Two lists. What has been written about Safer 17, and the reporting and research on the problem itself. No outlet on the Grand Strand has covered it yet.
My own op-ed. “Two years ago, I thought bike lanes were a DEI project too. Two years ago, I also had a dad.” On being a Republican in a movement where I have yet to meet another one — and why sidewalks and lanes are one transportation system, not two competing agendas.
Washington ExaminerSouth Carolina's largest newspaper on the 2026 Dangerous by Design findings. John Hughes Oakes Jr. is named, Wesley Road is named, and the paper reports that SCDOT “was unable to comment on specific questions regarding… plans for Highway 17.” By Caitlin Bell.
Post and CourierA section headed Personal impacts, little action tells my father's story and carries what I said at the June briefing. The S.C. Department of Public Safety declined to comment on the report. By Skyler Baldwin.
Charleston City PaperJohn Oakes's story opens this national report on Smart Growth America's Dangerous by Design findings — and Orlando's turnaround is exactly what Safer 17 is asking Murrells Inlet to do. By Reagin von Lehe.
Fast CompanyChrissy Oakes, daughter of John H. Oakes Jr., discusses the Families for Safe Streets campaign with Morgan McKay.
FOX 5 New YorkThese are not about Safer 17. They are the research and reporting this campaign is built on.
The study every article on this page is reporting on. It ranks all 50 states and the 101 largest metros for pedestrian deaths. South Carolina is 4th. Charleston is 12th. More than 80% of the places measured have grown more deadly.
Smart Growth AmericaAn independent evidence report on the Garden City to Pawleys Island corridor. Ten people killed walking it between 2022 and 2024 — nine of them in the dark.
Streets & CommonsThe national campaign Safer 17 works alongside — speed-limiting technology for the most dangerous repeat offenders, now law in nine jurisdictions.
Families forSouth Carolina ranks fourth in the nation for pedestrian deaths, with 893 people killed between 2020 and 2024.
SC Public RadioSmart Growth America · Families for Safe Streets · Streets & Commons
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Chrissy Oakes founded Safer 17 and is a member of Families for Safe Streets. She speaks on pedestrian and road safety nationally, including the Stop Super Speeders campaign, and is available in South Carolina, New York and Florida.
Safer 17 itself is about one road — US 17 between Garden City and Pawleys Island, South Carolina. The national work is hers, not the campaign's.
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