Traffic deaths are some of the most preventable deaths that occur. In 2020 we lost 38,680 people to traffic deaths. And as illustrated in the Sept. 1 “Our View: Traffic Deaths needlessly on the rise in Minnesota,” Minnesota has had 303 traffic fatalities, with 103 of those speed related. Only 17% of traffic deaths nationwide result on our freeways and interstates, most traffic fatalities occur on our arterial, collector and local roads. And of those 38,680 fatalities mentioned above 6,205 were pedestrians. Pedestrian and automobile deaths are the most preventable of traffic deaths.
Have you ever wondered why our neighborhood streets have the lowest speed limits? It is due to the high number of access points, kids at a playground or an elderly couple walking to their neighborhood park, a child walking to school, your neighbor walking their dog, riding your bike, or just getting your 10,000 steps in. Compare this to a county road or a state highway, speed limits are higher but there are significantly less access points to the road. The residential speed limit as we know it, 30 mph, has been around for nearly 90 years. I believe it is a good time to ask if 30 mph is the most reasonably safe speed limit for our neighborhood streets.
Speed limits are intended to do a few things, but one of the main items is to enhance safety by reducing risks imposed by driver’s speed choices. This is important since speed plays a significant role in the outcome of the severity of an automobile accident. Once an accident has begun to occur the degree of damage to a vehicle, its occupants, a pedestrian, or cyclist is directly related to the speed that the vehicle is going (as well does wearing a seat belt and having working air bags or wearing a helmet).
Thankfully we no longer need to go through the state legislature to change the speed limit on municipal roadways. Two years ago, the Minnesota Legislature granted municipalities the authority to determine speed limits on municipal roadways. This is good news as local government is the most responsible and now the city of Duluth no longer needs to ask the legislature to lower the speed limits on certain streets and have that decision made in Saint Paul.
What if we lowered our residential street speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph? Would we see safer streets? Evidence overwhelming points to yes. Something as simple as lowering the speed limit by a few miles per hour can be the difference between life and death. For every mile-per-hour in reduction of vehicle speeds there is a 6% increase in survival rate. If a crash does occur at lower speeds, especially with a pedestrian, cyclist of motorcyclist their chance of survival increases greatly, at 20 mph the chance of surviving is 90%. At 30 mph the chance of survival drops drastically to about 25%.
Evidence also shows that not only does lowing the speed limit save lives, but it also decreases the odds and likelihood of an automobile driver speeding on our neighborhood streets. Vehicles traveling 35 mph and above see the biggest decline in speeding dropping the odds of speeding by 29%. What does this mean? Fewer speeders on your now safer 20 mph neighborhood street.
If you would like to get involved in getting the speed limit lowered on residential streets drop us an email at 20isplentyduluth@gmail.com or like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @20MPHDuluth
Noah Hobbs, Duluth
Noah Hobbs is a former At Large Duluth City Councilor.
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Local View: Traffic deaths are some of the most preventable deaths that occur - Duluth News Tribune
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