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[COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR]RESOLUTION NO. 240358

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Sponsor:  Mayor Quinton Lucas

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

RESOLUTION - Expressing the City Council’s desire that the Kansas City Police Department provide the Council with traffic fatality notifications; and directing the City Manager to prioritize high injury networks in vulnerable communities when making the City’s infrastructure applications for federal and state funding.

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WHEREAS, The City has experienced a significant number of fatal traffic accidents over the past five years, with 2023 alone seeing 90 fatal crashes resulting in 102 deaths; and

WHEREAS, impaired driving has been a significant factor in these tragedies, with over 52% of crashes in 2023 involving an impaired driver, marking a disturbing rise from 41% in 2022; and

WHEREAS, vulnerable communities are disproportionately impacted by traffic accidents, for example, motor vehicle fatalities are the second-leading cause of non-pregnancy-related death for pregnant women in Missouri; and

WHEREAS, traffic fatalities not only cause a loss of life but also have a profound emotional and economic impact on families, communities, and the City at large; and

WHEREAS, the City has already committed to Vision Zero KC, which aims to eliminate
traffic fatalities and serious injuries on our streets by 2030, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable
mobility for everyone; and

WHEREAS, the City Council currently receives homicide notifications from the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) and desires to also receive traffic fatality notifications for the purpose of increasing the visibility of this important public safety concern; and

WHEREAS, implementing a notification system for city leaders following fatal traffic incidents will ensure that city leadership is promptly informed, thus fostering transparency and accountability and enabling informed decisions about road safety policies and interventions; and

WHEREAS, such a notification system already exists for homicides, and would therefore be easy to implement for traffic fatalities; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

Section 1. The City Council expresses its desire that the Kansas City Police Department provide the Council with traffic fatality notifications in the same manner as the Police Department sends homicide notifications to the Council; and also include in its report KCPD’s current staffing in its traffic enforcement division and its strategy for full staffing in the future.

Section 2.  Directing the City Manager to prioritize high injury networks in vulnerable communities when making the City’s infrastructure applications for federal and state funding; and aligning the city’s investments to address the traffic calming infrastructure within vulnerable communities.

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