Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka is proposing a package of legislation aimed at putting the city's traffic safety practices into law.
Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka is proposing a package of legislation aimed at putting the city's traffic safety practices into law and speeding up safety improvements on Seattle streets.
Saka, who chairs the council's Transportation, Waterfront and Seattle Center Committee, announced the proposed Seattle SAFER Streets Act on Wednesday. SAFER stands for Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Equitable and Responsive.
The package is still being developed and is expected to include three pieces of legislation focused on Seattle's Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries on city streets by 2030.
The proposal centers on five priorities:
- Making safety part of the city's transportation system
- Requiring proven safety measures
- Using city contracts to promote safer trucks
- Giving Seattle Department of Transportation safety leaders more authority to make decisions
- Responding more quickly after fatal crashes.
"This draft legislative package will be focused on strengthening Seattle's Vision Zero safety approach to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030," Saka said in a news release.
According to Saka's office, the legislation would establish a more consistent response after fatal crashes and create a path for faster safety improvements.
It would also expand intersection "daylighting," a safety practice intended to improve visibility near intersections, and require enhanced Vision Zero reviews of transportation projects.
Another part of the proposal would clarify and strengthen the authority of the city's top traffic engineering and safety officials, allowing them to act more quickly when they determine safety is at risk.
The package would also use Seattle's contracting authority to promote the use of safer trucks on municipal projects, with the goal of better protecting people considered vulnerable road users.
Saka said the legislation is intended to codify Seattle's Safe System approach and other existing practices and community priorities, rather than leave them solely to administrative policy that could change over time.
Seattle launched Vision Zero in 2015 with the goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030.
The program's Safe System approach assumes people will make mistakes, and seeks to reduce the consequences through multiple layers of protection, including safer street design, speed enforcement, education and improved responses to crashes.
According to Saka's news release, traffic deaths and injuries have not declined as city officials had hoped. Saka requested an audit of the Vision Zero initiative earlier this year.
The SAFER Streets Act has not yet been finalized. Saka's office said the package is expected to be completed by Friday, Aug. 21.
The Transportation, Waterfront and Seattle Center Committee is scheduled to receive a briefing on the draft legislation at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, in the Seattle City Council Chamber.
