Cities pursue lower speed limits to eliminate fatalities
Jurisdictions across the United States are embracing lower speed limits as the key to reversing the recent rise in traffic fatalities.
Their efforts include lowering default speed limits and those in major corridors, and creating slow-driving zones in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic.
Lowering speeds is a fundamental strategy for communities that are part of “Vision Zero,” a program aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries. A growing number of cities have taken the “zero” pledge, making a commitment in areas where drivers are increasingly sharing the road with bicyclists and pedestrians. New York, Boston and Seattle are among cities nationwide that have adopted the program.
Officials in the jurisdictions say prioritizing safety over speed or convenience is crucial to meeting their goal. According to research, if a vehicle hits a pedestrian while traveling at 20 mph, the victim has a more than 90 percent chance of surviving. But if the vehicle is traveling 50 mph, the survival likelihood drops to 25 percent.
“We know it’s the speed that kills,” said Leah Shahum, founder of the Vision Zero Network, a campaign supporting cities that have adopted the approach. “People make mistakes; humans are fallible. There will still be traffic crashes. But if they do so at a lower speed, the likelihood of walking away with a broken ankle or an injury that is survivable is dramatically greater than if there is high speed involved.”
The recent uptick in traffic fatalities after a years-long decline, combined with the disproportionate number of pedestrians and bicyclists being killed in the crashes, has added a sense of urgency to the mission, officials say.
Road deaths in the United States increased 6 percent in 2016, reaching more than 40,000 for the first time in a decade, according to a recent report by the National Safety Council. Traffic fatalities had been declining significantly since the 1970s as a result of safer vehicles and increased enforcement of laws on drunken and impaired driving and the use of seat belts.
Researchers attribute the recent increase mostly to the improved economy and lower gas prices, which have led to more people driving for work and pleasure.
But the approach is not without critics. Some say cities are using traffic data to justify raking in millions in traffic fines.
John Townsend, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said lower speed limits could lead to unsafe lane changes and more crashes as motorists try to get around slowermoving vehicles. Drivers also fear, he said, that further reductions to speed limits “will engender the proliferation of speed cameras,” and turn city roads into “speed traps.”