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Home My WebLink AboutArticle - Miami Herald(oral. (iablcs lowering residential s.peeds to 25 to protect pedestrians i1iiiii II era kl ge1 of 7 MIAMI-DADE COUNTY SEPTEME3ER 16_2016 7:37 PM. For .pedestrianssake, Gables lore neighborhood speeds :o 2,5 BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI. at; ig ue rn i az ih. e ra td. co m It's a tark„, little-known set of :facts: A pedestrian unlucky enough to be hit by a car or truck going 25 miles an hour stands a good chance of surviving and escaping serious injury. But ai a mere five mph 'faste.r? Better have good hospitalization coverage and life :insurance, because the chances of crippling injury or even death. turn 'hair-raising. Which. is .why Coral Gables is about to drop speed limits across much of the city below 30 mph., joining a safe -streets -through -slow -speed movement that ranges from New York and Boston to. London and Paris. The City Beautiful is set to lower speed limits on its residential streets to 25 mph and 20 mph (the latterin gated neighbc - .s like Gables Estates and ('ocoplum,, wh(Jse streets are public) .fro.mthe state etault 3o m.phthat applies in places littp://wkvwJniarrtiherald.corninews/locaUcorranunityirniarti-dadeiartielel02357577.fittni 9/ 2 8/2 0 1. 6 C()ral Cables Irovveri.r12Jesiden.tiall speeds to 25 to protect pedestrians lieraid 1.)age 2 of 7 without posted, signs. Th..e city cc.ilnr.rrissi.ofl already endorsed. the idea.. in a. pretiminary 4-1 vote and ivill vote 'for a second and final time as soon. as 1aterthis ADVERTS NO Reda ted by Tea d s A difference of five mph may not seem like mu cli, but the benefits coultl be big in terms of lives and limbs saved, experts say. Studies clearly show that 30, mph can be 'tlie dividing line between life and death, or grave injury, .for pedestrians struck hy inotor vehicles. At that speed of impact, about half will be seriously injured and ()tie in five vifl die, a study by the AA/\ Foundation for Traffic Safety shows, Above that, the odds of survival or escaping crippling injury dwindle very rapidly, the study shows. The facts are und.eniable," said Gables Ctinitnissioner Vince 11„,,a.go, who has been pushin..g the idea for two years. "Th.e. lovver speed limits create safer environnients for our children to prosper.. There is also n big conimunity of individuals in Coral Ga.bles N'V1.1.0 enjoy walkin.g and 'biking. Lowering the speed limit is key to allowing t.hat quality of life." trrip:// \;vvvw,,tniarniherrld..coinfne \A/s/loca.11 c arnmtinity trtli arid -dade/ a :tide 1 0235 75 77 11 trn 9/28/201.6 Cora. es loweri.ng residential speeds to 2 to protect .pedestrians Miami Ilerald P. Iie 3 of '7 Spees ills The chances of serious injury or death for a pedestrian struck by a motor velicle rise rapidly above a collision speed of 25 mph. Risk of severe J Ury Risk of death Source: Brian Tefft„ AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety MARCO RU1.7 mrurz@rniarniheraid„com MI11111,1 IIIVO 01 II The low -speed proposal, which has been approvedby traffic regulators at 'Miami - Dade County, is part of a larger plan by the affluent suburban city of about 50,000 to encourage more of its residents to waik or cycle for short jaunts instead of driving by making its streets more inviting :for people who are not in cars. The Gables has set itself a goal of reducing its pedestrian and cyclist injuries in collisions 'ki:th cars by io percent a year.For a city with a reputation for tranquil living, those numbers are .nothing to dismiss: Between 2011 and 20:15, 323 pedestrians and cyclists across the Gabi were struckby cars, five of them fatally, according to figures provided by .Atkins urth America, an engineering firm. working on a new comprehensive transportation plan for the city. littp://www.initutilherakLcorn/news/local/comnunity/rniami-dade/article I 02357.577 hu-ill 9 8 201 6 (11"...bral Gables ibwering, residential speeds to 2.5 to protect pedestrians ? Miami Flei ild Page 4 af 7 And while the fatalities oecurred. ori. busy thoratighfares like Bird anti I.A..!Jeti.ne roads, .witich.. are n.otsubject ti) tile new, speed linlits, the crashes happenedall across the city. including on its farnottsly quiet, tree -shaded residential streets --- where fl.-1ai.wresidents complain that. mu routinely blow through at speeds well above the 3o mph speed. limit. "They're occurring in the neighborhoods,' I.Ago said of the collisions. "I saw .- .....se figures, and it really hit home." Enacting the measure Nvouldput the Gables .among a select group of cities that have dropped speed limits 'belo'w the 30 uiph. standard in the past two years, .thotigh. most have gone evenfurther, imposing new restrictions across the board. '1:11 2.013, the London. 'borough of Isl.ington.. was ..the first .to puss blanket 20 mph speed limits; the restriction was later extended across the Britishcapital, ign.ctuding to some of the eity's busiest thoroughfares. Paris and. Milan are imposing new speed caps of 30 kilaineters per hour, or 19 ni ph, and.. Spain will apply 30 kph 1irilits in inost inban. areas across the country. New York was the first American city to do so when Mayor Bill de Blasi() iinposed. a. 25 niplispeedli.m.it. citywide ing 201..4. to cut dowiion..traffic deaths. 'Bosn.)