In hopes of lowering the likelihood of severe injury or death when people are hit by cars — especially pedestrians and bicyclists – Kingston’s common council voted unanimously Tuesday night, August 6, to lower the city speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour, as allowed by Sammy’s Law, new legislation recently signed by the governor.
City engineer John Shultheis has signed off on the law, mayor Steve Noble said at the common council’s June Public Safety & General Government Committee. The law will apply to all but a handful of streets under state DOT purview and a few like Wilbur Avenue from Greenkill Avenue to the Rondout Creek noted for their rural character. Even slower speeds can be mandated in special zones near hospitals and schools.
Studies have shown that decreasing speed limits increases the likelihood of survival in accidents exponentially. A 2011 AAA Foundation report put the chance of death for a pedestrian struck by a vehicle going 30 m.p.h. at about 25 percent. Shaving the speed limit by five miles per hour lowers that number to 13 percent.
When the new speed limit goes into effect October 1, Kingston crosswalks will have grown safer for children and the elderly, the age groups most at risk of being injured.
Tanya Garment and Rose Quinn, two tireless advocates for policies to combat traffic violence — the preferred term of those who oppose these tragedies being referred to as accidents — were in the audience at the vote. Quinn’s partner John Lynch was struck by a car in July 2021 while riding his bicycle on Washington Avenue near the Dutch Village Apartments. “Speed is linked to traffic violence,” said Quinn. “The tragic fact is that since 2020 in Kingston we have seen five bike and pedestrian fatalities, each one a reminder of the urgent need for change.”
Recent victims other than Lynch included Darryl Savage, 54, a bicyclist struck and killed by a bus at Greenkill and Wilbur avenues, November 4, 2020; Devin Griffiths, 39, struck and killed at the corner of Broadway and East Saint James Street on September 18, 2021; Christine Tarasco, 65, struck and killed on Pine Grove Avenue, December 27, 2022; and Sarah Edwards, 59, the lone pedestrian on the list, hit and killed at the intersection of Spring and Wurts streets, January 6, 2023.
There is controversy about the use of speed cameras. A three-pronged strategy of engineering, education and enforcement will likely usher in the changes.
“Speed-limit signs alone,” says alder Bob Dennison, “will not be effective at reducing travel speeds in the city.” Studies have shown that the use of electronic driver feedback signs improves driver compliance.
Expect more speed bumps.
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