138-24 Exhibit to Resolution Adopting the Township of West Orange Vision Zero Action Plan.pdf

USDOT ROADWAY SAFETY STRATEGY The USDOT National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), published January 2022, recognizes that the United States is at a critical juncture in terms of roadway safety1. The rate of fatalities on US roadways decreased consistently from 1980 to 2010, but stagnated after 2010 and spiked nationwide in 2020 (which also occurred in West Orange). An estimated 38,680 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2020, of which an estimated 6,236 were pedestrians. In 2021, this increased by an additional 10.5 percent to 42,915 fatalities including 7,342 pedestrian fatalities. These alarming statistics presented a call to action to make the US roadway system safer for all users, which is why the NRSS sets a vision and goal for the safety of US roadways: zero roadway fatalities. As stated in the NRSS document, "zero is the only acceptable number of deaths on our highways, roads and streets." In order to achieve this, this strategy promotes the adoption of the Safe System Approach, which has seen success in its early adopters such as Sweden, the Netherlands, and more. The Safe System Approach involves anticipating human error by designing the roadway system to keep the risk/impact of the human error low. It takes into account human vulnerability and consists of six principles and five elements. Additionally, roadway safety is an important foundation to achieving success in addressing two other major priorities: equity and climate. By implementing ways to encourage safe multi-modal travel, lower dependency on single-occupancy vehicles and through sustainable and environmentally-friendly street design, this plan will help address climate change. In addition, equity is a defining factor of the West Orange Vision Zero Action Plan. All layers of a Safe System Approach are critical. Source: USDOT National Roadway Safety Strategy To provide an illustrative example, among the 16,261 fatal crashes involving a 1 https://www.transportation.gov/nrss/usdot-national-roadway-safety-strategy vehicle that left the roadway in 2019, thousands also involved other contributing factors: WEST ORANGE TOWNSHIP: VISION ZERO ACTION PLAN 15