Jason Haremza 2:59 p.m. ET April 14, 2017

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 27: A pedestrian crosses the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 14th Street, one of Manhattan's most dangerous crosswalks for pedestrians, on October 27, 2014 in New York City. Four pedestrians have been killed in the last few weeks in New York City while a total of 212 people have been killed in total traffic deaths so far this year. These numbers have added to the urgency of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero program, which aims to eliminate city traffic deaths. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)(Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

A recent editorial opened with Walking is good for your health and, if you do it instead of driving to your destination, it benefits both the environment and your wallet.

I wholeheartedly agree. However, the tone implies that walking is a good, perhaps even noble activity, but not a requirement- like eating vegetables and turning down the thermostat. That is a very limited view of walking. Walking is an elemental part of humanity. It is, or should be, the basic and primary method of moving about our world. Only in the past 100 years has walking to our destinations come to be seen as alternative.

The phrase pedestrian error, which comes from Pedestrian Safety Action Plans, has a connotation of blaming the victim. Pedestrian error also suggests jaywalking, which is a crime invented by the automobile industry. One hundred years ago, people were outraged over the death and injury caused by motorists. Cities considered strict regulation of motor vehicles. The automobile industry fought back with a self-serving and, tragically successful, public relations campaign to shift the blame to the walker.

The editorial does not mention the role that street design has in human behavior. Narrower streets and narrower lanes have a dramatic impact on driver behavior and human safety, slowing vehicles to safer speeds. Other counties, notably the Netherlands and Sweden, have seen significant reductions in vehicle related injuries and deaths. Frustratingly, and tragically, the United States has only taken the most tentative of steps toward designing streets for human safety. Far too often, the swift and unimpeded flow of vehicles is the design priority. .

Carefully designed streets have safe speed limits that are largely self-enforcing. On the other hand, on wide streets with multiple lanes, it feels okay to drive 40 or 50 mph, regardless of the posted speed. A local example is Chestnut/Monroe from Court to Union. At Court, Chestnut has four wide lanes, and most drivers naturally accelerate. However, once Chestnut turns into Monroe, the street narrows to two lanes with parked cars on either side. Most drivers naturally slow down.

Americans, helped by sensational or superficial media coverage, are fearful of dramatic but rare dangers like terrorism. Yet vehicles kill 40,000 people per year in the United States. Let us commit to public streets that prioritize the health, safety, and comfort of all people.

Jason Haremza of Rochester is an avid walker and an urbanist.

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Guest essay: Design streets for human safety - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle