The West Hartford Vision Zero Task Force announced its first meeting will be held on Monday, Feb 13th 2023 at 5pm in Town Hall Room 400. See agenda and packet on the Town of West Hartford meetings page. Below is a letter sent to Task Force members by the Bike West Hartford board:
February 11, 2023
Dear West Hartford Vision Zero Task Force members,
Thank you for serving on the Town of West Hartford Vision Zero Task Force. Our non-profit organization, Bike West Hartford, advocates for better biking, walking, and mass transit infrastructure and mobility justice across all neighborhoods in West Hartford. When Mayor Cantor called for the creation of a task force, we strongly supported a Vision Zero policy, with Town accountability and improved engineering, to achieve the goal of zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
In response to the agenda for your first meeting on Monday Feb 13th at 5pm, we offer three resources to support your work:
1) “The Street Project,” an inspiring documentary about the global fight to make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, was created by Emmy-winning West Hartford filmmaker Jennifer Boyd. You can watch the video at a free event tonight (Sat Feb 11th at 7pm) at the BiCiCo West community bike shop at 616 New Park Avenue, West Hartford, or host your own public screening, or stream it at home on Amazon Prime or PBS America.
2) Journalist Jessie Singer wrote a fabulous new book, There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster – Who Profits and Who Pays the Price. She debunks how the word “accident” has trained us to accept tragic outcomes, rather than recognize how most of these events are predictable and preventable. Check out the book at our local library or purchase a copy at your favorite bookstore.
3) Explore the West Hartford Crash Map to identify areas of town with high clusters of motor vehicle crashes, and zoom in to view specific crash details. Bike West Hartford and PictureDigits created this open-source visualization tool, based on police reports to the UConn Crash Data Repository, which may be delayed 1-6 months. Learn how it works or contact us if you have questions about how to modify or create your own version.
We thank you for your service and encourage you to contact any of our board members as we all work to make streets safer for everyone.
Sincerely,
Bike West Hartford board members
Mary Donegan, Jack Dougherty, Jennifer Fleet, Ethan Frankel, Tracy Frankel, Jim Head