Transportation Racism and State-Created Danger: A Civil Rights Litigation Strategy for Pedestrians Harmed by Traffic Violence

Authors

Riley Freedman, University of Washington School of Law

Abstract

Pedestrian fatality rates in the United States are markedly high compared to peer nations and are on the rise. The distribution of these deaths shows an alarming racial gap: Black pedestrians are twice as likely to be killed compared to white pedestrians. One significant factor that explains the disparity is the greater presence of wide, high-speed roads—built to move traffic quickly at the expense of pedestrian safety—in Black neighborhoods. In some cases, there is evidence that governments intentionally placed roads through and around Black neighborhoods for racially discriminatory reasons.

This Comment argues that a pedestrian harmed or killed by a vehicle on a dangerously designed road may have a successful state-created danger claim against the municipality under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 if they can prove affirmative conduct, proximate cause, and deliberate indifference. Such claims might be successful where the municipality has affirmatively chosen to place a dangerous road with racially discriminatory motivations.

First Page

919

Recommended Citation

Riley Freedman, Comment, Transportation Racism and State-Created Danger: A Civil Rights Litigation Strategy for Pedestrians Harmed by Traffic Violence, 99 Wash. L. Rev. 919 (2024).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol99/iss3/7