[Durham INC] Vision Zero Durham Aims to Eliminate Traffic Fatalities & Serious Injuries

Fri Sep 8 09:51:16 EDT 2017

[Title: City of Durham logo]

CITY OF DURHAM
Office of Public Affairs
101 City Hall Plaza
Durham, NC 27701

News Release

News Media Contact:
Amy Blalock
Public Affairs Manager
(919) 560-4123 x 11253
(919) 475-7735 (cell)
Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov<mailto:Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov>
http://Facebook.com/CityofDurhamNC
http://Twitter.com/CityofDurhamNC
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http://YouTube.com/CityofDurhamNC

For Immediate Release: September 8, 2017

Share! New #VisionZeroDurham initiative aims to eliminate traffic fatalities & serious injuries: http://bit.ly/2j9SKVi

Vision Zero Durham Aims to Eliminate Traffic Fatalities & Serious Injuries
Vision Zero Durham Week Set for September 11-15

DURHAM, N.C. - Durham wants to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on Bull City roadways and needs the support of the entire community to make it happen.

The City's Transportation Department has launched Vision Zero Durham<https://durhamnc.gov/2995/Vision-Zero>, a new initiative that brings together City departments, Durham County departments, State agencies, and community stakeholders to engineer safer roads and educate the community about traffic safety. City Transportation Director Terry Bellamy and his staff began the program for one simple purpose - to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on Durham roadways. "The loss of life is not an acceptable price to pay for mobility," Bellamy said. "Traffic deaths are preventable. We can work together to keep people walking, biking, and driving safely, and the Vision Zero initiative is a strategy for making our streets safer for everyone."

Vision Zero<http://visionzeronetwork.org/> started in Sweden in the 1990s, and the concept has since evolved and achieved success internationally and in the United States. According to Bellamy, work in Durham is already underway with a stakeholder kick-off meeting that took place on August 1. The City will hold its first quarterly Vision Zero Durham Steering Committee meeting in November to develop strategies for the initiative, and will soon release a five-year Vision Zero Durham Action Plan. This plan will outline traffic safety priorities related to the five elements of Vision Zero or the "5 Es": engineering, enforcement, education, evaluation and encouragement. The Action Plan will build on the success of the City's Accident Reduction Program, which started in 2003. This program identifies and treats high-crash locations based on severity, frequency and other crash statistics. The City will also continue to identify and focus resources on crash hotspots to achieve its goal of reducing and ultimately eliminating fatalities and serious injuries on its roadways.

According to Bellamy, Vision Zero Durham is an all-hands-on deck-initiative and will ultimately involve the coordinated efforts of all City departments working under the direction of the City Manager's Office. Vision Zero Durham also reflects Mayor William V. "Bill" Bell's response and commitment to former U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx's Mayor's Challenge for Safer People and Safer Streets<https://www.transportation.gov/mayors-challenge> which aims to improve pedestrian and bicycle transportation safety.

In addition to planning and building safer transportation systems, the initiative will also encourage community involvement through neighborhood listservs, school events, social media and interaction with groups such as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC)<https://durhamnc.gov/1383/Bicycle-Pedestrian-Advisory-Commission>. "The adoption of Vision Zero signals Durham's dedication to making our roads safer for everybody, whether they are walking, cycling or driving" said BPAC Chair Jeremy Thornhill. "The BPAC is excited to see Durham embrace this project, and we look forward to a future with no traffic fatalities on our streets."

A close partnership with the Durham Police Department<http://durhamnc.gov/149/Police-Department> will be focused on enforcement, education and the promotion of safe-street campaigns, which are critical to this new initiative. "Traffic safety is a core function of the Durham Police Department, and our traffic division is dedicated to focusing on tactics that help achieve our goals of reducing deaths and serious injuries," said Corporal Daniel Kuszaj of the Durham Police Department District 5 Traffic Services Unit.

The Transportation Department<http://durhamnc.gov/1002/Transportation> is planning a series of outreach events for Vision Zero Durham Week, which will be observed the week of September 11-15. On September 12, Transportation team members will wear black Vision Zero Durham shirts to commemorate those who have lost their lives on Durham roadways at an event at GoDurham's Fay Street facility. On September 13, Transportation team members will conduct a traffic safety demonstration with the entire kindergarten class at Lakewood Elementary School. On September 14, Transportation team members will hold a Vision Zero Durham information session at Durham Station Transportation Center. On September 15, the department will set up a shoe display to represent those who lost their lives on Durham roadways last year. This display in the lobby at City Hall will encourage City employees and members of the public to take the Vision Zero Durham pledge. The department is also planning Vision Zero Durham events with Duke University, North Carolina Central University and Durham Public Schools for later this fall.

For additional information about Vision Zero Durham, visit the City's website<https://durhamnc.gov/2995/Vision-Zero> or contact Transportation Planner Bryan Poole with the City's Transportation Department at (919) 560-4366, ext. 36423 or by email at Bryan.Poole at DurhamNC.gov<mailto:Bryan.Poole at DurhamNC.gov>.

About the City of Durham Transportation Department
The Transportation Department<http://durhamnc.gov/1002/Transportation> is responsible for a broad range of transportation services, which include traffic signs and signals, transportation planning, parking operations, street lighting, taxicab administration, and bicycle and pedestrian planning. The department also oversees GoDurham<http://godurhamtransit.org/> and GoDurham ACCESS<http://godurhamtransit.org/access> as well as leads planning functions for the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization<http://www.dchcmpo.org/> (DCHC MPO), which is the regional organization that is responsible for planning and programming state and federal transportation projects in the urbanized areas of Durham, Orange, and Chatham counties. Guided by the City's Strategic Plan<http://durhamnc.gov/183/Strategic-Plan>, the department helps to strengthen the foundation, enhance the value, and improve the quality and sustainability of neighborhoods that are necessary for a strong and diverse community.

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