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1999 SESSION

996568144
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 570
Offered January 19, 1999
Requesting the Department of Transportation and the Department of Motor Vehicles to take certain actions to reduce traffic congestion along highways at major construction sites and places of common traffic congestion.
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Patrons-- Keating, Albo, Almand, Brink, Callahan, Dillard, Hull, May, McQuigg, Moran, O'Brien, Plum, Puller, Rust, Scott, Van Landingham and Watts; Senators: Barry, Gartlan, Howell, Mims, Saslaw, Ticer and Whipple
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, every day, highway accidents and incidents impede mobility on urban, suburban, and rural highways; and

WHEREAS, the traffic congestion caused by these accidents and incidents creates significant safety hazards and causes excessive delays that result in costs for the traveling public and public safety agencies; and

WHEREAS, studies published by the U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration indicate that: (i) by 2005, the impact of accident and incident-related delays in terms of hours of delay, wasted fuel, and excess road-user costs are expected to increase by five times the level experienced during 1995; (ii) 50 to 60 percent of highway congestion is due to incidents; and (iii) 20 percent of all accidents are a result of a previous incident; and

WHEREAS, §§ 46.2-888 and 46.2-894 of the Code of Virginia permit operators of motor vehicles that have been involved in an accident to move such vehicles to prevent the obstruction of the regular flow of traffic, and the Virginia Department of Transportation has publicized the value of moving such vehicles in the “MOVE IT” program; and

WHEREAS, the further education of drivers using Virginia highways about the benefits and responsibilities of stopping without obstructing traffic after a noninjury accident is essential to reducing traffic congestion and accidents; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, in conjunction with law-enforcement agencies, be requested to implement a public education campaign to inform motor vehicle operators of the benefits of the “MOVE IT” program; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Virginia Department of Transportation be requested to place signs along the highways of the Commonwealth, at places of major highway construction, and at places where traffic congestion is known to occur and that those signs advise motorists to move any motor vehicle that is capable of being moved away from the lanes of travel on public highways after any accident or breakdown; and, be it

RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner and the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles in order that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly in this matter.