The Vision Zero initiative was launched in 2014 to create a safer Washington, D.C. The program, spearheaded by Mayor Muriel Bowser, aims to have zero fatalities or serious injuries on our roadways. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has been assigned this task, but over 25 agencies have played some role in its execution. This program has five prongs.
- Safe Users
- Safe Streets
- Safe Vehicles
- Safe Speeds
- Post Crash Care
Overview of Vision Zero
The mission of Vision Zero is to get to zero fatalities and no serious injuries on the roadway. While this is practically impossible, it is undoubtedly an admirable goal to strive for. As DC car accident lawyers for over 70 years, we understand how accidents impact our residents. Vision Zero seeks to accomplish its objectives by addressing the safety of all road users, including those who walk, bike, drive, ride transit, and travel by any other modes. In 2014, they sought to accomplish these goals with a modest budget of $500,000 as a downpayment. This money went to a truck safety public education program, ANC transportation safety liaisons, art safety grants, pop-up bike shops for youth safety and education, $100,000 to the Office of Disability Rights, and $156,000 to the Department of Public Works for side underide prevention devices on certain trucks.
They listed three concerns they sought to address to accomplish their ultimate goal of zero fatalities. The first was to slow down speeding drivers. The second was to stop distracted drivers from texting while driving or doing anything else that took their eyes off the road. The third concern is pedestrians ignoring traffic signals.
2022 Update
In 2022, Mayor Bowser acknowledged the program’s shortcomings. Between 2015 and 2021, Washington, D.C., lost, on average, 32 people on the streets yearly. However, over that same period, there was over a 50% increase in traffic fatalities in Washington, D.C.. While other large cities nationwide also saw increases, DC may have seen the largest increase. The 2022 update also states that the seventh and eighth wards of DC have the highest reported traffic injuries, fatalities, annual injury rate, and annual fatality rates. These wards are NE, DC, and SE, DC, respectively.
As part of the 2022 update, the DDOT added the concept of the high injury network. This part of the program prioritizes intervention on the District’s most dangerous roadways. The high-injury network now has two tiers. Tier 1 street segments and corridors represent the highest priority segments citywide. The Tier 2 segments supplement Tier 1 to represent the highest priority segments and corridors for each Ward.
The Results
Despite the initial excitement behind the program, the number of fatalities has disappointingly risen each year. Of course, this is the opposite of the program’s intended effect. City officials across the District claim that camera enforcement has been effective but has not stopped fatalities. The number of serious bodily injuries also remains high. Moreover, even the results for the seventh and eighth wards remain the worst in the District of the eight total wards. In 2023, we saw a 16-year high for fatalities in Washington, D.C. Of course, one cannot blame these fatalities on this initiative. Rather, the initiative has clearly failed to accomplish its intended aim. Additionally, D.C. lacks the authority to suspend licenses or car registrations based on camera-issued tickets, especially for nonresident drivers who dominate the roads and receive the majority of citations.
However, throughout the program, there has been a modest decrease in the number of significant injuries. It is hard to prove that Vision Zero is the reason for this improvement, but it is worth noting.
Why Vision Zero Has Failed
There are several potential reasons why Vision Zero has failed. The most obvious reason is that their lofty, ambitious goal is impossible. In our experience, negligent drivers are always on the road, regardless of law enforcement. We know this from experience as car accident attorneys and drivers. Beyond the obvious, there are more nuanced reasons to consider.
- Inadequate Enforcement and Regulatory Power. D.C. cannot use camera-issued tickets to suspend the licenses or car registrations of drivers who don’t reside in the district, which diminishes the deterrent effect of these penalties. Many of the drivers come in from Maryland and Virginia every day. Thus, DC cannot discipline those drivers to the same degree as it can DC residents. Given that Maryland and Virginia residents make up the majority of dangerous driving in the District, this is an issue with no obvious answer.
- A second consideration is that the program focuses more on generating revenue for DC than on stopping negligent driving. The best support for this argument is that the only tangible change from this program is more speed cameras. That generates revenue but does not have a meaningful impact on fatal accidents.
- Insufficient infrastructure changes. While there are speed humps from Vision Zero, critics argue that this is not enough to stop fatalities.
- Underfunding. To create meaningful infrastructure changes, funding is needed. Funding has been insufficient to this point.
Solution
There is clearly no perfect solution to a problem that is likely impossible to solve. However, several targeted solutions may shift our city in the right direction. Those proposals are below.
- Enhanced Regulatory Authority. Create legislative changes that focus on improving infrastructure. Focus first on the higher-risk roads, particularly those found in Wards 7 and 8.
- Improve Enforcement Strategies. While speed cameras will generate revenue without costing the city much, in-person policing will be far more effective at stopping speeding as it is more of a deterrent. Stationing officers on the more dangerous roads is a step in the right direction.
- Policy and Procedure Overhaul. Conduct a thorough review of all current policies and practices under Vision Zero to identify inefficiencies and outdated strategies.
