Bill Text: TX SCR42 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Directing the Texas Department of Transportation to adopt a Vision Zero strategy to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-26 - Not again placed on intent calendar [SCR42 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SCR42-Comm_Sub.html
By: Garcia | S.C.R. No. 42 | |
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2017; March 22, 2017, read | ||
first time and referred to Committee on Transportation; | ||
April 18, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, | ||
Nays 0; April 18, 2017, sent to printer.) | ||
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WHEREAS, Among states with populations greater than five | ||
million, the State of Texas has the nation's second-highest rate of | ||
traffic deaths per capita; and | ||
WHEREAS, Every day, 10 people die on Texas roads, and 50 | ||
suffer debilitating, life-changing injuries in traffic accidents; | ||
federal transportation laws already require each state to develop a | ||
strategic highway safety plan that focuses the efforts of all | ||
safety partners on the highest priority needs, but what Texas | ||
requires is the unification of stakeholders in support of an | ||
overarching program designed to end acceptance of traffic mayhem as | ||
a normative occurrence; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1997, Sweden adopted Vision Zero, a systems | ||
approach to enhancing traffic safety; it places core responsibility | ||
for crashes on overall system design, addressing safety through | ||
infrastructure design, vehicle technology, and enforcement; as a | ||
result of this bold initiative, the Scandinavian nation now has one | ||
of the lowest annual rates of road deaths in the world, with only 3 | ||
out of 100,000, roughly a quarter of the rate in the United States; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, Other European countries have significantly reduced | ||
fatalities through Vision Zero initiatives, and Spain more than | ||
halved its number of traffic deaths; in the United States, Vision | ||
Zero has proven effective in many places, reducing fatalities by 40 | ||
percent or more in Minnesota, Utah, and Washington State; New York | ||
City achieved a tremendous reduction in pedestrian fatalities, | ||
which in 2014 fell to the lowest number since records began about a | ||
century ago; and | ||
WHEREAS, Vision Zero is based on four principles: ethics, | ||
responsibility, system safety, and mechanisms for change; human | ||
life and health are paramount, providers and regulators of road | ||
traffic systems share responsibility with users, and systems should | ||
take account of human fallibility to minimize opportunities for | ||
error and the harm done when mistakes occur; finally, providers and | ||
regulators must do their utmost to guarantee the safety of all | ||
citizens, cooperating with road users, and all three elements must | ||
be prepared to undergo necessary change; and | ||
WHEREAS, Loss of life is not an acceptable price to pay for | ||
mobility, and the state must take a more comprehensive approach to | ||
traffic safety, guided by a zero-fatality goal; now, therefore, be | ||
it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby direct the Texas Department of Transportation to adopt a | ||
Vision Zero strategy to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries; | ||
and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward an | ||
official copy of this resolution to the chair of the Texas | ||
Transportation Commission and the executive director of the Texas | ||
Department of Transportation. | ||
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