Want to implement lower speed limits in your community? Watch the SafeTREC, Caltrans, and Rock Miller, PE "Toolkit for Safe Speed Limit webinar" SafeTREC to learn how to get started.
Two recently passed state laws (AB 43 and AB 1938) allow local jurisdictions to lower speed limits on locally-controlled streets to better account for safety concerns and surrounding land uses. This includes setting speed limits at 20 mph in business activity districts and allowing speed limits to be reduced below the 85th percentile speed to account for high levels of injury collisions or high volumes of pedestrians and/or bicyclists.
Is your city interested in implementing lower speed limits on specific corridors that meet these criteria but aren’t sure where to start?
This webinar, Toolkit for Safe Speed Limit Setting: New Flexibility under California State Law, was presented on January 18, 202,4 as a training to accompany the release of SafeTREC's California Safe Speeds Toolkit, which follows the work of California's Zero Traffic Fatality Task Force (ZTFTF). The training and toolkit are intended to help local jurisdictions across California set safer speed limits that accommodate all road users using Safe System principles. This toolkit consolidates key research on Safe Speeds from the ZTFTF Research Synthesis by the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies, provides details on speed limit setting flexibilities under the existing California framework, highlights select speed limit setting case studies from cities across California, and points local jurisdictions toward next steps in pursuing safe speed limit setting. Presenters: Julia Griswold, PhD, Director, UC Berkeley SafeTREC Rock Miller, PE, Rock E. Miller & Associates.
The webinar was recorded for those who are not able to attend and can be viewed on the SafeTREC channel.
This webinar and toolkit were developed in collaboration with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Local Assistance, the Caltrans Division of Safety Programs, and the California Department of Public Health's Active Transportation Safety Program.
The Role of Speeding in Traffic Safety
In 2021, 35 percent (or 1509) of all motor vehicle fatalities in California were speeding-related. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around curves or objects, reduces the amount of time a driver has to react to a dangerous situation, and extends safe stopping distances. Additionally, the higher the impact speed of a crash, the greater the risk of serious injury or death to those involved. Lower vehicle speeds are especially important for protecting vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and bicyclists.
Setting safe speed limits, designing streets to limit the impact of speeding-related crashes, and protecting people even when they make unsafe decisions is part of the Safe Speeds, Safe Roads, and Safe Road Users elements of the Safe System Approach. To learn more about speed-related crash trends, visit SafeTREC’s 2023 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts page