A city councilor wants to lower the speed limit from 25 to 20 mph. A city councilor is proposing to decrease the speed limit. The plan to lower the speed limit from 25 to 20 mph in Boston is seen as a first step to address pedestrian accidents, but a transit advocate believes that it will not reduce speeding unless the streets are altered to enforce the lower speed.
Stacy Thompson, the executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, stated that redesigning streets with measures like speed humps and bike lanes would be a better long-term solution for preventing speeding compared to increasing traffic enforcement by the city's police department as proposed by the councilor.
Stacy Thompson mentioned that while lowering the speed limit is a good discussion to have, not changing the design of the roads will still result in speeding.
In 2017, lowering the citywide speed limit from 30 to 25 mph had an impact, but according to Thompson, the most significant decrease in fatality rates happens when vehicles are moving at 20 miles per hour or less.
The city's website provides data supporting the previous speed limit reduction, showing a steady decrease in the likelihood of fatal or severe injury for pedestrians hit by drivers at 30 mph, 25 mph, and 20 mph.
Thompson emphasized that while lowering the default limit is an important initial action, additional walking and biking safety improvements are also necessary to ensure that cars adhere to the 20 mph speed.
City Councilor Ed Flynn reignited the discussion about lowering the citywide speed limit after two fatal pedestrian accidents in South Boston, which is part of his district.
A 4-year-old girl, Gracie Gancheva, was hit and killed by a truck at the intersection of Congress and Sleeper Streets near the Boston Children’s Museum on March 24. City Councilor Ed Flynn has filed a hearing order in response to the two fatal pedestrian crashes in South Boston, where a 57-year-old man in a wheelchair, Fernando R. Pizzaro, was killed by a cement truck in the area of Frontage Road and Traveler Street on Tuesday. Two fatal pedestrian accidents occurred in South Boston, reigniting the discussion about lowering the citywide speed limit. One involved a 4-year-old girl who was hit and killed by a truck and the other involved a 57-year-old man in a wheelchair who was killed by a cement truck. A new report from WalkMassachusetts highlighted that Boston had the most pedestrian fatalities last year, with eight out of the 69 pedestrian fatalities in the state. A woman was hit by a truck outside South Station, at Essex Street and Atlantic Avenue on Thursday. Her injuries were life-threatening, and no charges have been filed.
A new report from WalkMassachusetts was released, indicating that Boston had the highest number of pedestrian fatalities in the state last year. A woman was struck by a truck outside South Station, and she sustained life-threatening injuries, with no charges filed at the time. Boston had the most pedestrian fatalities last year, accounting for eight of the 69 pedestrians who lost their lives in crashes in the state, according to a new report from WalkMassachusetts.
The involvement of large trucks in a series of serious crashes and fatalities in South Boston and the waterfront underscores a widespread issue seen across the country, according to Thompson. "It's simply about the size of vehicles," she stated, "and what is and frankly, isn't, happening on the federal level to control the size of vehicles and regulate where those vehicles can be when there are lots of pedestrians around."While Flynn wants the speed limit to be reduced to 20 mph, he believes it should be even lower, at 15 mph. He also wants changes to the city's Safety Surge Program, which has already put speed humps in qualifying neighborhoods with the 20 mph speed the council has previously supported — by adding those traffic-calming measures in main thoroughfares as well.
His push for increased traffic enforcement by police leaves Thompson doubtful, in terms of her not seeing that as an effective long-term solution.
"This isn't a criticism of the police," Thompson said. "It's just the reality that if you have a dangerous intersection where it's physically possible for a vehicle to speed, other than paying for a police officer to be present on every single street corner in the city, it's just not a practical long-term solution."
A city councilor's effort to decrease the speed limit to 20 mph is seen as an important initial move as Boston deals with a series of serious pedestrian accidents, but a transit advocate says it won't reduce drivers' speed unless streets are redesigned.
While Flynn is pushing for lowering the speed limit to 20 mph, he said he thinks it should be even lower, at 15 mph. He’s also calling for changes to the city’s Safety Surge Program, which has already implemented speed humps in qualifying neighborhoods with the 20 mph speed the council has pushed for in the past — by adding those traffic-calming measures in main thoroughfares as well.
It’s his push for increased traffic enforcement by police that has Thompson skeptical, in terms of her not seeing that as an effective long-term solution.
“This isn’t like a dig on the police,” Thompson said. “It’s just the reality that if you have a dangerous intersection where it’s physically possible for a vehicle to speed, short of paying for a police officer to stand on every single street corner in the city, it’s just not a viable long-term solution.”
