Would lower speed limits just be another city cash grab? Community leagues don’t speak for all
Credit drivers’ common sense
So now we face a blanket reduction of speed in all residential areas. I guess the city is happy to back another revenue-generating windfall.
Some drivers drive too fast in residential areas. But most drivers are capable of using common sense and slow down when they need to. Larger signage and warnings painted on the road would be effective in most cases. The problem with a blanket 40-km/h limit is some roads even in residential areas are suitable for at least 50 km/h and the city would surely set up radar in these areas for revenue-generating purposes only.
The majority of citizens are taxed to the hilt already. How about some common sense rather than the continual heavy fines and big-brother mentality?
If this latest brilliant solution becomes reality, how about some give and take? Maybe reinstate the 15-km/h buffer for photo radar on non-residential streets? W. Sieg, Edmonton
Re: “40 KM/H? Not so fast,” Editorial, March 30
In relation to Wednesday’s editorial about speed limits, it should be pointed out that the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues doesn’t represent communities, but community leagues.
Community leagues, similarly, do not represent communities either. Community leagues represent only their members. I would guess the majority of residents in any given community have not joined their community league.
The municipal government likes to pretend community leagues have some kind of democratic, representative function and so can be negotiated with about all manner of things, from traffic-calming measures to development plans. But this is only a convenient fiction. Vince Marinelli, Edmonton
More complicated than it looks
Pedestrian safety is not the only issue when speed limits are determined. Young children should never be on streets without adult supervision and older ones need to be educated better about crossing safely.
It is not the vehicles driven at 50 km/h that are dangerous, but speeders at 60-70 km/h and beyond. They need to be slowed.
Also to be considered are other factors that would be created by the suggested reduction in speed. Suppose the average number of daily car trips in the city is 500,000 and the average time spent on them is 50 minutes. If speed is reduced from 50 to 40 km/h (20 per cent) they will be on the road for 20 per cent longer. This would result in 100,000 more cars moving in traffic at any given time. Let us consider what that would do in terms of traffic congestion, fuel consumption and increased pollution. R. Zacsko, Edmonton