A minimum of 60 pedestrians and six cyclists were killed by motorists in this state in 2020. These were all preventable deaths.
One step you can take toward reducing avoidable traffic injuries and deaths — whether you drive or not — is by letting your elected officials know that our laws should be aligned with our values.
On Wednesday, January 27, 2021, there will be a public hearing for “An Act Concerning Pedestrian Safety, Vision Zero Council, Speed Limits In Municipalities, Fines And Charges For Certain Violations, The Greenways Commemorative Account And Maintenance Work Zone And School Zone Safety Enforcement” (just call it H.B. 5429).
Based on my own immersion in this topic, the bill does not nearly go far enough, but to eliminate any confusion on what’s being pitched, I will save my legislative wish list for a future post.
So, what is being proposed?
To (1) require motorists to grant the right-of-way to pedestrians who affirmatively indicate their intention to cross the road in a crosswalk; (2) increase the fine for operating a motor vehicle while using a hand-held mobile telephone or electronic device; (3) increase the additional fee provided to municipalities for certain traffic violations; (4) establish a fine for opening the door of a motor vehicle in a way that impedes the travel of a pedestrian or a person riding a bicycle; (5) allow local traffic authorities to establish speed limits and pedestrian safety zones; (6) establish the greenways commemorative account; (7) allow the use of automated traffic enforcement safety devices within maintenance work zones; and (8) establish a pilot program to use automated traffic enforcement safety devices in school zones.
There is nothing really controversial here, but let’s break the sections down into plain language.
(1) Currently, motorists are only required to grant the right-of-way to pedestrians who are in a crosswalk. The system, as it stands, mandates that you and I gamble with our lives every time we want to get to work or run an errand. Think about all those marked crosswalks that are not signalized. Think of how long you have to sometimes wait to cross. Think of how inconsistent driver behavior toward pedestrians is when it comes to whose turn it is to go next. Some motorists are mensches. Others will speed up or roll down the window to scream obscenities at you even though you’d already waited for every car at the intersection before you to pass through. This bill would require motorists to respect your right to safely cross the street.
(2) It’s surprisingly easy to look inside vehicles and see who is playing games, texting, and basically engaged with their phone rather than with the road. Dangerous and indefensible behavior should be punished with a steep fine, and that’s what this portion of the bill suggests.
(3) This section might seem weird to those who don’t follow all the wonky parts of law enforcement. There is a solid theory that certain types of traffic violations see little enforcement in certain municipalities because there is no financial motivation for local cops to make those stops and write those tickets. The thought is that we would see more of these potentially harmful, potentially deadly moving violations dealt with if this problem were resolved.
(4) One of the scariest things you can experience while riding a bike is when someone in a car throws open their door as you are pedaling toward it. One scenario is that you hit the door and crash. Another is that you try to dodge it, but if there is a vehicle or another obstacle in the lane, you may still crash. Fining folks for endangering pedestrians and cyclists, again, shows where our values are, and it’s a reasonable approach to take considering how little time and effort is needed to pause and check one’s surroundings before throwing open a door.
(5) This section is another thing that probably sounds wonky to the average person. Wouldn’t you just assume that local authorities are the ones setting speed limits?! But that’s not the case! Municipalities can’t just adjust speed limits on local roads without getting State approval. Considering that Connecticut does not operate on a county system in any official way, you would think that something like this would naturally be controlled locally. This bill would fix that, making it a whole lot faster and easier for residents to get their towns and cities to lower road speeds. As we all know, or should know by now, reducing speed reduces fatalities.
(6) This section essentially says that through sales of special license plates, money could be raised to help fund infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.
(7 & 8) I’m going to talk about these together to reduce the word count. This is the area that some legislators might need more convincing on.
Right now in Connecticut, if a motorist is speeding, he or she is only held accountable if a law enforcement officer chooses to pull the driver over and issue a ticket, or if the driver plows into someone or something and is then fined by police or sued by the injured person.
What this bill proposes is that in areas with especially vulnerable road users — children and maintenance workers — the enforcement would be outsourced to robots. Okay, not robots exactly, but it would be automated.
Let’s count all the ways that this would be a win.
First, it’s efficient. Do you know how many human cops it would take to pull over every motorist who decides that the rules do not apply to him? Even if we wanted one, we couldn’t afford a police force that size.
Beyond efficiency, it means that motorists would be given the message that laws are there for a reason, whether or not you think anyone is watching you.
Automation means enforcement without face-to-face interaction with police. While our country, our state, our municipalities determine how to revamp policing, it makes sense to adopt tools that remove in-person contact when possible.
Because the automated traffic enforcement safety devices are focused on license plates, the concern over racial profiling is removed from the equation.
When New York City used speed cameras in school zones from 2014-2017, speeding was reduced by over 60%.
Ultimately, H.B. 5429 would help to reduce pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities; actually, it would reduce injuries and fatalities for drivers and passengers, too.
