"San Antonio will replace its iconic Pride installment by January 15 after being denied an exemption from federal and state policies. City councilmember Sukh Kaur told local station WOAI that the city was unable to obtain a "signed and sealed document by an engineer" approving the design. Related: Red states are destroying their rainbow crosswalks. Here's what you should know U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in July ordered states to eliminate rainbow crosswalks and other "distractions" in a supposed effort to prevent traffic fatalities. He did not provide evidence linking decorated crosswalks to traffic fatalities, but acknowledged that estimated traffic fatalities declined by 3.8 percent from 2023 to 2024 under the Biden administration."
"Florida complied with the order in August by quietly painting over a memorial for the Pulse shooting victims in Orlando. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis later defended the decision, saying the artwork is "not compliant with state and federal standards." Related: Florida city installs Pride bike racks after being forced to remove rainbow crosswalks The Florida Department of Transportation has since ordered cities to remove rainbow crosswalks, as well as more than 400 other roadway decorations. The Texas Department of Transportation followed suit, sending a memo to local governments in October directing cities to follow Duffy's orders by keeping crosswalks "free from distractions.""
"There is no evidence that rainbow crosswalks cause more accidents. To the contrary, increased visibility from decorated crosswalks led to a 37 percent drop in collisions resulting in injuries, a 50 percent reduction in incidents involving pedestrians, and a 17 percent fall in the total crash rate, according to a 2022 study from Bloomberg."
San Antonio will replace its rainbow crosswalks by January 15 after denial of an exemption for a designer-approved installation. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ordered states to eliminate rainbow crosswalks and other so-called "distractions," while not providing evidence linking decorated crosswalks to traffic fatalities. Florida painted over a Pulse memorial and the Florida Department of Transportation ordered removal of rainbow crosswalks and over 400 other roadway decorations. The Texas Department of Transportation directed local governments to follow the federal order and keep crosswalks free from distractions. A 2022 Bloomberg study found decorated crosswalks correlated with reduced injury collisions, pedestrian incidents, and total crash rates.
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