Bill Text: VA HR29 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Passenger Safety Week; designating as last full week of January 2022 & in each succeeding year.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-07 - Tabled in Rules (18-Y 0-N) [HR29 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2022-HR29-Introduced.html
WHEREAS, all Virginians have an important role to play in increasing road safety; and
WHEREAS, passenger vehicle occupant deaths accounted for more than a quarter of all traffic fatalities nationwide in 2019, and such fatalities increased by five percent in 2020; and
WHEREAS, according to preliminary estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), overall traffic fatalities increased by more than seven percent in 2020 and 18 percent in the first six months of 2021; and
WHEREAS, these historic increases in traffic fatalities occurred during a period with a 13 percent decrease in vehicles miles traveled; and
WHEREAS, NHTSA data indicates that the main behaviors responsible for this increase were speeding, impaired driving, and failure to wear seat belts; and
WHEREAS, whether a driver is impaired by alcohol or drugs, speeding, driving too aggressively, driving distracted, or unable to stay awake at the wheel, bad driving choices put passengers at risk of serious injury or death; and
WHEREAS, many lives might have been saved had a passenger in the car insisted that the driver slow down, stop texting, or not get behind the wheel in the first place; and
WHEREAS, passengers, especially teenagers and young adults, need education and encouragement to empower themselves to save lives by discouraging unsafe driving practices as they happen; and
WHEREAS, parents also need education and encouragement to teach their children about the importance of speaking up or not getting in the car with someone who is distracted, drunk, or otherwise intoxicated; and
WHEREAS, Passenger Safety Week provides an opportunity for all Virginians to learn about traffic safety and develop the skills to advocate for their own safety and the safety of others in motor vehicles; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Delegates designate the last full week in January, in 2023 and in each succeeding year, as Passenger Safety Week in Virginia; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit a copy of this resolution to the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility so that members of the organization may be apprised of the sense of the House of Delegates in this matter; and, be it
RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates post the designation of this week on the General Assembly's website.
