Council passes two of Saka's traffic safety bills unanimously. The historic-district bill waits until at least Nov. 10

The Seattle City Council on Monday unanimously passed two of the three bills in Councilmember Rob Saka's SAFER Streets Act, the Seattle Bike Blog reported. The third and largest bill, which deals with traffic safety work in historic districts, was not voted on and has been delayed until at least the Council's Nov. 10 meeting.

The bills matter to anyone who walks, bikes or drives in Seattle: they set out who at City Hall is responsible for fixing dangerous streets, and they start a process that could require side guards on trucks working for the city.

This is a follow-up to our Oct. 23 story, Two of Saka's three traffic safety bills go to a Council vote Monday.

What passed

CB 121297, the Traffic Engineer's safety role. It writes the "Chief Safety Officer" role into the part of city code that defines the City Traffic Engineer, and directs the Traffic Engineer, under the Transportation director, to speed up safety fixes on streets with high rates of serious injuries and deaths. The Bike Blog reported that it puts into law a change made administratively in 2023, which makes it harder for a future administration to separate safety from the job.

CB 121298, truck side guards. It asks city departments, mainly Finance and Administrative Services, to develop recommended safety requirements for city contractors' trucks, such as side guards, mirrors, cameras and blind-spot detection, with recommendations and a transition plan due May 1, 2027. "Today's bill does not immediately impose new equipment rules for contractors," Saka said, according to the Bike Blog. The bill's file includes Boston's side guard ordinance as an attachment.

Both bills now go to Mayor Katie Wilson, who has signed her own executive order on traffic safety, The Stranger reported. Coverage before the vote noted the two efforts overlap heavily.

What our records add

The vote record. City Clerk records had not yet posted Monday's roll call when we checked Tuesday morning. The Bike Blog described both votes as unanimous. In committee on Sept. 17 (meeting), both bills passed 4-0, with Saka (District 1), Alexis Mercedes Rinck (Position 8), Robert Kettle (District 7) and Eddie Lin (District 2) voting yes, and Dionne Foster (Position 9) not recorded.

The bill that waits. CB 121296 would require the city to apply traffic safety best practices when using its traffic powers, set study, reporting and prioritization standards, and expand the transportation department's authority over safety work in historic districts. It passed committee 5-0 on Sept. 17, and its status has read "Full Council Agenda Ready" since. But the Urbanist reported that the committee adopted the historic-district change on a 3-2 vote.

After passing the two bills Monday, the Council went into two executive sessions on "pending, potential and actual litigation." The Bike Blog presumed these were at least partly about CB 121296, since councilmembers had asked for a legal review. The Council has not said what was discussed; executive sessions are closed by law.

What's in the bill file. CB 121296's Legistar file includes a comparison chart of the SAFER Streets Act and the mayor's executive order, a draft fatal crash response policy, and the committee's amendments.

Background

The bills follow a lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court over a fatal crash, which alleges a Recology truck driver failed to signal or slow before turning, the Bike Blog reported. The outlet said it is unclear whether that truck had side guards. The allegations have not been decided by a court.

What's next

• The two passed bills go to the mayor for her signature.
• CB 121296 could return no sooner than Nov. 10, according to the Bike Blog, in the middle of budget season.
• The Council's budget committee takes up the transportation department's budget, including Saka's proposed $7 million a year for district traffic safety projects, on Wednesday.