Here are two action items from the safe and livable streets community.
Urge San Francisco Supervisors to confirm Mike Chen
Mike Chen has long been active in San Francisco politics, pushing for transit funding, walkability, and everything else near-and-dear to advocates for safe and livable streets (he's also a Streetsblog contributor). Now that he's been nominated to fill a seat on the SFMTA board, advocates are pushing to make sure San Francisco's supervisors confirm him. From an action letter from KidSafeSF:
Chen's experience as chair of the SFMTA Citizens’ Advisory Commission has shown that he is well prepared to help Muni tackle significant challenges, which will be particularly useful during this time of dire fiscal challenges for the city and the SFMTA.
He has also worked to improve biking across our city, and has proven himself to be an effective advocate for improving safety and encouraging people to shift to more sustainable modes.
As we plan for a city that is both more affordable and greener, we must think about how we invest in transportation. We are confident that Chen will bring an equitable, solution-oriented attitude to all of existing and future challenges, while continuing to uphold the City’s Vision Zero, Transit First, and climate policies.
Chen's SFMTA Board nomination is coming up at the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee next Monday, September 16, at 10 a.m. (which includes Supervisors Walton, Safai, and Peskin). "We're rallying support for his nomination—he's going to need all the help and letters of support he can get," wrote KidSafe's Robin Pam, in an email to Streetsblog.
Be sure to send an action letter!
Urge Governor to sign 'Speed Assistance Technology' legislation
Speed kills. That's just a fact. And for a long time, technology has existed to prevent speeding by drivers. That's why San Francisco's state Senator Scott Wiener wrote S.B. 961, a bill originally intended to force new cars sold in California to have speed governors to prevent drivers from going more than 10 mph over the limit.
The bill was fought by car manufacturers, of course, and populist politicians pandering to drivers who are happy to break the law and put others in danger. To get something through, it had to be be watered down, so that it no longer "limits" speed at all. Instead, it requires cars to "utilize a brief, one-time, visual and audio signal to alert the driver each time the speed of the vehicle is more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit." The technology is already installed in many cars. The bill, if it became law, would require all new cars to have it.
It's an important start towards getting some control over the speeding crisis. And even just a speed warning seems to have a positive effect. The bill is now on Governor Newsom's desk, awaiting his signature or his veto. The car industry continues to lobby against it. From an action letter from Walk San Francisco:
...the auto industry hates this bill. Selling cars is more important than saving lives to them, it’s that simple. (Remember, the auto industry fought seat belts back in the 1960s)
Also from Walk SF:
The lifesaving vehicle speed technology bill, S.B. 961, is on Governor Newsom’s desk. S.B. 961 would require a commonsense safety feature in all cars and trucks manufactured or sold in California (except emergency vehicles and motorcycles). Starting in 2030, vehicles would give drivers an audio and visual alert when they’re going more than 10 mph above the speed limit.
Be sure to fill out Walk San Francisco's email action item and let the Governor know he needs to sign S.B. 961.
