Two hundred forty people have been killed in Seattle traffic in the past decade. Ten times that many have been seriously injured.
Thursday, in solidarity with similar events across the world, neighbors from all over Seattle will converge on City Hall to remember those who have been killed or injured and call for transportation leaders to prioritize on our streets.
“We have the means and the technology and the ability to design streets that don’t kill people,” said Seattle Neighborhood Greenways (“SNG”) Executive Director Cathy Tuttle. “We shouldn’t wait any longer.”
At the City Hall rally Thursday at noon, representatives from neighborhood groups across the city will pick up their neighborhood’s set of silhouettes, one for each person killed in the past ten years. Those groups will then meet up locally Sunday to put up the silhouettes as a reminder of the loss traffic violence levies on communities (see below for those details).
“Looking at the totality of these 240 representative figures … is overwhelming,” said Tuttle. She hopes the action will be “healing and respectful,” but “also a way for communities to organize.”
SNG has been a central organizer of the event in partnership with neighborhood groups, Cascade Bicycle Club, the City of Seattle and Washington Bike Law (a Seattle Bike Blog sponsor).
We have the right to walk, bike and drive on streets that keep people safe. World Day of Remembrance is a UN affiliated world-wide event to commemorate victims of traffic violence and stand together to create a safer city for all.
There are many ways to participate in the World Day of Remembrance this year. You can attend the Memorial event at City Hall on November 17, or you can join with a group that will put up silhouettes in local neighborhoods on Sunday November 20. Event page: http://bit.ly/2g2IonD————————–
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Memorial Gathering at City Hall
Thursday, November 17th 2016
12pm
City Hall lobby 5th & Cherry
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Lake City / Northgate
Sunday, November 20th 2016
10am
Kaffeeklatsch Seattle 12513 Lake City Way NE
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the Pinehurst-Lake City area
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Ravenna / Roosevelt
Sunday, November 20th 2016
10am
Ravenna Third Place Books Cafe 6504 20th Ave NE
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the Ravenna-Roosevelt area
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Crown Hill / Broadview
Sunday, November 20th 2016
Noon 12pm
Holy Grounds Coffee on Crown Hill 9000 Holman Way NW
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the Crown Hill/Broadview area
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Ballard / Aurora / Greenwood-Phinney / Fremont
Sunday, November 20th 2016
Noon 12pm
Peddler Brewing Company 1514 NW Leary Way
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the NW Seattle area
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Queen Anne / Magnolia
Sunday, November 20th 2016
10am
Starbucks 2135 Queen Anne Ave N
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the Queen Anne/Magnolia area
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Downtown / Belltown
Sunday, November 20th 2016
10am
Uptown Espresso & Bakery 2504 4th Ave
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the Downtown/Belltown area
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Central District / Capitol Hill
Sunday, November 20th 2016
Noon 12pm
Victrola Coffee Roasters 310 E. Pike St.
Put up silhouettes in the Central District/Capitol Hill area
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Beacon Hill / Mt. Baker
Sunday, November 20th 2016
10am
The Station 2533 16th Ave S
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the Beacon Hill/Mt. Baker area
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West Seattle
Sunday, November 20th 2016
10am
Ampersand Cafe on Alki 2536 Alki Ave SW
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the West Seattle area
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Rainier Valley
Sunday, November 20th 2016
10:15 am
Bike Works 3715 S Hudson St (enter at back door)
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the Rainier Valley
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Duwamish Valley
Sunday, November 20th 2016
Noon 12pm
Oxbow Park (Hat & Boots) 6430 Corson Ave S
Distribute silhouettes to put up in the Duwamish area
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To honor those who have lost their lives to traffic violence on Seattle’s streets, we will be putting up silhouettes all across the city.
We will meet for a Citywide Memorial on Thursday November 17 at 12:00 noon, in the lobby of City Hall. We will distribute 240 silhouettes representing people who have died in Seattle on our streets in traffic in the past 10 years. First responders and families of people who have died in Seattle traffic will highlight the need for supporting safe streets in our city.
On Sunday, November 20, families and groups around Seattle will install all of the silhouettes at local events.
This a difficult time for many of us right now. World Day of Remembrance, while not a joyous event, is something we can come together on, as well as to help raise awareness among our friends and neighbors.
World Day of Remembrance is not a political event, but it is the kind of community building and coming together process that will help us keep America great. Thank you for joining us.
The City Hall event is open to the public and will recognize attendees from Seattle Fire, Seattle King County Public Health Department, Washington Traffic Safety Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as well as families of the victims who have died in traffic in Seattle.
Event co-sponsors: Vision Zero Seattle, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Cascade Bicycle Club, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Washington Bike Law
#WDR2016 #WDR2016sea @VisionZeroSea
Event page: http://bit.ly/2g2IonD
VisionZeroSea.org
http://worlddayofremembrance.org/
Comments
4 responses to “Neighbors for safe streets unite at City Hall for World Day of Remembrance Thursday”
Interesting timing. Just this morning I was thinking about Kevin Black after I was cut off by a white van doing a U-turn at 24th and 65th, the same spot Kevin was killed. The other thing I noted was the bike lane markings that existed when Kevin was killed are now completely faded.
I would like to see “bike routes” that are no longer maintained (or painted) removed from the Seattle bike map.
RIP Kevin and all the others
A member of West Seattle Bike Connections asked me: I wonder if the phrase “administration founded on hatred” is too strong? I’m from a red (ish) area of the country. Some of my friends and family I love very much supported Trump and I don’t think all of them are full of hate.
My answer: I don’t believe that most of the folks who voted for the incoming administration are hateful people at all. They are people who feel disempowered and disappointed by all that the national government has done to alleviate very real suffering and they were voting with their hearts.
Sadly, with the first few key staff appointments the incoming administration has made, the power remains with Washington lobbyists and insiders, as well as unleashing some horrifically hateful people into positions of real power.
SNG is a citywide organization and not a political one at that. My position is that we continue our focus on the very local — to PROTECT the most vulnerable, PLAN at the grassroots level, SUPPORT our allies doing the right thing in city government and other institutions, and CELEBRATE our successes with joy.
[…] Sunday’s meetups and silhouette placements will happen in neighborhoods across the city. […]
[…] Neighbors then took their area’s share of the 212 silhouette figures event planners made (“There were actually 240 people killed on Seattle streets, but some of the places are just too dangerous to out up a silhouette,” said Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Director Cathy Tuttle). Some have already been installed at the sites of people’s deaths in traffic. Others will be put up by neighborhood groups Sunday. You can see the list of those neighborhood efforts on our previous post. […]