Sasha Kestane
@sashakestane.bsky.social
99 followers 390 following 130 posts
Activating myself and my community in support of mobility justice + abundant housing. Everyone deserves access to a livable city.
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sashakestane.bsky.social
What could happen if instead of "expecting delays [for drivers] in the area," Community expected (and got) immediate+effective safety upgrades to prevent another tragedy?
sashakestane.bsky.social
What can decision makers do to prevent these predictable tragedies? Are they willing to listen and learn from advocates? Are they willing to #PrioritizePeople & put #SafetyFirst? Is a system that expects unpaid advocates to hold paid officials accountable fair, just, equitable?
sashakestane.bsky.social
Public messages emphasizes personal responsibility, denying Community of systemic, public-health interventions that save lives & support livability. Wheater a motorist "stayed on scene" or was a "hit-and-run" driver, death is still final. Injuries have long-term impacts on crash victims & families.
sashakestane.bsky.social
Denver transportation officials are supposed to employ a #VisionZero Rapid Response process that "engages advocacy" after a fatal or serious-injury crash, but advocates have been denied meaningful engagement opportunities.
sashakestane.bsky.social
Over the weekend in #Denver drivers hit 2 people using a scooter, another driver & 2 people on bikes, including one in West Colfax who was killed. For years, West Colfax community members have been asking (begging?) for traffic calming measures along W14th Ave. For years, they've been denied.
sashakestane.bsky.social
“Allowing American vehicles onto the EU market on the basis of ‘mutual recognition’ of standards is a betrayal of Europe’s safety leadership, and it will cost lives. Europe now risks being flooded with oversized, under-regulated U.S. pick-up trucks and SUVs..."
brenttoderian.bsky.social
This is an INSANE decision by the E.U.

“By signing up to mutual recognition of vehicle standards with the U.S., the E.U. has waved the white flag on road safety. This is not a technical detail – it is a political choice that puts trade convenience ahead of saving lives.”

This will kill people.
ETSC: Mutual recognition deal with U.S. will cost lives on Europe’s roads
By signing up to mutual recognition of vehicle standards with the United States, the European Union has waved the white flag on road safety. This is not a technical detail – it is a political choice…
etsc.eu
sashakestane.bsky.social
No major reporting organization in the Denver metro area has covered Salih's death with such depth, showing how political decisions often lead to preventable deaths and serious injuries on our public streets. 🥀💔🥀

bucketlistcommunitycafe.com/what-is-bein...
photo of ghost bike on the corner of an intersection with two cars in the foreground screenshot of a section of the article highlighting the names of two government officials (the executive director of the department of transportation and the elected city councilmember for district 1 in Denver)
sashakestane.bsky.social
Something we hear a lot in my U.S. city is that bike lanes/changes to the cars-first status quo leads to gentrification/displacement/inaccessible spaces. That working class & disabled folx need cars/trucks to make a living/get places (ignoring the fact that many are nondrivers). How do you answer?
sashakestane.bsky.social
To be fair, you can't be expected to see outside of your giant truck/SUV.
sashakestane.bsky.social
Drivers can be distracted by many things. The distraction I most often see is drivers looking at their cell phone, or eating, or putting on makeup, or talking to the person sitting next to/behind them. Lots of things distract drivers. Distraction doesn't need to result in death/injury. #SafeSystem
sashakestane.bsky.social
Watch and tell me what's most likely to "impede the ADA ramp in that location" and "interfere with pedestrian traffic and the traffic light sight triangle."
sashakestane.bsky.social
Salih's ghost bike is interfering with absolutely no one.

When your DOT's policies make it easier to kill someone with a car than to place a ghost bike, they're designed to uphold a cars-first system, regardless of any action plans the DOT claims to pursue, like #VisionZero or #SRTS or #Climate.
sashakestane.bsky.social
With permission from Salih's family, DBL is organizing a ghost bike dedication at the crash site (W38th Ave & Tejon St) on Saturday, 8/2, at 11 AM. Please join us, especially if you are a community member in District 1 (Denver, CO), & share w/your neighbors. 🤍🚲🤍🥀❤️🥀

@denverbicyclelobby.bsky.social
Reposted by Sasha Kestane
denverbicyclelobby.bsky.social
We are getting unconfirmed reports that the victim of the fatal hit and run bike crash on Tejon Street was 21 year old student, Salih Koç. We send our deepest sympathy to their family, friends, and community in Turkey.
sashakestane.bsky.social
Devastating. Preventable. 💔
Reposted by Sasha Kestane
nosquish.bsky.social
Yes, a protected bike lane could have made a difference for the crossing.

Just to get that out there before the inevitable bad faith push back
Original design shows the intersection would have received safety treatments too including a bike light
Reposted by Sasha Kestane
sashakestane.bsky.social
"shunning all nonmotorized life" = most of our transportation/mobility infrastructure

sent to the margins, pushed to the edges (h/t @jonathonstalls.bsky.social), beneficiaries of "accommodations" after motorized traffic has been studied, prioritized, made more convenient

undignified
humantransit.bsky.social
It doesn't matter where this is, because this is *everywhere* in the US. I see them in every US city where I work. This is how many, many WalMarts are built: visible from high speed roads but as far as possible from them, as though with the goal of shunning all nonmotorized life. 3/