On Tuesday, June 13th, 2017, Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition members, including WalkUP Roslindale, will be at the State House to provide testimony at the public hearing for An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities.
Will you help us make Massachusetts streets safer for all?
The Coalition has been working closely with Senator Brownsberger and Representatives Jonathan Hecht and David Rogers to develop a comprehensive traffic safety bill. We are now focused on pushing five critical pieces that will prevent crashes and protect vulnerable road users. Act now and help us enact these street safety measures as law!
An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities (S1905/H2877)
Tuesday, June 13, 2017 2-4pm
Joint Committee on Transportation
Massachusetts State House, Boston, MA
Hearing Room A-1 Building Map
Here are two ways you can take action to help the bill move ahead:
- Testify in person at the public hearing on Tuesday, June 13th at 2pm. If you plan to testify, please arrive a few minutes early to sign in or notify us at least one day in advance so we can sign you up to testify in support of S.1905/H.2877. For more information click here.
- Submit written testimony to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Transportation and your state legislators (see template letter provided below). E-mails should be sent to the committee chairs, copying your Representative and Senator, as well as the bill’s lead sponsors by end of day Tuesday, June 13. Find out if your legislators are co-sponsors of the bill (initial supporters listed below).
What’s Next?
If the bill is reported favorably by this committee, it will be sent on to the Ways and Means Committee in both the Senate and the House to determine if the Commonwealth has the means to enact such a law. Thereafter, the bill would go to a general vote, at which point your input with your local lawmakers becomes even more important.
Click here to read our legislative FAQs on An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities.
SAMPLE TESTIMONY
Recommended email subject: Testimony in support of An Act to reduce traffic fatalities S1905/H2877
Senator Thomas McGee, Transportation Senate Chair Thomas.McGee@nullmasenate.gov
Representative William Straus, Transportation House Chair William.Straus@nullmahouse.gov
Dear Senator McGee, Representative Straus, and members of the Joint Committee on Transportation,
I am writing to urge a favorable report for An Act to reduce traffic fatalities, (S1905 – Brownsberger, H2877 – Hecht and Rogers).
Serious injury and deaths from traffic crashes continue with troubling frequency on our streets. An Act to reduce traffic fatalities S1905/H2877 is a comprehensive piece of legislation which aims to create safer streets for all users, including bicyclists, pedestrians, and passengers of motor vehicles.
[Tell your own story here. Why is this bill important to you?]
About the Bill
An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities (S1905/H2877) will ensure basic, but necessary traffic regulations to guarantee that everyone on our streets can expect to get from point A to point B safely. The bill’s provisions that the Vision Zero Coalition believes will make the biggest difference to the safety of people walking and biking and that we support strongly are:
Lowering default speed limit on state highways and parkways in thickly settled areas from 30 mph to 25 mph
Allowing municipalities to install limited traffic safety cameras exclusively for speeding and red light & right turn violations
Equipping state contracted trucks with safety side-guards to reduce pedestrian & bicyclist fatalities
Prohibits usage of mobile devices, except those in hands-free mode, while operating a motor vehicle
Vulnerable road user language
Thanks again for your consideration, and I urge a favorable report for this bill.
[full name
street address
city/town, state, zip
phone:
email: ]
Thank you for taking action with us! Together we can make Massachusetts streets safer.
Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition
http://www.visionzerocoalition.org
Initial Support
Thanks to a fantastic effort by our members and the cycling community, we secured an outstanding number of co-sponsors and initial support for An Act to reduce traffic fatalities.
Here are the Senators and Representatives who have signed on to the bill:
Senators
Michael Barrett, 3rd Middlesex
Joseph Boncore, 1st Suffolk and Middlesex
William Brownsberger, 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex
Cynthia Stone Creem, 1st Middlesex and Norfolk
Sal DiDomenico, Middlesex and Suffolk
James Eldridge, Middlesex and Worcester
Jennifer Flanagan, Worcester and Middlesex
Kathleen O’Connor Ives, 1st Essex
Patricia Jehlen, 2nd Middlesex
Eric Lesser, 1st Hampden and Hampshire
Jason Lewis, 5th Middlesex
Joan Lovely, 2nd Essex
Thomas McGee, 3rd Essex
Michael Moore, 2nd Worcester
Michael Rush, Norfolk and Suffolk
Representatives
James Arciero, 2nd Middlesex
Brian Michael Ashe, 2nd Hampden
Cory Atkins, 14th Middlesex
Bruce Ayers, 1st Norfolk
Ruth Balser, 12th Middlesex
Christine Barber, 34th Middlesex
Jennifer Benson, 37th Middlesex
Paul Brodeur, 32nd Middlesex
Antonio Cabral, 13th Bristol
Thomas Calter, 12th Plymouth
Gailanne Cariddi, 1st Berkshire
Tackey Chan, 2nd Norfolk
Nicholas Collins, 4th Suffolk
Mike Connolly, 26th Middlesex
Edward Coppinger, 10th Suffolk
Brendan Crighton, 11th Essex
Daniel Cullinane, 12th Suffolk
Marjorie Decker, 25th Middlesex
Diana DiZoglio, 14th Essex
Daniel Donahue, 16th Worcester
William Driscoll, 7th Norfolk
Carolyn Dykema, 8th Middlesex
Tricia Farley-Bouvier, 3rd Berkshire
Sean Garballey, 23rd Middlesex
Denise Garlick, 13th Norfolk
Carmine Gentile, 13th Middlesex
Solomon Goldstein-Rose, 3rd Hampshire
Kenneth Gordon, 21st Middlesex
Danielle Gregoire, 4th Middlesex
Jonathan Hecht, 29th Middlesex
Paul Heroux, 2nd Bristol
Bradford Hill, 4th Essex
Kevin Honan, 17th Suffolk
Dan Hunt, 13th Suffolk
Jay Kaufman, 15th Middlesex
Kay Khan, 11th Middlesex
Peter Kocot, 1st Hampshire
Stephen Kulik, 1st Franklin
John Lawn, 10th Middlesex
Jack Patrick Lewis, 7th Middlesex
Jay Livingstone, 8th Suffolk
Adrian Madaro, 1st Suffolk
John Mahoney, 13th Worcester
Elizabeth Malia, 11th Suffolk
Joseph McGonagle, 28th Middlesex
Paul McMurtry, 11th Norfolk
James Miceli, 19th Middlesex
Aaron Michlewitz, 3rd Suffolk
Rady Mom, 18th Middlesex
David Muradian, 9th Worcester
Mathew Muratore, 1st Plymouth
David Nangle, 17th Middlesex
Sarah Peake, 4th Barnstable
Alice Peisch, 14th Norfolk
Denise Provost, 27th Middlesex
Angelo Puppolo, Jr., 12th Hampden
David Rogers, 24th Middlesex
John Rogers, 12th Norfolk
Jeffrey Roy, 10th Norfolk
Byron Rushing, 9th Suffolk
Dan Ryan, 2nd Suffolk
JohnScibak, 2nd Hampshire
FrankSmizik, 15th Norfolk
Thomas Stanley, 9th Middlesex
William Straus, 10th Bristol
Paul Tucker, 7th Essex
Steven Ultrino, 33rd Middlesex
Aaron Vega, 5th Hampden
John Velis, 4th Hampden
Chris Walsh, 6th Middlesex