[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 274 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 274
Expressing the sense of the Senate to reduce traffic fatalities to zero
by 2050.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 22, 2023
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. King, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr.
Lujan, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Fetterman, and Ms. Smith)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate to reduce traffic fatalities to zero
by 2050.
Whereas roadway fatalities kill tens of thousands of people in the United States
each year;
Whereas, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(referred to in this preamble as ``NHTSA''), 42,939 lives were lost in
motor vehicle crashes in 2021 and all of the deaths were preventable;
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, traffic
crashes are a leading cause of death for people ages 1 to 54 and kill
more than 100 people every day;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, alcohol-impaired driving crashes are a leading
killer on the roadways of the United States, with 13,384 lives lost to
alcohol-impaired driving in 2021;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, 3,522 people died in motor vehicle crashes
involving distracted drivers in 2021;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, 7,388 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in
the United States in 2021, representing a 22 percent increase in the
last 5 years;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, the number of pedestrian fatalities increased by 53
percent from 2012 to 2021;
Whereas, according to the National Complete Streets Coalition at Smart Growth
America, the pedestrian fatality rate compared to that of White, non-
Hispanic people in the United States is--
(1) 220 percent higher for American Indian and Alaska Native people;
(2) 100 percent higher for Black people; and
(3) 20 percent higher for Hispanic and Latinx people;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, a total of 961 bicyclists were killed in crashes
with motor vehicles in 2021, representing a 32 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 2021;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, in 2021, 40 percent of motor vehicle traffic
fatalities occurred on rural roads, despite only 32 percent of miles
traveled occurring on rural roads;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, seatbelts prevented 14,653 fatalities and 450,000
serious injuries in 2019, saving $93,000,000,000 in medical care, lost
productivity, and other injury-related costs;
Whereas, according to NHTSA, in 2021, 50 percent of passenger vehicle occupants
who died in a motor vehicle crash were unrestrained, while 85 percent of
occupants who survived a motor vehicle crash were restrained;
Whereas the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine cite that
approximately 40 percent of crash fatalities initially survived the
impact but later died, highlighting the importance of improving post-
crash care;
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 29 percent of all traffic
fatalities in 2021;
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 cause of death in the United States;
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 roadway fatalities disproportionately affect people of color and
underserved communities and there must be an effort to collect better
data to understand these impacts;
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 Senate--
(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 system approach to
transportation in the United States to improve access, safety,
and mobility; and
(7) supports the use of the term ``crash'', instead of
``accident'', when describing traffic incidents and encourages
all agencies of the Federal Government to use this term.
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