At the DC Council’s Vision Zero hearing Thursday, residents plead for streets that don’t kill

On Thursday, the DC Council held a hearing about a slate of seven road safety bills that would, among other things, ban on right-on-red turns and lower speed limits to 20 mph throughout the city. Over more than eight hours, residents shared stories of their own crashes and of loved ones injured and killed on DC roads, and begged the city to make streets safer.

While overall road deaths are down, they’re on the rise for more vulnerable road users, both across the US and in DC. More than half of the people killed so far this year in the District were walking, bicycling, or traveling by scooter. Witnesses raised examples of people who have died due to traffic violence in the District, including GGWash contributor Dave Salovesh, and Abdul Seck, who was visiting the city when he died.

“These bills came after an especially tough spring and summer for District cyclists and pedestrians,” Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, who chairs the transportation committee, said in her opening remarks. “This hearing is just the beginning of a renewed and laser-focused effort to make Vision Zero a reality. Cyclists and pedestrians have every right to travel in the District safely and it is our job to ensure that this is the case.”

“We need to acknowledge that this hearing is in many ways a course correction. As a city we committed to achieving Vision Zero and since making that commitment we have moved in the opposite direction of that goal,” said Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau. “We should also talk about what Vision Zero is not, at least not if we actually want to save lives and create a cleaner more livable and sustainable city. Vision Zero is not a billboard begging people to slow down. It is not increased fines without enforcement. It is not blaming pedestrians looking at their phones as the cause of death when SUVs get larger and larger every year.”

“If we’re not substantially changing how we design our streets and increasing access to rapid and reliable transit, we’re not fulfilling our promises; if we’re not looking at ways to emphatically reduce car use, car ownership, and yes, ways to reduce the public space given to parking, then Vision Zero will never be more than an expensive PR campaign,” Nadeau added.

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who introduced the Vision Zero Omnibus Act, said, “Today is going to be an important conversation on how we make our streets more accessible and safer for all of us. For all users that includes: pedestrians, bus riders, bicycle riders, scooter riders, and vehicle drivers.

Allen brought up the 15-year-old girl who was hit by a driver on Thursday morning in the Benning neighborhood Ward 7 who had just died, underlining both the heightened risks people living east of the Anacostia River face, and the need for urgent action.

“No one should die while walking on a sidewalk in Ward 8 while crossing the street in Ward 2 or riding a bike from work in Ward 6. Today’s conversation needs to start from a place of equity. Why is it that Ward 8 residents endure the highest number of traffic-related fatalities? Why aren’t we prioritizing street designs that give our residents with the longest commutes better and safer options? And for every fatality how many close calls are happening in every ward and every neighborhood of our city we just frankly never hear about.”

You can watch the full hearing above.

Councilmembers also talked about increasing penalties for dangerous driving. Elissa Silverman spoke about navigating the streets as a cyclist herself, and said she plans pitch a bill to address reckless drivers. Anyone with five or more traffic tickets must take a class, or else their car will be impounded. “The goal is to target the top 1% of dangerous drivers,” she said.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced a bill on behalf of Mayor Muriel Bowser that would allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to assess points for distracted driving violations, even when it doesn’t result in a crash.

Testimony was personal, and difficult

Some of GGWash’s staff members testified about the importance of rectifying a power imbalence that prioritizes car travel over the lives of vulnerable road users, the necessity making streets safer for people biking and walking in light of the climate crisis, and more.

“I dream of the day that I will feel safe enough to get back on my bike,” said Program and Community Coordinator Kate Jentoft-Herr, “But until then I worry about my friends and family who bike in this city, and I grieve with each announcement that another friend or child has died due to policy failure. Cars have had a disproportionate amount of power on our streets for nearly a century - and it is literally killing us and our planet. I am calling on you all act to rectify this imbalance by passing the proposed legislation as quickly as possible - our lives are at stake.” You can read her full remarks here.

Housing Program Organizer Alex Baca said, “I suspect there will be much tinkering with these bills’ language over the next few months, and my only request here is that, in every phase of every process, people’s lives are considered more important than moving cars. Right now they are not—not in our laws, not in our enforcement, not in our procurement, and not in our budgets. We are in the very earliest stages of changing our priorities, but if we let it slip, this legislation will be for naught. That is what people are asking for: That a top-down, closely held commitment to equitable, fair road safety is always the principle priority in transportation planning.” Here are her full remarks.

“The carnage and bloodshed on our roads calls for ambitious action. As our city continues to grow, it is necessary for us to consider the relationship between our roadways and our residents. Are the streets which carry millions of residents, commuters, and visitors each day built for the 21st century?” Transportation Equity Organizer Ron Thompson said. “For decades, we have prized the movement of the single-occupancy vehicle – and the needs of those who could afford them – over the movement of people.” You can read Thompson’s full remarks here.

“I applaud this Council for introducing seven bold bills since this spring aimed at helping the District accomplish the goal of zero traffic fatalities by 2024. However, thinking about why we’re sitting here today makes me sick to my stomach and brings tears to my eyes. Not a single day goes by where I don’t think of the vulnerable road users who have been killed by drivers in DC, and one in particular,” said GGWash contributor Rachel Maisler in her remarks. “Vision Zero is very much painted as a transportation and enforcement campaign, but public health plays a huge role. We need to do a better job of quantifying the number of people injured in traffic crashes who do not file police reports.”

It is so important to include elderly and disabled people in the discussion. Anything that is good for those two groups are good for everyone else. https://t.co/gOlBKnfgn3

— Matthew S (@riotpedestrian) October 24, 2019

During one of the more heartwarming portions of the hearing, three young children spoke out about the importance of safer streets.

So proud of my kid for demanding safe streets today at the DC #VisionZero hearing! He asked @charlesallen @marycheh and @tweetelissa for slower speeds, taking licenses from dangerous drivers, no private cars in the city, and electric buses every 6 minutes! pic.twitter.com/8VPNxzsD9h

— Keya Chatterjee (@keya_chatterjee) October 24, 2019

If you’d like to submit written testimony about these bills, you can do so until November 7, and you can email your councilmember about this legislation any time.