III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 321 

Expressing the sense of the Senate to reduce traffic fatalities to zero by 

2050. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. KING, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. LUJA ́N) 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’’), 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; 


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•SRES 321 IS 

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 an 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; 


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•SRES 321 IS 

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 


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•SRES 321 IS 

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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commits to advancing policies that will end 

3 roadway fatalities by 2050; 

4 (2) calls on Congress and the Department of 

5 Transportation to commit to working together to 

6 achieve zero roadway fatalities by the year 2050; 

7 (3) supports efforts to address disparities and 

8 other equity-related issues related to transportation 

9 safety; 

10 (4) calls on the Department of Transportation, 

11 and the agencies within the Department of Trans12 portation, to improve data gathering and tracking of 

13 traffic crashes and other issues related to transpor14 tation safety; 

15 (5) calls on the Department of Transportation, 

16 and the agencies within the Department of Trans17 portation, to commit to the implementation of prov18 en countermeasures and interventions to prioritize 

19 transportation safety; 


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•SRES 321 IS 

1 (6) recognizes the need for a safe systems ap2 proach in United States transportation to improve 

3 access, safety, and mobility; and 

4 (7) supports the use of the term ‘‘crash’’ and 

5 not ‘‘accident’’ when describing traffic incidents and 

6 encourages all United States Government agencies 

7 to use this term. 

Æ 


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