Hi there! I have some announcements before we start the article:
Free Bus Fares on the UCAT!
Starting October 1, 2022, buses in Ulster County will be free for all! The law to eliminate bus fares was sponsored by County Legislators Phil Erner and Laura Petit; thanks to them for introducing the law and navigating the pushback that they received. Hopefully, free buses will encourage more ridership. Since UCAT’s funding is largely tied to the number of riders, the free rides could be very helpful in securing badly needed funding to increase driver wages, and expand frequencies, hours and routes. Hop onto the UCAT, and let me know how it went! See routes here.
Here’s Phil Erner’s vision for transportation in Ulster County:
“A vision for Transportation: pay for transit workers doubles in short order, and they become respected as green workers. Frequent, fare-free public transit goes everywhere, everywhen. State runs buses on all its roads and bridges; counties run shuttles, vans and car-shares on theirs. Public transportation investment goes 90 percent or more toward the present mobility underclass such as bus riders and infrastructure prioritizing safety for vulnerable road users such as wheelchairs, pedestrians, bicycles, youth and elders. Private cars, trucks and freight trains stop for all other users and go last; freight de-carbonizes, powers down and becomes socialized. Car cooperatives replace most individual and private car ownership. Mobility elite reduce their jet-setting by at least 90 percent. Communities suffering present and historical mobility injustice further decide how this happens.”
Rose Quinn, a prominent bike activist in Kingston, was featured in an article about ghost bikes in the Daily Freeman. She shared the story of the ghost bike of her own partner John “Host” Lynch, who was cycling when he was killed by a car on Washington Ave near Picnic Pizza, on July 20, 2021. The article was accompanied by a touching video at the scene of John’s ghost bike, which you can watch below.
And now, let’s talk about one way to prevent more tragic deaths. Because these road deaths are very preventable.
Why the Speed Limit Should Be 20 MPH
Well, let’s get into it! Here are some great reasons to lower the speed limit to 20 mph (or even less!) in areas where we expect that people will be outside of cars.
The risk of severe injury explodes when impact exceeds 15 mph.
A study found that the risk of severe injury* to a pedestrian is 10% at 16 mph, 25% at 23 mph and jumps to 50% at 31 mph.
It’s common for cars to exceed the posted speed limit of 30, which means that these cars will probably kill or severely injure a person if they hit them.
*Examples of severe injury include traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injuries causing paralysis, the loss of an arm, leg, eyesight or hearing, or permanent damage to an organ.
The risk of death triples between 20 and 30 mph, from 8% to 20% respectively.
Likelihood of death for people walking if hit at these speeds
Source: AAA Foundation, Tefft, B.C. (2011)
Larger cars and trucks are more deadly than smaller cars at the same speeds.
Heavier vehicles like SUVs, minivans and pickups — cause more serious pedestrian injuries or deaths in the event of a crash compared to cars.
Heavier cars are also more likely to be involved in a pedestrian-related crash. This is probably due to impaired visibility. Larger vehicles have larger blind spots and sit higher, making it more difficult to see people in time.
By the way, there’s no requirement to test new car designs for safety of people outside the car. So, car manufacturers can make dangerously large and heavy cars with impunity.
Stopping distances increase with higher speeds.
The faster you are going, the more distance you need to come to a stop. See the graph below;
Just to translate the speeds from kilometers to miles, 30 kmph = 20 mph, 50 kmph = 30 mph and 80 kmph = 50 mph.
Peripheral vision decreases with higher speeds.
The higher the speed, the less the driver is able to see their environment. If drivers are less aware of their environment, they are less able to anticipate people outside, and that makes collisions more likely.
From NACTO:
Driver’s peripheral vision at 10-15 mph
Driver’s peripheral vision at 20-25 mph
Driver’s peripheral vision at 40+ mph
Primary school children cannot accurately judge speed of cars traveling more than 20 mph.
Even when children are paying attention to the street, they misjudge speeds of cars when those cars are going over 20 mph.
We should be designing streets to be safe places for children.
Adults can judge car speeds up to 50 mph. However, I wonder if some adults, i.e. people with attention deficits, might have difficulty judging speeds under 50 mph as well.
Slower speeds have minimal effects on travel times.
You don’t stand to save a significant amount of time by racing to the traffic light.
Slow speeds are good for public health.
Slower traffic speeds makes people feel safer and more likely to use active transportation. Currently, many people are inhibited from walking and biking by dangerous traffic patterns.
A report estimated that if 10% of Americans started walking regularly, our country would save billions in healthcare costs.
Slower speeds could reduce traffic.
By making walking and rolling* safer, and therefore more attractive options, more people will opt to make local trips without a car, which is actually great for drivers. Fewer cars on the road and fewer people parking will ultimately make driving easier.
*By “rolling,” I mean an inclusive list of lightweight modes including bikes, power wheelchairs, kick scooters, etc.
Decrease stress.
Ever since I started researching traffic safety, I’ve been driving slower and more mindfully - and I’ve found that it decreases my stress levels while driving.
Here is a serene article by Zen Habits about the benefits of driving slower.
Why Doesn’t It Change?
There are a few reasons why speed limits are so high, even in areas where they known to pose a danger to people outside of cars.
The overarching, quite perverse reason that speed limits are as high as they are, is that slowing down drivers is seen as inconvenient. A tradeoff is made to allow cars to drive at unsafe speeds, with the full knowledge that some of these drivers will end up killing people. It’s more important that cars be able to drive fast, than it is to make a safe, livable environment for humans.
Until August 2022, it was illegal for cities outside of NYC to set speed limits under 30 mph. A new law was signed this summer which will allow municipalities to set a speed limit of 25. Of course, this law is still needlessly restrictive. We should have the right to set speed limits as low as we want, in the name of safety.
But, there could be a way around this law. There’s no law preventing cities from designing their streets to slow down cars to speeds below 25 mph. I’ll talk more about how streets can be designed for slow speeds in an upcoming post.
Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments - did I convince you? How would a lower speed limit impact your life? What are the challenges to driving slower in your experience?