Malcolm Kenyatta: We aren’t doing enough about traffic safety. Believe me, I know.

I’ve spent my entire career advocating for policies that make Vision Zero a reality. I’ve cosponsored legislation, spoken at events, and listened to advocates. But the past few months have made clear to me that we all aren’t doing enough.

In December, my friend and Philadelphia nightlife legend June Rodriguez was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike home from work. That tragedy continues to rock me to my core.

Then came a phone call on Wednesday, April 29.

My husband, Matthew Kenyatta, called in tears and panic to tell me he had just been hit by a car while riding his bike. I am grateful to God that he is still here, but it hasn’t been easy.

A short ambulance ride to Temple University Hospital was followed by six hours in the emergency room and multiple X-rays and tests. They revealed a compound fracture of his left arm, his dominant arm, that required immediate surgery. Two days later, a four-hour surgery at the University of Pennsylvania — one metal plate and 14 screws — has him now beginning what will be a grueling physical and mental journey to recovery.

I am deeply grateful to the emergency and orthopedic teams at both Temple and Penn for the extraordinary care they provided, and for the skill and compassion that got him through surgery and into healing.

But stories like Matt’s are sadly not unique in our city or commonwealth. PennDot reports roughly 1,200 to 1,400 traffic deaths statewide per year, with cyclists and pedestrians making up a disproportionate share.

When tragedy meets your front door, as it has mine, you see clearly that change cannot wait.

Legislation to require protected bike lanes, investments in traffic-calming infrastructure, vulnerable road user laws with enhanced penalties for drivers who injure or kill cyclists or pedestrians through reckless behavior, and safe streets funding modeled on federal programs that direct dedicated dollars to high-injury network streets identified by crash data must all be made a reality.

And yet, there is something this moment demands of all of us that no legislation can fully address.

We need a culture change in how we see our neighbors who bike for work, for fun, for exercise. Those of us who drive must reckon honestly with the fact that we are operating what can be two-ton killing machines. We have to stop the reflexive objections to traffic safety measures that might make driving mildly less convenient but could save lives.

The calls of bicycle advocates have too often been met with an eye roll. But when tragedy meets your front door, as it has mine, you see clearly that change cannot wait.

Organizations like the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and 5th Square have been sounding this alarm for years. They have the data, the plans, and the advocates. What they need is for those of us in power to match their urgency.

So here is my challenge — to my colleagues in Harrisburg, to City Council, to the mayor’s office, and to myself: Let’s redouble our efforts to make our roads safe for everyone. Fund safe streets infrastructure. Accelerate Vision Zero with real deadlines and real dollars, not just real intentions. Stop treating the inconvenience of drivers as more politically important than the lives of cyclists and pedestrians.

I am an unabashed, all-of-the-above transit advocate. And this moment is a wake-up call to all of us — including me — that good intentions without urgency are just another kind of inaction.

June Rodriguez deserved better. Matt deserves better. Our neighbors deserve better. It is time to act like it.

Malcolm Kenyatta is a state representative for Pennsylvania’s 181st House District and a Democratic National Committee vice chair.