Council Looks to Lower Speed Limit (Boston: living in, dangerous, moving)

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by GeePee

so you are pretty much just trying to get people riled up on the internet? fun!


Laughing at people in the Olympics? also really cool.

Thanks for writing what I was basically thinking. Laughing at people who choose to commute by bike? Sounds like a personal insecurity problem. The bigger question is why they have to bring their polluted thoughts to each and every thread.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by redplum33

I laugh at "cyclists"...as if they're in the Olympics.

Entitled fools.

Originally Posted by GeePee

Laughing at people in the Olympics? also really cool.

Laughing at people who call themselves cyclists. You ride a bike. You're not an athlete.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by GeePee

Boston is a city that was built long before cars.

Right. My point was it's polluted with cars now not leaving much room for bikes

[GeePee]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Laughing at people who call themselves cyclists. You ride a bike. You're not an athlete.

Im just trying to get to work. I don't call myself anything. Maybe a commuter?

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

15mph? It was 35 mph seven years ago.

When automobiles first made their debut in NYC, a century or more ago, due to all the pedestrians getting run over, they set the speed limit at 7MPH.

[EastDallasDude]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I think this is a huge part of it. It's no longer just texting while driving. It's scrolling, recording, shopping, etc. and it's constant.

And with the speed limit reduced, texting while driving will increase.

[EastDallasDude]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I'm all for a cleaner environment and bikes certainly help with that but I don't know that Boston was meant to be a city that shares the roads with bikers. The roads are already so narrow, very crowded with the cars, buses and trucks and people darting in and out...bikes just dont seem to fit in the mix. Not saying there's no where that it makes sense...but i would not want to be on a bike during busy traffic hours.

I bicycle the bicycle trails 99 times out of 100. I'll take a longer route to enjoy a bike trail rather than fight Boston traffic. I feel sorry for all those people sitting in perpetual jams along Washington St who I pass biking down the SW Corridor.

[EastDallasDude]

Traffic is Boston doesn't typically get above 25 mph on average. Between the jams and the endless stop lights. My bike ride to downtown from Forest Hills is faster than cars during rush hours, and only a bit slower otherwise.

One thing you don't want - which they probably do want - is traffic cams that automatically gives you traffic citations. They had those is some Dallas suburbs. They were nothing but a revenue generator for the city govts. I'm a slow and easy grandpa style driver and I was constantly getting citations for stupid stuff. I'm convinced they would shorten the yellow light durations to increase revenue. Then you had a choice - slam on your brakes and risk a pileup or floor it and hope you make it. The there were right on red without a full stop citations. Depending on what town you were in, you had to count the seconds. A state judge eventually struck them down as the racket that they were.

I'm actually in favor of slower traffic. 20 seems reasonable on streets like Boylston or DOT. Maybe allow faster on the parkways, Morrisey Blvd, etc. Trying to go 40 down Boylston won't get you there faster. It will only get you to the next light sooner. And you risk much with the stunt driving.

Of course all that will only keep the honest people honest. If they truly just want to slow the traffic - speed bumps are the answer. Cost less, lower maintenance, less big brother surveillance and less automated traffic fine racketeering.

If they were really interested in making the light system better, perhaps lights with numeric countdowns would help. In the age of digital, this is simple.

Definitely 4 way stops while pedestrians cross.

And a two second green delay - so no one floors it on green and gets creamed by the jackass who is going to blow the red light at high speed.

[massnative71]

I'm confused. Is the idea that people driving 25 mph is creating a danger? That Bostonians are no longer capable of controlling their cars at that speed? I think that's a pretty damning condemnation of us.



Or could it be...that there are other factors involved...ie. distracted driving or people driving WAY over 25 mph...that this new ordinance would do absolutely NOTHING to address...and just another ill informed knee jerk reaction from a worthless politician...

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Another factor that's changed--the near ubiquity of noise cancelling Airpods. Just walk around Cambridge, or heck any T station...and you'll see pedestrians totally absorbed in their music / podcast whatever, and ignore hazards around them. I've even seen drivers with these in their ears, which scares the crap out of me.

And EVs make far less noise than ICE vehicles. Combine noise cancelling headphone users with EV drivers and we will have frequent near silent collisions. It is a scary thing to think about.