Traffic fatalities have doubled since D.C.’s promise of zero [gift link]
D.C.’s Vision Zero plan has relied heavily on camera enforcement to catch speeders, who are more likely to cause dangerous crashes. But The Post found that of the 33 people killed in traffic crashes this year, nine died within 250 feet of a traffic camera.
There’s A LOT to unpack here about inequitable streets and placement of traffic cameras, and I’m not going to do it here because it’s already been done by people who know more about it than I do.
The problem with DC’s Vision Zero is that Mayor Bowser did it like Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy on The Office. Saying you’re going to do Vision Zero is great, but unfortunately for DC, that’s where it ended.
You may not know what Vision Zero IS, aside from a plan to get to zero traffic fatalities. That’s ok. I have a great analogy. We go live to the press conference.
Voiceover: Mayor Muriel Bowser presents…. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s new diet.
Mayor Muriel Bowser (standing at podium. On the podium is a jumbo slice of pizza and a Bud Light): Thank you for coming. I am pleased to announce that, going forward, I will be on a 100% paleo diet. The diet of our prehistoric ancestors, truly native Washingtonians, is the only way foward.
MMB: (Takes large bite of pizza)
Reporter: Mayor Bowser, aren’t dairy and grains forbidden in a paleo diet?
MMB (takes long drink from Bud Light): The first inhabitants of Washington DC ,some hundred million years ago, followed a strict paleo diet, and so will I.
Reporter: Alcohol isn’t allowed either…
MMB (Glares): Off with his head.