Is Highway Safety No. 1 Transport Priority?

Dear Editor,

Our legislature has its top transport priority, and it is not safety of motorists or pedestrians or bicyclists or children on scooters.

So, what is it?

If you want to see our leaders’ highest transport priority, read our Legislature’s priority mandate in Section 99401.5 of the Public Utilities Code.

Or consider the stillborn Strategic Highway Safety Plan (“SHSP”), which was the topic of the highway safety advocates “summit” in April in Sacramento. On paper the SHSP is a great idea, but thanks to our Legislature it’s DOA (Dead on Arrival). Why? Just look at our transport law:

First, look at the numbers:

n 400-500 highway safety advocates gathering at the summit to promote new SHSP

n 0 days without a traffic fatality in California since 9/12/00

n 0 chances of success of the SHSP as our law now stands in California

For the Year 2003 (the most recent year for which total statistics are available):

n 59 seconds: time between reported traffic accidents in California

n 1 person killed every two hours and four minutes in traffic accidents in California

n 1 person injured every one minute and 43 seconds in traffic accidents

n 1 person killed for every 73 injured on our streets and highways in California

n 1 out of every 8,505 persons living in California killed in a traffic accident in California

n 1 out of every 117 persons living in California injured in a traffic accident

n 1 out of every 59 licensed drivers was involved in a fatal or injury accident

When the legislature says that the counties and cities shall not spend a single penny on streets and highways until all unmet transit needs are met (funded by the taxpayers at 99 percent subsidy levels), then highway safety improvements like the Don Pacheco Y Interchange are “on-hold” until transit advocates get everything on their wish list satisfied. This is backwards; it should be just the opposite – no transit spending unless and until all highway safety improvements are finished. At least the voters in each county should have the right to decide their highest priority for transportion dollars.

Look what VTA did when we needed median barriers on US 101 between Gilroy and Morgan Hill. The VTA’s leaders said “No money for medians on US 101,” at the same time they transferred $52.29 million to their employees’ pension plan. Later, after more accidents and deaths from cross-over collisions, we finally got them. The final price? Less than $2 million.

SHSP and other traffic safety initiatives are not our leaders’ number one transport priority. But with so many adults speeding on streets and highways, running red lights, driving intoxicated/stoned, and most children (especially teens) not wearing helmets, we’re a bunch of hypocrites to cast stones at our backwards transport policy from our berserk legislature.  

Please tell your readers the truth in transportation. Don’t mislead them into thinking that highway safety is our top transport priority. Our legislature has decreed that it ain’t.

Joseph P. Thompson, Tres Pinos