DC Residents had Better see Through the New Vision Zero Bill

“The goal of the omnibus Vision Zero bill, from council member Charles Allen of Ward 6, is to decrease the number of traffic accidents with pedestrians and cyclists,” writes the Washington Examiner.

At first blush, it may appear to be a “traffic safety bill,” but reading further, the additional proposals make obvious what this really is. The “Vision Zero bill” is a government command and control / Green New Deal style bill, disguised as a traffic safety bill.

The main takeaway of the bill, which many Conservative chronicles gleaned, is that neighbors will be allowed to effectively write their own parking tickets – turning otherwise harmless busy-bodies into traffic cops.

Claiming that the police can’t be everywhere, D.C. council member Charles Allen 6 proposes that, “certain residents,” be given the authority, “to write out parking tickets to their neighbors.”

Personally, I can’t think of a thing that could go wrong with this plan. Certainly no scores will ever be settled by one neighbor against another, or any other such abuses. I mean, neighbors policing neighbors – what could possibly go wrong?

And as all good leftist progressives know – once the framework is made law, it can then be built upon – adding layer upon layer of not only bureaucracy, but also, further abuses of individual freedoms in the name of “public safety.”

Beyond just neighbors writing their own parking tickets, Mr. Allen also proposes to end “right turn on red,” lowering in-city speed limits to 20 MPH, and changing all intersections to four way stops. In other words, wherever you’re going in D.C., you had better leave early to allow for the massive additional gridlock.

He wants to levy, “substantial fines when contractors & utilities don’t replace crosswalks & bike lanes immediately after road work. Requires developers to include new sidewalks, crosswalks & markings, protected bike lanes, & plans for legal curbside drop off of rideshare or deliveries,” as well as requiring DDOT [District Department of Transportation] to create more sidewalk & bike lane connections.

And this legislative proposal was all conveyed via Twitter, so we know it’s official.

Do we see where this is going? We can’t legislate the evil carbon-emitting automobile out of existence, so instead, we’ll just make it as inconvenient as we can to operate one.

And then Charles Allen, the Green Warrior, reveals his true agenda. Oh sure, it starts out as him merely expressing concern over pedestrian and cyclist safety, but adds, “And... sets new aggressive goals - similar to our landmark Clean Energy DC law - to get 50% of commutes by public transit and an additional 25% by bike or pedestrain travel by 2032.”

How he proposes to accomplish this is not specified, but it should worry those who commute in and around the District. And knowing how leftist the rest of the council is, you can bet most if not all are on board. 

This is just another example of leftist politicians trying to thrust a “green” lifestyle onto the citizens, by comingling the real agenda with that of public safety – because who could be against public safety?

Do we really think that Mr. Allen, or any of the other council members will be riding the bus into work?  Of course not. They will be part of the privileged other 50%.

Do, not as we do, but as we command.