Let's Talk New Mexico 5/16 8a: All around the country, more people who are walking are hit by drivers in neighborhoods with low incomes and in communities of color. Here in Bernalillo County, one out of every five times there’s a pedestrian crash, it happens in the few square miles of Albuquerque’s International District. Residents say a big part of the problem is bad street lighting, speeding drivers, big roads, crumbling sidewalks, and not enough intersections or bus stops.
Do you see these problems where you live in the state? Have you noticed especially dark or unlit parts of town—in Albuquerque or anywhere around New Mexico? How do they affect you? What needs to change? Have you ever been hit by a car while you were walking or biking or using a wheelchair? What happened? Email LetsTalk@KUNM.org, tweet using the hashtag #LetsTalkNM or call in live during the show.
Guests:
- Bernadette Hardy, co-coordinator, International District Healthy Communities Coalition
- Enrique Cardiel, executive director, Bernalillo County Community Health Council
- Scot Key, blogger, Better Burque
- Rashad Mahmood, project coordinator and web producer, KUNM’s Public Health New Mexico project
Resources:
In The Dark - KUNM series on streetlights and pedestrian crashes
- Maps of pedestrian crashes and lighting in Albuquerque - KUNM
Study: Drivers Less Likely to Yield for Black Pedestrians - Streetsblog USA
Fight Street Crime With Speed Bumps and Crosswalks - Streetsblog USA
When It Comes to Streetlights, Power Matters - Kinder Institute for Urban Research
Study Sheds Light on the Effect of Streetlights on Crime - Planetizen.org
- Dangerous By Design 2019 - SmartGrowthAmerica.org
- Reducing Crime Through Environmental Design: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment of Street Lighting in New York City - National Bureau of Economic Research
- Improved Street Lighting - National Institute of Justice
- Can Streetlighting Reduce Crime? - Urban Labs, University of Chicago
