HB247: An Act To Amend Titles 9 And 17 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Traffic Safety.

Legislative Summary

There were 139 traffic fatalities in Delaware in 2021, the highest number of traffic fatalities since 2006. Senate Concurrent Resolution 94 of the 151st Delaware General Assembly set a goal of no more than 100 traffic fatalities per year and tasked state agencies to meet that goal by 2025. Instead of moving towards meeting the General Assemblys goal, however, traffic fatalities increased to 165 in 2022, deepening the crisis on Delawares roads. To reverse this situation, the Everyone Gets Home Act makes changes to the Delaware Code to sharpen the Department of Transportations focus on the three most common types of fatal crashes: intersection (including driveway); roadway departure; and mid-block pedestrian. This Act clarifies the Departments authority to designate controlled-access facilities as a safety countermeasure for both intersection and midblock pedestrian crashes and, when the facility designation has received the consent of county government, requires counties to use their own authority to assist the Department in consolidating vehicle entrances and exits to and from the facility. In addition, this Act authorizes the Department to designate roadways as low-speed streets and low-speed local roads in order to address fatal roadway departure crashes related to vehicle speed, and permits counties to request such designations to meet their own traffic safety goals. Finally, this Act expands the Departments discretion to deploy new traffic-control devices in order to reduce fatal crashes.