The Department of Transportation Committee held a public hearing Monday to introduce new recommendations by the Vision Zero Council (VZC).
The interagency work group develops statewide policy to eliminate transportation-related fatalities and severe injuries involving pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, motorists and passengers.
Over the past few years, the number of crash-related fatalities in Connecticut has skyrocketed, and the VZC says its goal is to have zero.
State Rep. Roland Lemar, who is House chair of the Transportation Committee, said these deaths are avoidable.
“We’ve been able to tie that directly to speed, reckless driving, red light running issues that we can correct for by using technology that is in place in other communities across the country,” Lemar said.
Statistics released by the Department of Transportation show that 40% of Connecticut’s traffic-related deaths are connected to an alcohol-impaired driver. Connecticut also ranks third in the nation for the number of deaths on the roads, behind Rhode Island and Montana.
Public advocates gathered in person and via Zoom to voice their opinions on House Bill 5917. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin asked the committee to pass the bill and said it would help take the strain off local police departments.
“Our community regularly calls for speed and traffic enforcement. It is not possible for police to be everywhere at all times, nor do I think it’s desirable for our police to be responding all the time to traffic incidents when it is possible to use automated means of enforcement,” Bronin said.
The committee and many advocates now consciously refer to car accidents as “crashes.” They say most of these cases are not accidents and could be easily avoided.
