Support Safe Neighborhood Streets
HB 1045 (Ryu) (Neighborhood Safe Speeds) is now scheduled for a hearing in the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday, January 22 at 3:30 pm. This bill gives cities and towns the authority to set speed limits to 20 miles per hour on non-arterial streets. For more details on the bill, see this fact sheet.
You can help!
1. Communicate with all members of the House Transportation Committee ASAP – email, phone or letter.
2. Use your own advocacy network to alert your constituencies about HB 1045.
3. Have your own organization officially endorse the bill. Please contact Blake Trask (blake@bicyclealliance.org) directly with this option. House Transportation Committee member information can be found at: http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/TR/Pages/MembersStaff.aspx.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
HB 1045 IS PART OF A BIGGER SOLUTION TO OBESITY PREVENTION
- We are still in a “red alert” situation with regard to obesity statistics
- Over 26% of Washington’s state residents are obese, double the rate from just 20 years ago
- 25% of young people eat an adequate amount of fruits & vegetables while a different 25% of our 10th grade students are overweight or obese
- Treating chronic disease is expensive – and also preventable
- We need all the support we can get from all sectors of our society to make the healthy choice easier in our society, including our transportation sector
- Providing cities and towns with the tools to create safer and walk-able streets can be an important part of our overall strategy to get our citizens moving more on a routine basis.
We encourage you to use the above points, fact sheet and/or our sample letter in contacting the House Transportation Committee and spreading the word on HB 1045. Let’s make our streets safer for our kids to walk, bike and play!
