Unsafe Drivers Remain on Roads: Why Vision Zero Programs Are Failing in the US
Last week, a tragic accident occurred on Rock Creek Parkway in northwest Washington D.C. Three people died when a Lexus SUV disregarded a police traffic stop and crashed into a Honda, which was being used as a ride-share vehicle. The crash highlights a troubling fact: the SUV had over $12,000 in unpaid tickets in the last ten months, begging the question of how this driver was allowed to remain on the road.
While the authorities have yet to determine the cause of the accident, reporters quickly noticed that the Lexus had an extensive record of unpaid traffic tickets, with a whopping 44 tickets for speeding and one for running a red light in less than a year. However, Washington D.C.’s traffic camera infrastructure failed to prevent the driver from continuing to operate the vehicle, despite having multiple traffic violations.
The city’s traffic cameras are great at issuing tickets, generating $87 million in 2020, but not using the data to take dangerous drivers off the road. The tangled bureaucracy, involving three city agencies that are responsible for traffic cameras, funding, and penalties for violators, makes it difficult to coordinate the correct responses to individual traffic violators. For example, the Department of Public Works was responsible for booting and towing cars with outstanding tickets, but in 2021, only four employees were involved, making it extremely challenging to manage.
Limitations of Traffic Cameras
Traffic cameras cannot capture faces, only license plates. Thus, penalties are not levied on drivers’ licenses for even the most egregious camera-caught behavior, only on the cars themselves. Washington D.C.’s “Vision Zero” initiative, launched in 2015, aims to eliminate road fatalities, but instead, fatalities have gone up within the city. Vision Zero is poorly funded, understaffed, and ignored, according to a report released earlier this month by the city’s auditor.
To have any chance of success in such an ambitious initiative, major investments in infrastructure are required, such as redesigning high-speed roads like Rock Creek Parkway, and staffing the teams that deal with booting the cars of scofflaws. Getting rampaging drivers off the roads should be a priority for policymakers, and data should be used to identify cars that are being driven unsafely month after month.
Overall, Vision Zero has been a failure across the United States, except in Jersey City, due to a lack of political will and insufficient funding to make streets safer. With the final traffic death total estimated to rise to around 46,000 for 2022, it appears that Americans have largely accepted deaths on the roads as a fact of life. Driving is becoming safer around the world, except in the United States.
To Sum Up
The crash in Washington D.C. last week carries a vital lesson for policymakers: traffic cameras may issue penalties, but they have its limitations. To make streets safer, policymakers must make significant investments in infrastructure and staffing, identify the drivers that pose threats, and take appropriate measures to remove them from the road. The Vision Zero movement, if adequately funded and supported, can eventually help eliminate traffic fatalities from U.S. roads.
