Critical steps underway for intensive Vision Zero public education outreach campaign.
The City of Sacramento is taking another critical step to reach its Vision Zero goal and will begin the planning efforts for an intensive public education and outreach campaign. The campaign is designed to encourage safer behaviors while driving, walking, and bicycling.
City council on Tuesday approved a professional services contract to help facilitate the launch of the safety and outreach campaign. Funding for this program was provided by a $200,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In January 2017, City Council adopted the Vision Zero Goal of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2027. The Vision Zero effort is a traffic safety philosophy that rejects the notion that traffic crashes are simply “accidents,” but instead preventable incidents that can and must be systematically addressed.
“The City of Sacramento takes transportation safety seriously and has taken an ambitious step in adopting its Vision Zero goal — signaling that the City is willing to do the hard work necessary to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries,” said Hector Barron Director of Public Works.
“Only by moving beyond traditional transportation safety practices with bold interventions and working with our partners can the City solve one of its largest preventable public health crises.”
The City has recently released a draft plan that uses historic crash data to pinpoint the factors contributing to traffic deaths and serious injuries, and it identifies proven safety countermeasures to address those factors through education, engineering, enforcement, and evaluation.
The City’s public education effort will address key findings from the Vision Zero Action Plan which include:
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79 percent of all crashes occur on the High Injury Network, which accounts for just 14 percent of Sacramento roadways
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Unsafe speed is the leading cause of crashes. 2/3 of fatal crashes occur on streets with a posted speed of 40+ miles per hour, which account for just 10 percent of the City’s street network.
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In one-quarter of Sacramento’s severe crashes, someone involved had been drinking.
The public education campaign will formally launch early summer 2018 and will target all City of Sacramento residents with an emphasis on reaching vulnerable and underserved populations.