Eleanor McMahon knows firsthand the pain felt by the families of 245,000 people who died on America’s roads this decade. She opened Cleveland’s first bicycle conference on May 14, 2008 with a sobering reminder that cycling, walking and driving in cities requires strong advocates to create safer streets. McMahon’s husband was struck and killed by a truck while riding his bike—the driver had multiple offenses behind the wheel. It was a life changing moment in many ways, and led McMahon to form the Share the Road Coalition to make the streets safer in her native Ontario, Canada.

In addition to educating cyclists and drivers about how to Share the Road, the group has formed partnerships to pass laws that prosecute aggressive or reckless drivers.

“We need to commence a public debate on serial traffic offenders,” she said. “This is about life saving changes and measures that are nonpartisan.”

McMahon quotes Gregg Easterbrook of the Brookings Institute who famously said, “Why are we so worried about terrorism when the real concern is the 245,000 Americans who have died because of one specific threat (traffic accidents) since 9/11, and no one seems to care...”

Society has grown complacent and accepted that level of collisions and fatalities, McMahon said.

While she tells lawmakers that the annual economic cost to society of injury and property damage due to traffic collisions is estimated at $11-27 million dollars, the most effective tool in slowing aggressive drivers was Ontario’s recently passed anti-street racing law. It increases fines for street racers and aggressive drivers to $10,000 and allows police to immediately suspend a driver’s license and impound a vehicle for seven days. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving also supported it).

The legislation went into effect in Ontario in November and is being credited with a 45% decrease in vehicle fatalities (and officers finding fewer repeat offenders). Why?

“Because they take your car, and that’s what moves people.”