Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Target0 Action Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Experts urge Assembly to convert Target 0 action plan into laws to cut road deaths to zero by 2040
Summary
Researchers and advocates told the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee that New Jersey’s Target 0 Action Plan contains 32 actions — including updates to the motor vehicle code, reintroducing vehicle safety inspections and measures on impaired driving, automated crash notifications and EMS designation — and urged lawmakers to draft and prioritize implementing legislation.
Leaders of the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers and a broad set of safety advocates urged the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on Feb. 19 to convert recommendations in the Target 0 Action Plan into statutory changes and funded programs designed to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040.
"The Target 0 Commission law set a clear and urgent mandate to eliminate traffic deaths and serious fatalities on New Jersey's roads by 2040," Leanne Von Hagen, executive director of the Voorhees Transportation Center, told the committee. She said her team synthesized working‑group expertise and highlighted a subset of legislative actions recommended by the commission.
The presenters singled out multiple proposed statutory changes. They called for modernizing portions of Title 39 to strengthen pedestrian protections and to remove statutory barriers to local safety improvements (L‑29); creating statewide sidewalk maintenance standards by amending the municipal land‑use law (L‑27); and aligning state transportation funding with health outcomes to target investments to overburdened communities (L‑8).
Researchers also recommended several vehicle‑ and enforcement‑focused measures. Among proposals flagged in testimony were reinstating broader vehicle safety inspections after the post‑2010 shift to emissions‑only checks (L‑32); a statewide dash‑cam policy for state fleets so crash evidence and accountability improve (L‑25); and clarifying liability and permitting for emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles and delivery robots (L‑8 on AVs).
Greg Waltman, a research project coordinator at Voorhees, said the plan also addresses impaired driving and response systems. He described a legislative push to expand implied‑consent law to include Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) evaluations for suspected drug impairment (L‑14), to strengthen ignition‑interlock rules and to consider lowering the legal blood‑alcohol threshold to 0.05 percent for driving (L‑26). On post‑crash care, the plan recommends wider use of automatic crash notification systems and a proposal to designate EMS as an essential service to improve response consistency across the state (L‑1; L‑11).
Committee members pressed witnesses on evidence linking equipment failures to crashes and on which specific safety checks would return under a renewed inspection program. Von Hagen said work group input included both literature review and practitioner reports from vehicle repair shops; she offered to follow up with empirical crash‑cause data upon request.
Witnesses repeatedly framed the plan as implementation‑focused. Deborah Kagan of the New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition told the panel that without legislative and programmatic accountability, prior laws and resolutions have not produced expected safety gains. "It needs to be looked at as a plan to be implemented," she said.
Next steps described in testimony included drafting statutory text for priority items, directing agencies to coordinate implementation (advocates proposed a statewide office or center for sustainable mobility), and assigning accountability so agency actions translate into safer road designs, stronger enforcement and public education. The committee did not take votes at the hearing; members indicated they would review the recommendations and follow up with staff and witnesses for details and data requests.
