IV 
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 re-
ferred 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 Ameri-
cans 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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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 fa-
talities increased by 44 percent from 2010 to 2019; 
Whereas, according to the National Complete Streets Coali-
tion 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 peo-
ple 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, rep-
resenting a 36 percent increase in the last 10 years; 
Whereas independent research in 2015 found that motor ve-
hicle 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 occu-
pant fatalities in 2019; 
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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 pas-
senger 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 tech-
nologies were made standard on all vehicles, saving ap-
proximately 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-in-
come 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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•HRES 565 IH 
Whereas a data-driven safe systems approach is proven to be 
effective at reducing traffic fatalities and injuries, includ-
ing through taking into account all aspects of the trans-
portation 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 Trans-
portation, to improve data gathering and tracking of 
traffic crashes and other issues related to transpor-
tation safety; 
(5) calls on the Department of Transportation, 
and the agencies within the Department of Trans-
portation, to commit to the implementation of prov-
en countermeasures and interventions to prioritize 
transportation safety; 
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