Category: News

News of general interest, but without any BEST actions.

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims – Speed Kills

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  • The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year.
  • WDR is a high-profile global event to remember the many millions who have been killed and seriously injured on the world’s roads and to acknowledge the suffering of all affected victims, families and communities.
  • In 2019, an estimated 38,800 people in the United States lost their lives to car crashes.
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Ride 4 Justice: equity in transportation and safe streets for all

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Isiah Wagoner and Shawntel Robertson of Minority Freedom Network.| Photo by Austin Johnson
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Driving Down Emissions: Transportation, land use, and climate change

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Driving Down Emissions: Transportation, land use, and climate change

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, save lives, promote better health, and create places where people want to live, a new report from Transportation for America and Smart Growth America recommends:

  • Getting onerous government regulations out of the way of providing more homes where people naturally drive less;
  • Making safety the top priority for street design to encourage more short trips;
  • Instituting GHG reduction and less driving as goals of the transportation system;
  • Investing heavily in other options for getting around; and
  • Prioritizing access to destinations.
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Ride 4 Justice: Statement by Aimee Okotie-Oyekan

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Shawntel Robertson reads Aimee’s statement in Monroe Park

Aimee Okotie-Oyekan is the Environmental and Climate Justice Coordinator for NAACP Eugene/Springfield and a graduate student studying planning at the University of Oregon. At home in Atlanta during the pandemic, she asked that the following statement be read during the Ride 4 Justice:

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After fatal traffic stop shooting, Springfield agrees to pay $4.55M, review police use of force

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Stacy Kenny
Stacy Kenny

UPDATE 12/28/2020: Added links to recent Washington Post podcast and Atlantic story.

UPDATE 10/17/2020: Added information from Washington Post story about police shootings involving people in the throes of a mental health crisis.

  • On March 31, 2019, during a traffic stop, Springfield police killed Stacy Kenny, a 33-year-old Springfield resident, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Court records show Kenny legally changed her name and gender in Lane County Court on September 20, 2018.
  • On April 16, 2019, Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow ruled that a Springfield police officer was lawful in his use of force.
  • On July 15, 2020, lawyers for the family of Kenny announced that the city of Springfield had agreed to pay $4.55 million and to undertake police reforms.
  • Nationally, about a quarter of all fatal police shootings involved someone police said was in the throes of a mental health crisis.
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Black Unity activist struck by driver during Children’s March

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Isiah Wagoner
Isiah Wagoner speaks to fellow protesters at the Federal Courthouse during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Eugene, Ore. Wednesday, June 3, 2020 (Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard file)
  • Multiple eye-witnesses report that Isiah Wagoner, 29, a leader of the activist group Black Unity, was intentionally struck by Travis Paul Waleri, 34, driving a white Subaru during a Children’s March on Sunday, June 28, 2020.
  • Wagoner was taken to PeaceHealth Riverbend and later sent home to recover from injuries he sustained. Waleri was later detained by police as part of an investigation.
  • Black Unity held a march on Friday, July 3, 2020, to demand justice for member Wagoner. Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis denounced acts of violence.
  • BEST is looking into an increase in the “weaponization of vehicles.”
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2020 BEST Awards to Eugene transportation project, Downtown Springfield, and Springfield planner

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EUGENE, OR (June 24, 2020)—Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation recently presented awards to the Amazon Active Transportation Corridor, Downtown Springfield, and Springfield Transportation Planner Emma Newman.

Inspired by the Oscars and affectionately known as the “BESTies,” the annual BEST Awards recognize excellence in improving the quality of transportation in the Eugene-Springfield area and beyond.

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Eugene candidates offer views on making streets safer

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EUGENE, OR (May 2, 2020) — Ten candidates running for city council and four for mayor offered their views on making streets safer in Eugene.

BEST invited all 20 candidates running in the May 19, 2020, Primary Election to respond to a transportation safety questionnaire. A local 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit, BEST does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office. BEST is sharing all responses received as a public service to inform voters.

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