r/Washington has also removed my post. What’s the big concern with talking about traffic safety?
I live and work near 34th and Pacific in Tacoma—one of the most dangerous intersections in the city. I recently wrote an open letter about the lives lost there and what we need to fix it. I tried to post it to r/Tacoma to raise awareness.
The post gained support quickly… then was removed. I asked why. The mods refused to answer, then changed the rules and banned me from the sub.
Here’s the letter they didn’t want shared. I hope it reaches someone who can help, and will post/send this anywhere I can.
Open Letter to Tacoma’s City Leaders
“Steel and Flesh: What Our Streets Cost Us”
Dear Mayor Woodards, Council Members, City Engineers and Citizens Alike,
You definitely don’t know me personally, but I know one of Tacoma’s most dangerous intersections far too well: the intersection of South 34th and Pacific Avenue. I’ve lived just a few blocks away and have shopped at EZ Mart, located at that very intersection, nearly as long. For the past two and a half years, I’ve worked there—now serving as the operations manager under the family that has owned the store for more than three decades.
In that short time, I’ve lost count of the number of crashes I’ve witnessed, reported, or responded to. I’ve placed the 911 calls. I’ve helped unconscious victims. I’ve brought water and cones and calm when no one else was there to do so. I’ve handed police officers the video footage that replayed the chaos, frame by frame, again and again.
Just days ago, we heard four thunderous booms that we all know all too well from inside the store. A red car had run the light on 34th, colliding with a white truck speeding uphill on Pacific. The truck careened through a bus shelter, struck a tree, and finally came to rest after four separate impacts over six seconds. I imagine for the occupants of both vehicles, it was like being inside a pinball machine in hell. Thankfully, despite the ferocity of this accident, no lives were lost. The bus shelter, though destroyed, was unoccupied—a stroke of luck that has spared lives on more than one occasion.
A few months ago, the shelter across the street—right in front of our store—was also destroyed in a separate crash. People were sitting on the bench that time. Incredibly, they weren’t hit. But if anyone had been standing under the shelter, or if the physics of the accident were just slightly different… they likely wouldn’t have survived.
And then, just days ago, we lost one of our own.
Rebecca Denise Thompson, aged 50, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver near 37th and Spokane—just blocks from the store. She wasn’t just a regular customer. Rebecca had a unique ability to brighten our days merely by walking through the door. She was always smiling and laughing in a contagious way. And now, she’ll never laugh or smile or brighten our days again.
She should’ve been safe. That’s a residential street, a place where kindness lived and where law dictates a safer speed. Her death wasn’t just tragic—it was senseless and outright criminal.
There was the motorcyclist who died near South 48th Street and Pacific. A high-speed crash that ended a life and rippled through the neighborhood. Before that, another fatality near Division and Pacific. And before that, yet another person struck while trying to cross at 35th, at a lighted crosswalk where the pedestrian didn’t push the signal. That one survived. Barely. And before and after that, many others I can’t personally recall as they’re that common.
One of those crashes happened right in front of our store when a regular customer collided while turning into the lot. In some twisted irony, this happened to involve another regular, one of Rebecca’s best friends.
Another driver crashed between our driveways and fled, leaving an unconscious passenger trapped. I tried to open the door, but the damage had sealed it shut. A medical transport driver used his fire extinguisher to break the glass and get in and extricate the abandoned victim before EMTs arrived.
I’ve stood over victims. I’ve seen blood. I’ve comforted the injured. I’ve helped direct traffic while first responders did their job. Each time, we hand over the footage. Each time, we clean up the mess. And each time, we wait for the next one. This is not a responsibility that should befall any citizen, this is the responsibility of our city leaders.
Pacific Avenue between 26th and 38th is one of Tacoma’s most dangerous corridors for serious crashes–a wound that keeps reopening. That’s not a guess—it’s in the city’s own data. Yet for all our Vision Zero policies, reduced speed limits, and campaign slogans, the injuries and deaths are not slowing down, they’re getting more deadly and more frequent. In 2023 alone, Tacoma saw the highest number of killed or seriously injured crash victims in over a decade. Crashes aren’t just continuing. They’re getting worse.
‘Traffic violence’ kills or seriously injures more people in this city than guns, as confirmed by the city’s own Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) and other data. But traffic violence is unique in being highly preventable. These are not accidents nor conscious decisions. They are the result of broken systems: poor design, lack of enforcement, limited driver accountability, and infrastructure that favors speed over safety. And in a city like Tacoma—where every arterial seems to double as a speedway—no neighborhood or intersection is immune.
In the aftermath of the most recent accident, I asked the responding officer if they felt 34th and Pacific was particularly dangerous. They told me they all were, and talked of repetitive accidents at a random residential intersection that they’ve responded to.
This intersection, corridor and even the whole city don’t just pose a risk. They hunt for weaknesses. Like a trap buried just beneath the surface of everyday life—waiting for a moment of distraction, of speed, of human error—and then they snap shut. And when they do, they chew through steel and flesh alike.
These aren’t just numbers. They’re lives. They’re neighbors. They’re friends. Rebecca was one of them.
So I ask you now, not as a store manager, not even as a citizen, but as someone who has seen the aftermath and its lasting impacts:
How many more people have to die or have their lives irrevocably altered in this city before our leaders actually make a difference? I’m not asking about promises, I’m asking about impactful change.
We need better traffic control. We need automated enforcement. We need physical design changes that make drivers slow down—raised crosswalks, curb extensions, protected pedestrian zones. Maybe instead of spending money on ShotSpotter we should be planning to spend money on traffic cameras and other control devices as state law now allows?
Our leaders are proposing another street initiative to repair streets. What we need right now is accountability and a more effective focus on safety, not just fixing potholes—because right now, luck is doing all the work. And luck always runs out.
This city, led by us and our elected leaders, has the power and obligation to change this. Please don’t wait for more lives to be changed or ended.
submitted by /u/foxtrot7azv
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