand turns. These two lane roads reduce car accidents, cause drivers to drive at slower speeds, and provide space for bike lanes and sidewalks.
- Students will learn that road diets are most effective at reducing crashes in places where the traffic volume is less than 15,000 vehicles per day.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This thought-provoking video will help students to think differently about road design in the United States.
- The video description contains links to a variety of reports on the value of road diets.
Additional Prerequisites
- The video begins with an advertisement.
- The video does not mention the potential environmental benefits of road diets. Road diets reduce emissions from the transportation sector by shifting travelers to other modes of transportation, including walking, biking, and public transit.
Differentiation
- Science classes could come up with a list of the environmental benefits of road diets (e.g., potential for more green space, some people may choose to bike or walk instead of drive, etc.).
- Math and statistics classes could look at the graph at 2:28 and discuss how the 6 mph reduction in speed impacts the likelihood of death in a car accident.
- Other resources on this topic include this Not Just Bikes video that shows the problems with street-road hybrids, this Vox video on how highways make traffic worse, and this Grist video on what makes cities walkable.
From the scientist review
Road diet is an important strategy for reducing road accidents in most urban and suburban locations. This resource is insightful and recommended for teaching.
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