In a move to seriously tackle road safety issues, the City of San Antonio's Transportation Department has rolled out an interactive High-Injury Network (HIN) Dashboard, as reported on Thursday. The dashboard serves to openly display where severe and fatal crashes are happening, shedding light on the risks for those on foot, riding bikes, or behind the steering wheel. With this digital map, residents can zoom into their local streets, neighborhoods, and regular routes to spot dangerous spots-on areas with a history of traffic incidents, according to the City of San Antonio.
"As we continue our work to build safer streets, this dashboard offers residents an unprecedented level of visibility into where the most serious crashes occur," Catherine "Cat" Hernandez, the Transportation Director, said in a statement. This tool is intended to fully support and amplify their 'Keep Crossings SAfe' campaign efforts focused on reducing dangerous behaviors, especially at critical crosswalks and intersections across the city, as stated by the City of San Antonio.
Key features of the HIN Dashboard include interactive mapping, which encourages exploration at street level with filters allowing to quickly narrow down on Council Districts or local neighborhoods. It also presents crash severity insights, focusing on the specifics—like categorizing who is usually most affected in these incidents, whether they are pedestrians, cyclists, or drivers. Additionally, this initiative is set to create bridges between City of San Antonio officials and community members by making vital safety data available and comprehensible to all.
Hernandez elaborated on the dashboard's dual role: "This tool goes hand in hand with our safety campaign outreach," helping residents "see firsthand why efforts like 'Keep Crossings SAfe' matter, and how small behavior changes can save lives in San Antonio." In essence, the HIN Dashboard is a critical piece in San Antonio's broader Vision Zero mission, which aims to eliminate all traffic deaths and severe injuries through strategic, data-driven methods, as per the City of San Antonio.
