[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 109 (Thursday, June 22, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2240-S2241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 274--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE TO REDUCE 
                   TRAFFIC FATALITIES TO ZERO BY 2050

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mr. King, Mr. Van Hollen, 
Mr. Lujan, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Fetterman, and Ms. Smith) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:

                              S. Res. 274

       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''), 
     42,939 lives were lost in motor vehicle crashes in 2021 and 
     all of the deaths were preventable;
       Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, traffic crashes are a leading cause of death for 
     people ages 1 to 54 and kill more than 100 people every day;
       Whereas, according to NHTSA, alcohol-impaired driving 
     crashes are a leading killer on the roadways of the United 
     States, with 13,384 lives lost to alcohol-impaired driving in 
     2021;

[[Page S2241]]

       Whereas, according to NHTSA, 3,522 people died in motor 
     vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2021;
       Whereas, according to NHTSA, 7,388 pedestrians were killed 
     in traffic crashes in the United States in 2021, representing 
     a 22 percent increase in the last 5 years;
       Whereas, according to NHTSA, the number of pedestrian 
     fatalities increased by 53 percent from 2012 to 2021;
       Whereas, according to the National Complete Streets 
     Coalition at Smart Growth America, the pedestrian fatality 
     rate compared to that of White, non-Hispanic people in the 
     United States is--
       (1) 220 percent higher for American Indian and Alaska 
     Native people;
       (2) 100 percent higher for Black people; and
       (3) 20 percent higher for Hispanic and Latinx people;
       Whereas, according to NHTSA, a total of 961 bicyclists were 
     killed in crashes with motor vehicles in 2021, representing a 
     32 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 2021;
       Whereas, according to NHTSA, in 2021, 40 percent of motor 
     vehicle traffic fatalities occurred on rural roads, despite 
     only 32 percent of miles traveled occurring on rural roads;
       Whereas, according to NHTSA, seatbelts prevented 14,653 
     fatalities and 450,000 serious injuries in 2019, saving 
     $93,000,000,000 in medical care, lost productivity, and other 
     injury-related costs;
       Whereas, according to NHTSA, in 2021, 50 percent of 
     passenger vehicle occupants who died in a motor vehicle crash 
     were unrestrained, while 85 percent of occupants who survived 
     a motor vehicle crash were restrained;
       Whereas the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 
     and Medicine cite that approximately 40 percent of crash 
     fatalities initially survived the impact but later died, 
     highlighting the importance of improving post-crash care;
       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 29 
     percent of all traffic fatalities in 2021;
       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 cause of death in 
     the United States;
       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 roadway fatalities disproportionately affect people 
     of color and underserved communities and there must be an 
     effort to collect better data to understand these impacts;
       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 system approach to 
     transportation in the United States to improve access, 
     safety, and mobility; and
       (7) supports the use of the term ``crash'', instead of 
     ``accident'', when describing traffic incidents and 
     encourages all agencies of the Federal Government to use this 
     term.

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