The DC Council held a joint hearing yesterday, Wednesday, October 3, 2023, on four bills to address dangerous and reckless driving: License Suspension Reform; Automated Traffic Enforcement Effectiveness; Strengthening Traffic Enforcement, Education, and Responsibility (STEER); Fraudulent Vehicle Tag Enforcement. The four bills were introduced following the traffic enforcement roundtable held earlier this spring, where DC-FSS also testified.

Mother Jessica Hart testified on behalf of DC Families for Safe Streets in support of all four bills, and offered DC-FSS’s suggestions to strengthen them. Read our full testimony here.

We are thankful for the thoughtful contributions from many witnesses at yesterday’s hearing. It’s important to remember that reckless drivers endanger ALL of us. In fact, operators and passengers of vehicles have been killed and seriously injured the most. The reality is that operating a multi-ton vehicle is a privilege. It comes with risks and responsibilities. The bills discussed today get at something every parent knows: actions have consequences.

The hearing’s record will remain open for another two weeks, through the close of business on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. Submit your testimony online through the Council’s new hearing system (click the “Submit Testimony” button on the top right). Please feel free to take inspiration from our own testimony, or get more acquainted with the bills by reading this summary from DCist.