Photo by mlcastle on Flickr.

In the video David posted yesterday about New York’s ambition to become world’s greatest, greenest big city, Mayor Bloomberg noted that dramatic changes have yielded dramatic results.

In three years, “Traffic fatalities are down 20 percent,” he said. In addition, New York’s life expectancy has gone up, “and part of that is reduced traffic deaths.” But New York is doing more than celebrating its successes. In August, NYC DOT released a pedestrian study and action plan to lay out how the city will continue to make its streets safer.

Similarly bold action — including expanded pedestrian space in busy corridors — in the next few years could help DC catch up to New York’s enviable traffic fatality rates. Until then, each week, we map cyclist and pedestrian crashes in the District. Thankfully, this week was a quiet one.

“Safety is number one at DDOT…The pedestrian is the most vulnerable because they’re the slowest and they have no armor. The cyclist is second-most vulnerable. And so you really have to…make sure that you’re protecting the most vulnerable people first.” - DDOT Director Gabe Klein on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, August 4, 2010.

To make it easier for all of us to keep tabs on DDOT’s top priority, we’re mapping each week’s cyclist and pedestrian crashes as reported by Struck in DC, which has been tracking crashes on Twitter since June 1. While it is not a comprehensive listing of all pedestrian and cyclist incidents on our city’s streets, Struck in DC does keep tabs on reports from DC Fire/EMS and other sources. If you know of a crash that wasn’t mapped here, report it to Struck in DC.

For a tally of Struck in DC crashes we have recorded, please view the spreadsheet.