Dozens of Hartford residents packed the city council chambers Monday night to call on the city to declare traffic violence a public health crisis.
Concerned citizens spoke during the public comment period preceding a regular meeting of the Hartford City Council, during which the council was to consider a street safety resolution.
“Traffic violence is not accidental,” testified Kelvin Lovejoy. “It is structural. It is the result of policy decisions, infrastructure, design, enforcement gaps and delayed action.”
Lovejoy, like many of the speakers, invoked the name of Malachi James, a 14-year-old killed by the driver of a Tesla Cybertruck in December.
“When a young life is lost on these Hartford streets, like our young brother Malachi, it is called tragedy,” Lovejoy said. “But when we know the corridors, when we know the intersections, when we know the patterns, then it is no longer tragedy. It becomes negligence.”
Deborah Davis of Mothers United Against Violence, a group that often advocates around gun violence issues, said roadway deaths and injuries are violence just the same.
“Violence is violence, and we say no more violence,” Davis said, citing 71 traffic deaths in Hartford in 2025. “The city of Hartford has to stand up to prevent and intervene on our behalf so that we can prevent the tragedies that have been happening.”
Royael Saez read a statement from her relative Holli Holloway, Malachi James’ mother, who was in attendance but too emotionally overwhelmed to speak herself.
“My 14-year-old son is gone,” Saez read for Holloway. “I am standing before you to support this resolution because what happened to my son wasn’t just a tragedy, it was a wake-up call.”
“We need more than just reminders to slow down,” Saez said. “We need a street that forces people to slow down.”
Policy push to save lives
The resolution the council considered Monday declares that “the City of Hartford recognizes that traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries are preventable, predictable, and constitute an ongoing public health and public safety crisis.”
“Traffic crashes resulting in loss of life are not unavoidable ‘accidents,’ but rather the foreseeable outcomes of street design, excessive speeds, enforcement gaps, land-use decisions, and policy choices,” the resolution reads.
The resolution instructs the city to reaffirm its commitment to eliminating all traffic fatalities and serious injuries, identify the streets and intersections where a majority of traffic fatalities and serious injuries occur, and assess roadway designs at the sites of fatal traffic crashes.
It also directs the city to deploy safety interventions like improved crosswalks, narrowing of traffic lanes, and automated speed enforcement. It also establishes a committee to review all fatal and serious injury crashes.
The council unanimously voted to refer the resolution to its Health and Human Services Committee. Council President Thomas Clarke II said there were possible changes to make to the resolution in committee, including giving it the force of law.
“I would like the support of my colleagues to turn the final resolution into a draft ordinance so we can codify this into the municipal code,” Clarke said.
Pastor A.J. Johnson of the North Hartford Public Safety Coalition testified that his group had partnered with West Hartford leaders to better understand that town’s street safety protocols. He said eventual passage of the resolution in Hartford would be life-saving.
“This resolution says Hartford will no longer wait for the next name, the next vigil, or the next family to grieve before acting,” Johnson said. “Malachi’s story reminds us that behind every statistic is a child, a family, and a community forever changed.”
“This resolution is about ensuring we do not continue to add names to that list,” Johnson said.
