copy of an Op-Ed that appeared in the Times Colonist last year: WHY LOWER SPEED LIMITS? There are so many myths surrounding the issue of reducing residential speed limits. We often hear that reducing speed limits is a government tax grab. I know many people who support this initiative including politicians and government revenue is not even part of the equation; except perhaps to consider the cheapest possible way to slow traffic down. Has it occurred to these opponents that it might just be about making life more livable in the urban environment? For those who have never caused an accident or who don’t live on a busy residential street, it’s easy to believe that reducing neighbourhood speed limits is an unnecessary solution to a nonexistent problem. Tell that to the multitude of people who live on streets where traffic constantly makes them feel uncomfortable whenever they are outdoors. Tell that to the thousands of people who have been involved in urban car accidents or have had loved ones lost or maimed by vehicles in the urban environment. Many precious pets have been killed on neighbourhood streets. Everybody knows somebody that has lost a pet to a car. Deer collisions cause significant vehicle damage every year and in some cases, personal injury. All of this comes at a cost to society. If it doesn’t happen to you though, it’s probably all out of sight & out of mind. If you drive through someone else’s neighbourhood in your car, it’s easy to negate the effect that the noise & the speed of your vehicle has on the residents that live there. There’s a concern that lower speed limits will increase travel time or cause gridlock. The fact is that travel time in urban areas has a lot more to do with traffic control devices – traffic lights, stop and yield signs, crosswalks etc. Gridlock is caused by volume. Traffic actually moves quite smoothly at low speeds. It’s often heard that no one will respect “unrealistic” speed limits anyway. Wherever reduced urban speed limits have been widely applied, average speeds have gone down. Eventually, normative pressures will prevail. Remember that drinking and driving used to be socially acceptable. Others argue that the problem lies with the “other” drivers. You are a competent driver, right? You can handle driving at 50 K (or more) on an urban street. What could possibly go wrong? So why should you have to slow down to the lowest common denominator? It’s not that simple. There’s more to it than driver competency. We’re all just a bit too chauvinistic and individualist. It’s part of human nature. The other part of human nature is that we often don’t see the big picture. We don’t usually see ourselves as a small part of a bigger problem. When you add the speed to the volume of traffic on many residential and urban streets, there is a problem. It’s not only one of safety but also of health and livability. Studies from countries around the world show that reducing speed limits in the urban environment have the following effects: Reduced Road Trauma Reduced Noise Levels (reduced speed from 50 to 40 K = reduced noise by 40%) Increased Neighbourhood Interaction Increased Road Use By Cyclists and Pedestrians Increased Overall Health of Residents Minimal Effect of Travel Time Reduced Green House Gases (due to less acceleration and rapid braking) Reduced Vehicle Operation Cost Reduced Overall Cost to Society Many jurisdictions have already acted on these findings and are experiencing the benefits. In Graz, Austria’s 2nd largest city, when 30 K limits were implemented throughout the town in the 90’s, less than 50% of people supported the idea. After everyone, including motorists, saw the benefits, support rose to 80%. Europe is way ahead of us on this but the trend is growing in North America. So, the question is this: Do we want residential neighbourhoods to be places of increased safety and livability or conduits through which to move traffic without regard to the people that live there? Dave Ferguson Community Advocates for Reduced Speed Saanich
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 14:00:17 +0000
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