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RESOLUTION OF THE NEW HAVEN BOARD OF ALDERS APPROVING THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN’S AUTOMATED TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT SAFETY DEVICES (ATESD) PLAN FOR SUBMISSION TO AND APPROVAL BY THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (CTDOT) IN ACCORDANCE WITH AN AMENDMENT TO CHAPTER 29 OF THE NEW HAVEN CODE OF ORDINANCES AND PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY GRANTED IN PUBLIC ACT 23-116, AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE VISION ZERO COUNCIL.
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WHEREAS, speeding and red-light running are significant problems in New Haven with respect to roadway safety and traffic violations; and
WHEREAS, studies have shown that both speeding and collisions involving red light violations have a significantly large impact on fatal and serious injury motor vehicle accidents, with particularly destructive effects on economically and socially disadvantaged communities; and
WHEREAS, both driving behaviors can be greatly mitigated by improved enforcement; and
WHEREAS, automated traffic enforcement is one such enforcement tool that can be utilized by the City of New Haven (the “City”) to reduce the prevalence of excessive speed and the running of red lights, thereby improving roadway safety for all users; and
WHEREAS, The City’s vision of significantly reducing and eventually eliminating serious roadway injuries and deaths, known as “Vision Zero” aligns with the City’s long-term safety vision plan (“Safe Routes for All”) and the United States Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy; and
WHEREAS, the State of Connecticut on June 27, 2023 enacted Public Act No. 23-116, providing in section 11 thereof that “any municipality may authorize the use of automated traffic enforcement safety devices (“ATESD”) at locations within school zones, pedestrian safety zones and other places in such municipality, provided (1) the municipality adopts an ordinance in accordance with the provisions of this section, and (2) the locations of such devices are identified in a plan approved by the Department of Transportation pursuant to section 17 of this act”; and
WHEREAS, on April 16, 2024, at a joint meeting of the Public Safety Committee and the Legislation Committee, the Committees unanimously voted in favor of adopting an ATESD ordinance in accordance with Public Act 23-116; and
WHEREAS, it is in the interest of the City to create an ATESD program as a tool for more effectively prioritizing those enforcement resources and strategies that have the greatest impact on traffic safety, while keeping equity and fair distribution of the program throughout the City at the forefront; and
WHEREAS, by adopting the plan and ultimately implementing an ATESD program, the City will move closer to fulfilling the goal of eliminating deaths and serious injuries resulting from motor vehicle collisions; and
WHEREAS, the City’s ATESD program shall be implemented, administered, and overseen by the City’s Transportation, Traffic and Parking Department; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Alders for the City of New Haven, the Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices (ATESD) Plan is hereby approved pursuant to the authority granted in Public Act 23-116, An Act Implementing The Recommendations Of The Vision Zero Council in accordance with an amendment to Chapter 29 of the New Haven Code of Ordinances.
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