Editorial: San Rafael speed-limit reduction is about safety

The San Rafael City Council is asking motorists to slow down a little. The goal is to boost the measure of safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The city’s history of accidents, especially downtown, provide a good reason for this initiative.

A new state law provides municipalities with greater leeway to change speed limits in business and residential areas to provide greater safety.

It may aggravate some motorists, who would prefer not to tap their brakes, but the lower speeds may also save lives and prevent injuries.

According to the plan adopted by the council, speeds along segments of many of downtown’s streets – notably excluding Second and Third streets, two of the city’s busiest arterials – are going to be reduced from 25 mph to 20 mph.

According to the city’s consulting traffic engineer, that reduction increases a pedestrian’s chances of survival if hit by a vehicle.

In addition to downtown, the reductions are expected to be posted along other busy streets, among them Andersen Drive, Francisco Boulevard West, Redwood Highway, Smith Ranch Road and Civic Center Drive.

The city will adopt a 30-day warning and education period to help drivers get used to the changes.

The new phase of possible changes will involve streets around parks, schools, community centers and bikeways. The plans are expected to be presented early next year.

The goal is not to hand out more tickets, but to make San Rafael’s streets safer and minimize the risk of deaths or serious injuries.

For years, local road speed limits were established by a threshold or prevailing speed where 85% of traffic traveled safely. One of the goals of that standard is to eliminate so-called “speed traps” where lower speed limits are established in order to issue more citations.

A new state allows municipalities to give a lot more weight to pedestrian and bike safety in setting speed limits on local streets and roads.

Speed matters. Even a change of just 5 mph can make a difference.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a person struck by a vehicle traveling at 20 mph has a 5% chance of being killed. When hit by a vehicle traveling at 30 mph, that number rises to 40%.

Reducing the speed also reduces the severity of accident-related injuries to drivers and their passengers, according to the University of California Institute of Traffic Studies, which took part in the state’s Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force.

That difference makes the idea of slowing down worth strong considerations.

The new law’s author – then-Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, said  “The 85th percentile is outdated and has led locals to increase speed limits at the same time traffic fatalities continue to increase.”

Those percentile-based speed limits often reflect motorists’ comfort, not overall safety, she said in 2021, when her bill was passed by the state Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Soon, 20 mph signs will be seen more frequently around San Rafael. They are not about writing traffic tickets, but about saving lives.

Yes, the signs will tell us that we need to slow down – a little – to make our roads safer for everyone.