January 31, 2020 (CBS Austin) – “It’s a crisis we have to solve,” said Jay Crossley, director of Vision Zero Texas.So far this year, 11 people have already died in crashes on Austin roads. The average from 2007 to 2015 is just four deaths in January.
On January 19th, Jose Luis Velazquez and his girlfriend, Joanne Menchaca, were hit and killed by a driver on Hwy 71. Court documents show the driver who hit them is suspected of going over 100 miles per hour to make a flight at Austin’s airport. “He would send us messages saying he loved us,” said Tracey Velazquez.
Days before that, 18-year-old Fabian Morales was killed in a racing crash on Bluff Springs Road. The two crashes are among 11 that happened in the first month of 2020.
When Vision Zero started in 2016, traffic deaths in Austin started to reduce with 79 in 2016, 76 in 2017 and 74 in 2018. But numbers spiked in 2019 with 88 traffic deaths.
In September of 2019, the Austin City Council approved selected speed limited changes in an effort to make roads safer. The roads picked had a high number of crashes that led to significant injuries and fatalities. Parts of Airport Boulevard and Cameron Road were reduced by five miles per hour.
“If someone in front of you is driving at a safe speed, you’re forced to follow them at a safe speed,” said Crossley.
At next week’s city council meeting, Vision Zero is expected to present the newest fatal crash data as part of an effort to ask council for $400 million for their goal to reduce traffic deaths to zero by 2025. CBS Austin asked Mayor Steve Adler in December of 2019 if he thought the city was allocating enough money to prevent traffic deaths. “We’re not putting adequate money against any of the most serious challenges in the city,” said Adler.
A transportation package expected to be on the November ballot is slated to be in the billions. Part of that package would also include an effort to try and get more cars off the road with improved rail service.
