Don't get a ticket. Seattle lowers speed limits on 415 miles of city streets (neighborhoods, schools)

[homesinseattle]

Article link here: https://www.king5.com/article/news/l...9-c46d48f3bbf8

"The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) said it reached a major milestone in the effort to reduce traffic deaths on city streets. Hundreds of speed limit signs have been added to encourage drivers to take it slow. The National Safety Council (NSC) said traffic deaths in 2020 were the highest in 13 years, despite the coronavirus pandemic impacting driving patterns.

One of the ways to change that, the NSC said, is by doing something Seattle just completed. "Speed is one of the critical factors that determines both how many crashes there are, and the likelihood that someone survived, if they are hit by a car,” said Ethan Bergerson, SDOT spokesperson.

Since December 2019, SDOT has been lowering speed limits to 25 mph on about 415 miles of city streets.
The speed limit on smaller streets without a dividing center line, and near schools when children are present, is always 20 mph.

"We found that when you've got a more consistent speed limit across the city, people know that default speed limit is 25 miles per hour, people are more likely to follow it.” Bergerson said case studies conducted in five neighborhoods show a 20% to 40% drop in the number of crashes in locations with new 25 mph speed limit signs. It’s something that could help with the city’s Vision Zero initiative to end traffic injuries and deaths by 2030. "If someone is hit by a car traveling 25 miles per hour, they're twice as likely to survive as somebody hit by a car travelling 30 mph,” said Bergerson.

[pnwguy2]

Perfect way to increase road rage IMO. Wrong move. The old limits were fine. Nanny State in full force.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Perfect way to increase road rage IMO. Wrong move. The old limits were fine. Nanny State in full force.

Agreed. They brought Airport Way down to 35 max. Does anyone go 35? No. Are there ever any police officers to enforce it? No.

[87112]

Other moronic moves are

http://www.seattle.gov/transportatio...ealthy-streets

No one pays attention to the above, in my hood we have a bunch of them. No one was out there before the signs and no one is out there after the signs.

What a waste of our money.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

Agreed. They brought Airport Way down to 35 max. Does anyone go 35? No. Are there ever any police officers to enforce it? No.

Exactly. Lowering speed limits with little enforcement is a recipe for disaster. Again, bad timing by the great city of Seattle. If the SPD can’t protect the citizens from the homeless and rioters I doubt they can enforce an illogical speed limit. What a freaking joke.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

This might be annoying, depending on the street, but it probably is the right move. Preventing some percentage of accidents, and making the accidents that do happen less dangerous, is worth it. I'm not gonna say I drive the prescribed 25 mph on 85th St NW, especially at night, but I definitely drive slower than I would if it were 30 or 35 --- I try to stay <10 over whatever the limit is in general.

The one street where I do think the speed limit should be raised is 15th Ave NW south of Ballard. There's no reason for such a long, straight, flat stretch of road to be 30 mph when there's little pedestrian traffic (no sidewalks even, for part of the route), few shops or restaurants, and few intersections.

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

I definitely drive slower than I would if it were 30 or 35 --- I try to stay <10 over whatever the limit is in general.

How is this safe? 35 in a 45 zone is not safer. It's quite the opposite because of many other problems that could cause.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

How is this safe? 35 in a 45 zone is not safer. It's quite the opposite because of many other problems that could cause.

I said less than 10 over the limit, which is pretty typical. You're right that it's safer in general when drivers are all going pretty similar speeds, which is often more likely with higher speed limits, but apparently the people studying this particular implementation of 25 mph speeds in Seattle found that it has reduced accidents --- I assume because drivers feel like 25 is still within the range of reasonable speeds to expect. I imagine the results would be different if, say, the city set these speed limits at 15.

[tommy64]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

Agreed. They brought Airport Way down to 35 max. Does anyone go 35? No. Are there ever any police officers to enforce it? No.

...and they do zero about the encampment on Hardy (north end of B.F.)

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

I said less than 10 over the limit, which is pretty typical. You're right that it's safer in general when drivers are all going pretty similar speeds, which is often more likely with higher speed limits, but apparently the people studying this particular implementation of 25 mph speeds in Seattle found that it has reduced accidents --- I assume because drivers feel like 25 is still within the range of reasonable speeds to expect. I imagine the results would be different if, say, the city set these speed limits at 15.

I misunderstood.