[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 565 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 565
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to reduce traffic
fatalities to zero by 2050.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 27, 2021
Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Sires, Mr.
Rush, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, and Mr.
Huffman) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives to reduce traffic
fatalities to zero by 2050.
Whereas roadway fatalities kill tens of thousands of Americans each year;
Whereas, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(referred to in this preamble as ``NHTSA''), 38,680 lives were lost in
motor vehicle crashes in 2020, and all of the deaths were preventable;
Whereas more than 100 people lose their lives on a typical day on the roadways
of the Nation, with traffic crashes being the leading cause of death for
people ages 1 to 25;
Whereas alcohol-impaired driving crashes are a leading killer on the roadways of
the Nation, with 10,142 lives lost to alcohol-impaired driving in 2019,
according to NHTSA;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, in 2019, 3,142 people died in motor vehicle crashes
involving distracted drivers and an estimated additional 424,000 people
were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, 6,205 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes
the United States in 2019, representing a 13 percent increase in the
last 5 years;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, the number of pedestrian fatalities increased by 44
percent from 2010 to 2019;
Whereas, according to the National Complete Streets Coalition at Smart Growth
America, the pedestrian fatality rate for American Indian and Alaska
Native people is 221 percent higher than that of White, non-Hispanic
people in the United States, and Black people were struck and killed by
drivers at a 82 percent higher rate than White, non-Hispanic people in
the United States;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, a total of 843 bicyclists were killed in crashes
with motor vehicles in 2019, representing a 36 percent increase in the
last 10 years;
Whereas independent research in 2015 found that motor vehicle crash death rates
were as much as 4.3 times greater for those at the bottom of the
education spectrum than those at the top;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, motorcycles represented only 3 percent of all
registered vehicles, but accounted for 14 percent of all traffic
fatalities and 17 percent of all occupant fatalities in 2019;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, in 2019, 45 percent of motor vehicle traffic
fatalities occurred on rural roads, despite only 30 percent of miles
traveled occurring on rural roads;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, seatbelts saved 14,955 lives in 2017 but lack of
universal seatbelt usage costs the economy of the United States
$10,000,000,000 annually;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, in 2019, 47 percent of passenger vehicle occupants
who died in a motor vehicle crash were unrestrained, while 86 percent of
occupants who survived a motor vehicle crash were restrained;
Whereas, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, increasing
speed limits over the last 25 years have led to approximately 37,000
deaths;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, speeding accounted for 26 percent of all traffic
fatalities in 2019;
Whereas, according to Consumer Reports, existing safety technologies could cut
road fatalities in half if such technologies were made standard on all
vehicles, saving approximately 20,000 lives annually;
Whereas roadway fatalities and injuries rose during the COVID-19 pandemic and
remain a persistent killer on the roadways of our Nation;
Whereas a deep history of inequalities in the United States continues to impact
transportation systems, with low-income neighborhoods experiencing more
than twice as many pedestrian fatalities as neighborhoods with the
highest incomes, according to the National Complete Streets Coalition at
Smart Growth America;
Whereas too many families in the United States have been personally affected by
preventable crashes; and
Whereas a data-driven safe systems approach is proven to be effective at
reducing traffic fatalities and injuries, including through taking into
account all aspects of the transportation environment and not requiring
a single actor to be responsible for traffic safety: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) commits to advancing policies that will end roadway
fatalities by 2050;
(2) calls on Congress and the Department of Transportation
to commit to working together to achieve zero roadway
fatalities by the year 2050;
(3) supports efforts to address disparities and other
equity-related issues related to transportation safety;
(4) calls on the Department of Transportation, and the
agencies within the Department of Transportation, to improve
data gathering and tracking of traffic crashes and other issues
related to transportation safety;
(5) calls on the Department of Transportation, and the
agencies within the Department of Transportation, to commit to
the implementation of proven countermeasures and interventions
to prioritize transportation safety;
(6) recognizes the need for a safe systems approach in
United States transportation to improve access, safety, and
mobility; and
(7) supports the use of the term ``crash'' and not
``accident'' when describing traffic incidents and encourages
all United States Government agencies to use this term.
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