This Washington
Safe Streets Bill is Dead
The safe streets bill, which would have allowed cities to set speed limits as low as 20mph on non-arterial streets without going through a costly speed and traffic-engineering study, died today in the senate.
The bill passed unanimously in the house but, as it did last year, stalled out in the senate, where it failed to meet today's cutoff for the senate to consider house bills.
Advocates for the bill pointed out that the faster a driver is going when he or she hits a pedestrian or cyclist, the more likely the pedestrian or cyclist is to die of their injuries. Hit a pedestrian or cyclist with your car at 20 mph, and they’re likely to survive. Hit someone at 30 mph, and they stand about a 55 percent chance of staying alive. Hit them at 40 mph, and their survival odds shrink to 15 percent.
In a statement, Bicycle Alliance director Barbara Culp said, "We are disappointed by the outcome, which will retain the state’s unnecessary hurdles for cities and towns to create safer non-arterial streets. But given the large coalition built to support this legislation, we are optimistic that Washingtonians will continue to demand safer streets."
The bill passed unanimously in the house but, as it did last year, stalled out in the senate, where it failed to meet today's cutoff for the senate to consider house bills.
Advocates for the bill pointed out that the faster a driver is going when he or she hits a pedestrian or cyclist, the more likely the pedestrian or cyclist is to die of their injuries. Hit a pedestrian or cyclist with your car at 20 mph, and they’re likely to survive. Hit someone at 30 mph, and they stand about a 55 percent chance of staying alive. Hit them at 40 mph, and their survival odds shrink to 15 percent.
In a statement, Bicycle Alliance director Barbara Culp said, "We are disappointed by the outcome, which will retain the state’s unnecessary hurdles for cities and towns to create safer non-arterial streets. But given the large coalition built to support this legislation, we are optimistic that Washingtonians will continue to demand safer streets."