..n is .now working to lower the cit.sy.,.rspeed hunt to 25 mph, and Seattle this week began rolling out a plan to lower speed litaits to 25 :mph on main thoroughfares and 20 mph in. n.eighborhoods.. In Miami -Dade, the tiny village of Biscayne Park reduced speed limits across most of the municipality to 25 mph in. 2009. County public works officials could not say 1;griday whether any other niunicipalities had done the same before the Gables won. the agency's approval earlier this year. The proposal scents to enjoy support atnong Gables residents. Lag() and other contmissioners say residents' associations have been asking for lower speed. limits for years. This week, 6.8 of 86 .residents responding to a survey during several open. :houses on the transportation plan. said they were in favor of lowering speed knits, citing safety as the reason, said consultant Jason King, of Dover,. Kohl & gPartners, calling that a solid sample .for a city. the -H.,-...-- of the Gables. Those against cited fear of: getting speeding tickets, he said.. http://ww \ N(Jrn..ii ainiheraid...e obit newstl ocal / cataaninitylrnianyi,- dade/ article 1 t)2357577.11tni ...1 . 9/2.8/201. 6 Cora:I )IVesloei ing residential speeds to 25 lc:.) protect pedestrians rVlhlnhi leril(1 Page 5 (-)f 7 one conimissioner to vote against the naeasure„ Jcannett Slesnick.„ said she IATa.ntedto see a plan to enforce itfirst something city ad.ministrators say they're work.ing on. As it wouldroll out the new speed Inuits and new posted signs, the Gables would also embark on an iiilciirrnationaland enforcement campaign, said City Manager Cathy Swatison-livenbark. tinder its budget ':16r, :next fiscal year„ the city .plans to beef tip its pollcing of traffic laws and would strictly enforce the lower speed limits, shesaid. ffie city wouldalso have .to find money for scores of new signs, though the cost hasn.l. been determined. yet. Soule of that beefed-up enforcement will be ,aimed at speeding conamuters who use. Gables streets to bypass congested. thoroughfares -- a practice elected officials and. naafi), residents plainly hope that lower speedlianits would discourage. A disproportionate .nitinber of the speeding tickets handed out. by Gables police go to drivers who are not city :i.....esidents, Gables Police Chief Ed iiudak told the coin.ritission. Once it adopts the new speeds limits„ some conimissioners sa.y, the city should post signs at Gables entrances warning .motorists that, in effect, the .rules are different here — just like the adjacent subtirb of Pinecrest, .notorious :forits enforcement of traffic laws, does. "\Ve need to have the Pinecrest effect,so that once they've come into this city, they're inunediately braking," Swanson-Rivenbark told conmilssioners. If the Gables can in fact gel people t() adhere to 25 mph, or even close to it, one traffic -safety expert said, it should see a reduction in those numbers. There are other proven. benefits, too, said 11..3ria.n Tefft, author of the oft -cited AAA Foundation study: Traffic flow improves 'because cars move at a uniform pace. But, lie added, public education about the .reasons for the lower speed lirnits is critical. "1,Vlieti correctly set and applied, lower speed. limits not only improve safety„ but improve mobility and .respect .for the law," he said. "In general, you need. entbrcem...en.t„ along with education aboi„ '.hanges in the speed. Emitand the reasons for the changes in the speed itnit„ so the public understands this is being done for safety reasons, and not simply .to increase ..i.'everitie fromspeeding tickets." http://www.,lluJflilheldldLOfl11 newsllocalieornnlunityliniaini-dacie/artiele10235757711tral '..)/28/201. 6 Coral lowering residential speeds 10 2 .to protect -pedestrians kliLuni 1 terald I'age 6 or 7 Tefft said. the (1ata. on the danger that speeds. almve 3() m.p.hpose to a pedestrian .are corisectuen.ce of basic physics and the way the human body reacts vdicn struck "ay a vehicle at different speeds. Al. collisions below 25 mph, there i.s less risk. of grave i..niu...ryl)ecanse cars make (:.'„.cmtac",..twith pedestrians i1.. th.e legs, arms or tru.nk.. Above 3o niph, though, pedestrians tend to be knocked to the ground or be sent..flying over the car, striking their heads h.a.rdon the asphalt. or the car's windsIiicd, he said. Experts also note that lover speeds ncrease the chance of avoiding a collision altogether. Traveling at higher speeds shortens reaction time 01111 produces a kind of tunnel vision in motorists that reduces then' effective of vision, notes Gables- hased planner Victor Dover. There's ari enforcement twist: Chief liud.a.k said police usuall).7 1 on't ticket drivers until seven rnph over the posted speed liniit because that's what courts accept. Th.at means Gables police now don't tieket drivers in 30 .mphzones until they hit about. 37. In the 25 mphzones that would cover most of the city, In (f t() StS would have to hit 32niph to earn a citation -- though city officials emphasize that the goal is to get people as close as possible to 25 10 ph. That's much better than the present tix, when rootorists can approach the speed at which all bets are off — 4o niph, when half of pedestrians struck will die -- without. getting a ticket, Lago said. "I want to get people to ease off the gas pedal," said Lago, who lives near the Urn iversity of Miarni and complains that motorists often blast by at 40 niph. "At 20 mph, you have opportunity to read. At 40, one miscue,one lookaway to grab a soda. or a. phone, can result in the loss of a life." 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