You can give testimony virtually. If you’d like to do that, register by 5 PM on January 26, 2021 so that you can speak the following day.
If you would rather put your support in writing, send it by 1 PM on January 27 as a PDF to your legislators and tratestimony@cga.ct.gov
Cover photo by Myznik Egor on Unsplash
Want To Prevent Pedestrian Fatalities? Here’s One Thing You Can Do
A minimum of 60 pedestrians and six cyclists were killed by motorists in this state in 2020. These were all preventable deaths.
One step you can take toward reducing avoidable traffic injuries and deaths — whether you drive or not — is by letting your elected officials know that our laws should be aligned with our values.
On Wednesday, January 27, 2021, there will be a public hearing for “An Act Concerning Pedestrian Safety, Vision Zero Council, Speed Limits In Municipalities, Fines And Charges For Certain Violations, The Greenways Commemorative Account And Maintenance Work Zone And School Zone Safety Enforcement” (just call it H.B. 5429).
Based on my own immersion in this topic, the bill does not nearly go far enough, but to eliminate any confusion on what’s being pitched, I will save my legislative wish list for a future post.
So, what is being proposed?
There is nothing really controversial here, but let’s break the sections down into plain language.
(1) Currently, motorists are only required to grant the right-of-way to pedestrians who are in a crosswalk. The system, as it stands, mandates that you and I gamble with our lives every time we want to get to work or run an errand. Think about all those marked crosswalks that are not signalized. Think of how long you have to sometimes wait to cross. Think of how inconsistent driver behavior toward pedestrians is when it comes to whose turn it is to go next. Some motorists are mensches. Others will speed up or roll down the window to scream obscenities at you even though you’d already waited for every car at the intersection before you to pass through. This bill would require motorists to respect your right to safely cross the street.
(2) It’s surprisingly easy to look inside vehicles and see who is playing games, texting, and basically engaged with their phone rather than with the road. Dangerous and indefensible behavior should be punished with a steep fine, and that’s what this portion of the bill suggests.
(3) This section might seem weird to those who don’t follow all the wonky parts of law enforcement. There is a solid theory that certain types of traffic violations see little enforcement in certain municipalities because there is no financial motivation for local cops to make those stops and write those tickets. The thought is that we would see more of these potentially harmful, potentially deadly moving violations dealt with if this problem were resolved.
(4) One of the scariest things you can experience while riding a bike is when someone in a car throws open their door as you are pedaling toward it. One scenario is that you hit the door and crash. Another is that you try to dodge it, but if there is a vehicle or another obstacle in the lane, you may still crash. Fining folks for endangering pedestrians and cyclists, again, shows where our values are, and it’s a reasonable approach to take considering how little time and effort is needed to pause and check one’s surroundings before throwing open a door.
(5) This section is another thing that probably sounds wonky to the average person. Wouldn’t you just assume that local authorities are the ones setting speed limits?! But that’s not the case! Municipalities can’t just adjust speed limits on local roads without getting State approval. Considering that Connecticut does not operate on a county system in any official way, you would think that something like this would naturally be controlled locally. This bill would fix that, making it a whole lot faster and easier for residents to get their towns and cities to lower road speeds. As we all know, or should know by now, reducing speed reduces fatalities.
(6) This section essentially says that through sales of special license plates, money could be raised to help fund infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.
(7 & 8) I’m going to talk about these together to reduce the word count. This is the area that some legislators might need more convincing on.
Right now in Connecticut, if a motorist is speeding, he or she is only held accountable if a law enforcement officer chooses to pull the driver over and issue a ticket, or if the driver plows into someone or something and is then fined by police or sued by the injured person.
What this bill proposes is that in areas with especially vulnerable road users — children and maintenance workers — the enforcement would be outsourced to robots. Okay, not robots exactly, but it would be automated.
Let’s count all the ways that this would be a win.
First, it’s efficient. Do you know how many human cops it would take to pull over every motorist who decides that the rules do not apply to him? Even if we wanted one, we couldn’t afford a police force that size.
Beyond efficiency, it means that motorists would be given the message that laws are there for a reason, whether or not you think anyone is watching you.
Automation means enforcement without face-to-face interaction with police. While our country, our state, our municipalities determine how to revamp policing, it makes sense to adopt tools that remove in-person contact when possible.
Because the automated traffic enforcement safety devices are focused on license plates, the concern over racial profiling is removed from the equation.
When New York City used speed cameras in school zones from 2014-2017, speeding was reduced by over 60%.
Ultimately, H.B. 5429 would help to reduce pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities; actually, it would reduce injuries and fatalities for drivers and passengers, too.
You can give testimony virtually. If you’d like to do that, register by 5 PM on January 26, 2021 so that you can speak the following day.
If you would rather put your support in writing, send it by 1 PM on January 27 as a PDF to your legislators and tratestimony@cga.ct.gov
Cover photo by Myznik Egor on Unsplash
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