Title: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate to reduce traffic fatalities to zero by 2050.
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
This resolution (1) commits to advancing policies that will end roadway fatalities by 2050, and (2) calls on Congress and the Department of Transportation to commit to working together to achieve zero roadway fatalities by the year 2050.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 321 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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. Lujan) 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;
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;
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 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 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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