The BikeABQ list serve received notice of this article today:

http://krqe.com/blog/2017/12/05/albuquerque-named-most-dangerous-city-for-cyclists/

My context on this is the following:

In Albuquerque during 2016 there were 61 murders.

As of 11/30/2017 - 71 murders - topping 70 murders, which was our record from 1996 Note: this is from one month before the end of the year.

National Insurance Crime Bureau: "The bureau reported the Albuquerque area had the highest per-capita rate of auto thefts in the country." How many cars is that you ask? Well, "6,657 vehicles were reported stolen in 2015 and 10,011 in 2016"

There are complicated issues with pedestrian deaths in ABQ and NM. However, "Thirty-four people killed.

That’s the number of pedestrians who died in 2016 after being run over or hit by cars in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County."

We have a crisis going on in ABQ over many issues. One common theme that runs through these issues is lack of enforcement.

APD has been under a consent decree for poor policing, including excessive use of deadly force, for some time. This has trashed moral, led to a massive exodus of experienced officers, and a severely understaffed force. "The Albuquerque Police Department had 1,100 officers in 2009 and now has fewer than 850 (5/30/16). The department is budgeted for 1,000 officers." True enough that ABQ isn't the only place with an understaffed police force, but even if APD was actively out there writing tickets for traffic offenses and generally trying to keep traffic under control, how well could they do that being understaffed by 150 to 250 officers, depending on how you make the calculation?

I wouldn't want to be in Mayor Elect Keller's shoes, but am trying to remain hopeful that he will be able to effect changes that address these issues. To add our collective efforts to improve the traffic situation we can (if we don't already):

As road users, we can check our own behavior - avoiding things that contribute to the high death rates like not being on the road "under the influence" and putting our cell phones down.
We can help by talking about cell phone use with others - a citizen action against driving while texting.
As cyclists we can be on guard and never rely on any sort of "protected bike space" to keep us out of harms way.
Also as cyclists, we can communicate with drivers to help them see us and respond appropriately. A friendly hand gesture, like a wave, goes a long way towards gaining motorists' attention and keeping us safer.

Jennifer Buntz