Families for Safe Streets member Gina LaBlanc returned to her son Kyle’s crash site for the first time since he lost his life there at the hands of a speeding tow truck driver in 2016. Joining Mayor Matt Mahan and city officials, Gina welcomed a $12.9M federal infrastructure grant to improve some of the city’s deadliest intersections, including Canoas Garden and Curtner Avenue, where Kyle and too many others in San Jose have been killed over the years. The money will help to build a protected intersection separating bikes from traffic, a new sidewalk to fill the section that is missing, and traffic signal improvements. Gina’s relentless advocacy in a community where over 60 people were killed by drivers in 2022 is a guiding light.

From Portland to Pittsburgh, Louisville to Las Vegas, and Madison to New York City, a record-number of people joined forces to call for an end to the tragic and preventable roadway safety crisis across the nation.

On this World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDoR), more than 75 communities organized rallies, memorial walks and bike rides, candle lighting vigils, installations of shoes and life-size cut-outs to represent those killed in preventable traffic deaths. Organizers include crash survivors, people who have lost loved ones in crashes, elected leaders, public agency staff, community advocates and others.

We all have a story of how traffic violence impacted us. Whether you’ve been in a crash yourself, known someone whose life was changed by one, or lost a loved one on our roadways, the ongoing epidemic of traffic violence has left no one unaffected.