Beyond the numbers, AP puts faces to the disparity in road fatalities for communities of color
In a long-exposure photo made May 25, 2022, traffic drives past a makeshift memorial for Samara Banks and her three children who were struck and killed by a car in 2013 on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia. The Boulevard, sometimes called “the corridor of death,” is among the highly dangerous traffic areas in communities of color throughout the U.S. suffering from disproportionately high rates of vehicle fatalities and poor infrastructure. (AP Photo / Matt Rourke)
By Claudia Lauer, Matt Rourke and Noreen Nasir
The national numbers were stark: Road fatalities increased during the pandemic with a disproportionate impact on communities of color. As federal officials vowed action, AP journalists looking at issues of inequality proposed putting faces to the disturbing numbers.
Reporter Claudia Lauer suggested looking at Philadelphia, which had glaring examples of Black and brown neighborhoods that had experienced a disproportionate number of hit-and-runs or suffered from poor infrastructure, such as no sidewalks or sheltered bus stops. Roosevelt Boulevard was the place to tell the story, visually and statistically, from the perspective of people killed doing everyday activities we take for granted: going to the store, walking home from the movies, attending a family gathering or getting off the bus.
Samara Banks holds her sons, Saa’mir Williams, left, and Saa’sean Williams in an undated family photo provided by Latanya Byrd. Banks, along with three of her four children, Saa’mir, Saa’sean and Saa’deem Griffin (not pictured), were struck and killed by a car while crossing Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia in 2013. A fourth son, Saa’yon Griffin survived the crash. – Latanya Byrd via AP
From left, siblings Saa’deem Griffin, Saa’sean Williams, Saa’yon Griffin and Saa’mir Williams are shown in a December 2012 photo provided by Latanya Byrd. Five-year-old Saa’yon survived the 2013 crash that killed his three siblings and mother Samara Banks while they were crossing Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia on foot. – Latanya Byrd via AP
A police officer stands by a baby stroller and a sheet covering the remains of a young child at the scene of the fatal collision that killed Samara Banks and three of her four children on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, July 16, 2013. – AP Photo / Joseph Kaczmarek
Family members react as they watch investigators at the scene of the fatal collision that killed Samara Banks and three of her four children on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, July 16, 2013. – AP Photo / Joseph Kaczmarek
A pedestrian crosses Roosevelt Avenue in Philadelphia at the Banks Way crosswalk in Philadelphia, May 12, 2022. Roosevelt is an almost 14-mile maze of chaotic traffic patterns that passes through some of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods and tracts with the highest poverty rates. After the deaths of Samara Banks and three of her children, officials installed a traffic signal and pedestrian crossing at the intersection, renamed Banks Way in honor of the young mother. – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
In a long exposure photo made May 25, 2022, traffic on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia passes Banks Way, named for Samara Banks and her three children who were struck and killed by a car at the intersection in 2013. – AP Photo / Matt Rourke
Latanya Byrd speaks during an interview with the AP at a cemetery in Philadelphia, May 9, 2022. Byrd’s niece, Samara Banks along with three of her four children, were struck by a car and killed in 2013 while crossing Roosevelt Boulevard. – AP Photo / Matt Rourke
Sean Williams visits the grave of Samara Banks and three ofher children, all of whom were struck by a car and killed in 2013 while crossing Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, May 9, 2022. Sean Williams is the father of Saa’mir Williams and Saa’sean Williams, two of the boys who died. – AP Photo / Matt Rourke
Sean Williams visits the grave of Samara Banks and three ofher children, all of whom were struck by a car and killed in 2013 while crossing Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, May 9, 2022. Sean Williams is the father of Saa’mir Williams and Saa’sean Williams, two of the boys who died. – AP Photo / Matt Rourke
Pedestrians waits to cross Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, May 9, 2022. Roosevelt is an almost 14-mile maze of chaotic traffic patterns that passes through some of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods and tracts with the highest poverty rates. Driving can be dangerous with cars tcrossing between inner and outer lanes, but biking or walking on the boulevard can be even worse with some pedestrian crossings longer than a football field and taking four light cycles to cross. – AP Photo / Matt Rourke
The Philadelphia skyline rises in the distance as traffic flows along Roosevelt Boulevard at the intersection with North Mascher Avenue, in Philadelphia, May 12, 2022. “You would not design a street or a road like that today,” said Christopher Puchalsky, policy director for Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability. “It feels like an expressway, but it’s in the middle and between neighborhoods.” – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
Eva Gbaa poses for a photo, April 29, 2022, at the site where her 17-year-old nephew, John “JJ” Gbaa Jr., was killed in a November 2018 hit-and-run as he tried to cross Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia. – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
Eva Gbaa, whose 17-year-old nephew, John “JJ” Gbaa Jr., was killed in a November 2018 hit-and-run as he tried to cross Roosevelt Boulevard, pauses as she speaks during an interview with the AP in Philadelphia, April 29, 2022. – AP Photo / Matt Rourke
John Gbaa Sr., whose 17-year-old son, John “JJ” Gbaa Jr., was killed in a November 2018 hit-and-run as he tried to cross Roosevelt Boulevard, poses for a photo in Philadelphia, April 29, 2022. – AP Photo / Matt Rourke
A pedestrian waits to cross Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, April 19, 2022. Some pedestrian crossings on the almost 14-mile-long thoroughfare are longer than a football field and take four traffic light cycles to cross. – AP Photo / Matt Rourke
Lauer worked with survivors’ groups and other organizations to find families who had lost people to traffic violence while data journalist Angel Kastanis analyzed the statistics. Lauer and photographer Matt Rourke singled out the worst spots on the boulevard and Rourke spent several weeks, between other assignments, getting distinctive photos to illustrated the problems. Baltimore-based photographer Julio Cortez joined and provided sweeping drone images that capture the most dangerous intersections and their surrounding neighborhoods.
While Lauer talked to impacted families and Rourke photographed interviews, video journalist Noreen Nasir of the race and ethnicity team shot footage — some of the most striking shows kids stuck on the median as cars whiz past. She also spent weeks convincing a victim’s family that video at the cemetery would be essential to telling the story. Multimedia journalist Kevin Vineys rounded out the production with a visualization of the multilane thoroughfare.
The finished package goes beyond other news organizations have reported on the fatalities,telling the tale of an infrastructure that fails residents. The work put faces to the statistics and showcased how vehicle traffic is just one of the significant challenges that Black and brown communities must overcome.
Although the story focused on Philadelphia, AP’s Top Stories Hub reported that it ran on the front page of papers across the country from California to Nebraska to Florida; many have similar road conditions. The story also led the U.S. news section of the AP News app for hours and was flagged as an Editor’s Pick on Tuesday.
Black communities have been hit hard by a national surge in traffic fatalities. The sobering statistics could give new momentum to plans to redesign Philadelphia’s 12-lane Roosevelt Boulevard, known as the “corridor of death." https://t.co/YZp3n2GR4k
Advocates and associations dealing with traffic safety thanked Lauer for bringing the issue to the national forefront in a way that the numbers alone could not. Members of the public who lost friends or family expressed gratitude that the specific problems on one Philadelphia boulevard were aired.
For looking beyond the numbers to the lives of the people who live on the median,figuratively and literally,Lauer, Rourke and Nasir earn AP’s Best of the Week — Second Winner honors.
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