City of Houston And TxDPS Increase Efforts To Eliminate Road And Highway Fatalities
For 20 years, the city of Houston and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has been engaged in a battle to reduce the number of traffic fatalities on our roads to zero for just one day.
According to an article appearing on the Houston Chronicle website, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner held a press conference at Houston City City Hall on Friday, November 5th. During the conference, Mayor Turner stated that since November 7, 2000, there have been more than 70,000 fatalities on Texas’ roads and highways during that time.
State and local officials have vowed to reduce the number of fatalities in Texas, but the crisis has shown no signs of improvement.
State Transportation Commissioner Laura Ryan said in a statement to reporter Dug Begley the state’s efforts to reduce the number of fatalities are not showing in the numbers yet. However, she and other Texas officials expect to begin seeing the results because of money being spent to increase education and prevent roadway deaths before they occur.
Those efforts include building better intersections and crosswalks, rumble strips to warn drivers when they stray over highway dividing lines or onto the shoulder and approaching an intersection.
“It’s the difference between life and death, Mayor Turner said. “ No loss of life is acceptable.”
