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Charlotte to Honor Traffic Victims as City Confronts More Than 300 Deaths in Five Years
Charlotte will hold a World Day of Remembrance memorial walk Sunday as officials pursue a Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2030, backed by red-light cameras and newly approved neighborhood bonds for safer streets.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. â More than 300 people have been killed in traffic-related incidents in Charlotte over the past five years, a toll city leaders will acknowledge Sunday with a World Day of Remembrance that includes a memorial walk for grieving families.
The event comes as Charlotte works toward its Vision Zero goal of eliminating all traffic deaths and severe injuries by 2030 â an ambition officials concede is steeped in both urgency and uncertainty.
Charlie Jones, deputy director of the Charlotte Department of Transportation, said he is notified of every fatal crash in the city.
"The fatal crashes in this city is more than just numbers, it's our neighbors, it's friends and families, and it affects us," Jones said. The department, he added, wants to reach zero "as fast as we can."
City Council member Dante Anderson, who chairs the council's Safety Committee, defended the 2030 target when asked whether it is realistic.
"We say we need to have big, hairy audacious goals, and if you have a big goal, you'll get closer and closer to it," Anderson said. "We are doing everything we can."
Two major policy shifts are central to the city's strategy. Charlotte is bringing back red-light cameras to catch violators, and voters recently approved neighborhood bonds that officials say will accelerate street safety construction.
"Now we can get to work with building out infrastructure, especially in some of the areas in our high injury network where we know we have to invest in," Anderson said.
Jones outlined the kinds of projects the bond money will fund: "protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks, enhancements at intersections such as accessible ramps, pedestrian signals, push buttons, new signals, new signalized pedestrian crossings."
But Jones identified unlawful driving as the single biggest obstacle to the zero-deaths goal.
"Unlawful behavior, so running red lights, excessive speed, those things really hamper our ability to reach zero," he said.
City leaders said the remembrance event is also about accountability to the families left behind.
"We have to acknowledge what has been done and recognize those families and let them know we are doing everything within our power to ensure that this doesn't happen to other families," Anderson said.
The message officials want to convey, they said, is that human error is inevitable but should not be deadly.
The World Day of Remembrance is scheduled for Sunday and will feature a memorial walk.