阅读理解：我们可以解决致命的街道 2023届高考英语外刊阅读训练

23年高考英语外刊阅读训练——阅读理解：我们可以解决致命的街道 【原标题】 Yes, deadly streets are a national crisis. But we can fix them 【原文】 Calling the rising number of traffic deaths in the United States a preventable crisis, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced last week a new national strategy to make the streets safer and save lives. The premise of the plan is simple: Humans make mistakes, so the entire transportation system, from road engineering to vehicle design, needs to be designed to avoid crashes and to reduce the likelihood of serious injury and death when crashes occur. That’s a profound shift from the traditional approach that has prioritized fast, free-flowing roads and put the onus on people to prevent deadly crashes. The increase in traffic fatalities should make it clear that the current system is not working. In 2020, even as Americans were driving less at the beginning of the pandemic, traffic deaths nationwide increased to more than 38,000, which was 2,500 more fatalities than in 2019. And the data for 2021 are even worse; in the first six months of the year, traffic deaths increased 18% over the same period in 2020. Moreover, traffic fatalities are higher in low-income communities of color and rural areas, as well as among the disabled and the elderly. “It’s as if we were living through a war,” Buttigieg said. “We cannot accept that these fatalities are somehow an inevitable part of life in America.” And yet, Americans have accepted this. Transportation planning and engineering, as well as public expectations, have been almost entirely focused on drivers’ convenience. Improvements to other modes of transportation, including walking and biking, are treated as afterthoughts or niche projects; there hasn’t been enough funding or political will to ensure streets are designed to safely accommodate all road users. The new transportation strategy calls for updating federal road design regulations to make streets safer for users, changing how speed limits are set (Califo