Assembly Bill 2363 (Friedman) established the Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force. The statutory goal of the Task Force is to develop a structured, coordinated process for early engagement of all parties to develop policies to reduce traffic fatalities to zero. The Task Force examined alternatives to the 85 percentile as a method for determining speed limits in California.
California’s current speed-limit-setting methodology was developed for rural roads and relies on smart choices by 85 percent of drivers. That is, a speed limit is set after studying how fast people drive on a given segment of road and then adjusting it to the speed driven by 85 percent of those drivers. It assumes that “most drivers will drive at a safe and reasonable speed based on the road conditions,” says the report. “It is also based on the idea that speed limits are safest when they conform to the natural speed driven by most drivers and that uniform vehicle speeds increase safety and reduce the risks for crashes.”
However, there is no strong evidence that traveling at the 85th percentile speed results in safer outcomes. Among the problems that have arisen with this method are “speed creep,” in which speed limits go up over time as limits are raised, people drive faster, and then limits are raised again.
The report recommends allowing cities more flexibility in setting speed limits, allowing them to keep current speed limits even if a survey shows that 85 percent of drivers are exceeding the limit, and creating more classes of locations where speed limits can be set at a particular speed without having to do a traffic survey (for example, near schools and in business districts). It also recommends developing a way to conduct traffic speed surveys that takes into account bike and pedestrian safety.
Task Force members overwhelmingly agree that changing a road’s infrastructure is the most important factor to reduce vehicle operating speeds. When surveyed, 13 of 15 survey respondents said that design elements effectively reduce speeds. One Task Force member noted that a local city had recently reduced the speed limit in school zones. However, the accompanying wide streets encouraged drivers to ignore the signs and continue driving fast; the lowered speed limit was in itself “not enough to make our streets truly safe".
Many of the recommendations for policy considerations carry the messages of Vision Zero. Vision Zero represents a fundamentally different way to approach traffic safety through partnerships with police departments, public health officials, transportation professionals and policy makers. It is a strategy to eliminate all fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.
One example of a policy consideration that carries the message of Vision Zero is to allow greater reduction in speed limits if a roadway is identified as part of a statewide "High Injury Network." Possible criteria identified for implementing a statewide High Injury Networks include the number of fatal and serious injury collisions and the rate of crashes that occur in disadvantaged communities. A sampling of policy considerations and an excerpt from the report are included as attachments and the full report and a blog post summary are online as web attachments.
As a follow-up to the report produced under Assembly Bill 2363, the California Association of Governments are working with Assembly Members Friedman and Ting on Assembly Bill 2121, introduced February 6, 2020. The draft language and a news release are available as web attachments. TAMC Board has voted to support the bill.