Pedestrians and cyclists don't emit greenhouse gases, it needs to be safer to be one in our cities
some key ideas to reduce the risks to both, as well as give both the opportunity to protect themselves from injury:
1) If pedestrians have a green in a crosswalk, drivers crossing that crosswalk should NOT have a green light. This is especially important for left and right turns which cross the crosswalk behind a pedestrian walking the same direction (who cannot see the traffic approaching or coming at them). Cars already don't have the right of way in such instance, but with a green light at the intersection, drivers aren't slowing as they approach the intersection --neglecting to consider pedestrians.
2) Ideally, intersections and crosswalks should be signaled so that pedestrians and cars are not signaled to be in the same crosswalks simultaneously. There are different ways to do this, and it is possible.
This situation needs to be avoided, the pedestrian can't see what's behind them and with a green signal, the drivers often don't slow down in advance of the crosswalk.
Going further, traffic signals need to separate pedestrians and crossing cars. Pedestrians need dedicated time for non motorized crossing, period. Cars need dedicated signals that doesn't allow them or encourage them to sneak their cars between pedestrians in the crosswalk --signals and traffic laws should prevent them from even encroaching on the crosswalk when pedestrians have a walk or green signal.
And bikes need better separation from cars as well, and safer bike lane configurations. This photo from Copenhagen shows how bikes can be physically separated from cars so that the bike lane is physically safer than when it is adjacent to the traffic lane.
= new reply since forum marked as read
J/K. 
who supports the free WiFi system 
My idea was to use the plethora of easements and rights-of-way (power, pipelines, telecom) as non-road paths. They could then connect up with existing pathways, including those along the bayous.
I only got a form-letter in reply, but they did begin to create paths per my idea. I don't know if I gave it to them, or if they'd had the idea already, but it was refreshing to see them beginning to use already-cleared spaces for low-impact pathways
Oh, one idea I've seen used in other cities (rarely in Houston) are traffic lights specifically for pedestrian and bike traffic only. Often they are placed around universities, where such non-motorized traffic is high. I'd think they'd be pretty easy to install and operate, like the emergency lights in front of fire stations...
so I'm re-posting this site on How To Not Get Hit By Cars
i think we need to get more people to realize how important and how easy it is to make changes which make pedestrians and cyclists safer!
And I'd like us to be able to educate the other cyclists and pedestrians in safety consciousness, too. Far too many of them are behaving so unsafely that it makes it difficult to get these simple things done for the good of everyone.
Drivers need to read that link, so they can become more aware of their surroundings, whether while moving, or just parked.
