[Press Release] : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mayor's Task Force on Pedestrian Safety recommends Vision Zero Policy

[Press Releases]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ian Thomas
573.239.7916
ward4 at gocolumbiamo.com

Michael Szewczyk
573.815.2369
mszewczyk at bjc.org

Mayor's Task Force on Pedestrian Safety recommends Vision Zero Policy

COLUMBIA, MO (March 31, 2016) - The Mayor's Task Force on Pedestrian Safety was created by a City Council resolution on May 18, 2015. Its formation was a response to a number of pedestrian fatalities and injuries resulting from collisions with motor vehicles in Columbia in late 2014 and early 2015. The mission of the Task Force was to provide recommendations to the Council to improve pedestrian safety overall and ultimately decreasing the number of pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions.

After their initial meeting in June 2015, the Task Force held monthly meetings through February 2016, and had four meetings in March to finalize their work. Â As of March 25, 2016, the Task Force had completed their work and assembled their final report to the City Council.

The Task Force's  1 recommendation is that the City adopt a Vision Zero policy. Â In the last few years, a dozen U.S. cities have implemented comprehensive, data-driven Vision Zero strategies, designed to achieve zero traffic fatalities or serious injuries across all forms of road transportation. Its philosophy departs from the idea of "acceptable" levels of risk and moves toward the belief that all traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable and ethically unacceptable.

"I am pleased that such a diverse Task Force reached a full consensus that Columbia should adopt a Vision Zero policy. Other cities that have taken this step have dramatically and rapidly increased traffic safety," Task Force Co-Chair Ian Thomas said.

"The Task Force's report makes it clear that we can do something about pedestrian fatalities and injuries. Implementation of the group's recommendations is the critical next step. Adoption of Vision Zero and a 1 percent for safety education policy makes good sense and will provide both the framework and the funding to help make Columbia a safer community," task force member Dr. Michael Szewczyk of Boone Hospital Center said.

The Final Report is available on the Mayor's Task Force for Pedestrian Safety portion of the City website at:

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/community-development/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2015/10/PSTFFinalReport.pdf

This final report will be on the City Council agenda for the meeting of Monday, April 4, 2016. The Council agenda will be available online on Friday, April 1, 2016 at:

https://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Council/Commissions/meetings.php?bcid=56

For further information, contact Ian Thomas, 573-239-7916, ward4 at gocolumbiamo.com, or Michael Szewczyk, 573-815-2369, mszewczyk at bjc.org.


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