LOS ANGELES (KNX) — In an effort to save lives on the streets of Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Department of Transportation (LADOT) announced Monday that they will reduce speed limits by fives miles on more than 177 miles of streets.
"Here’s the hard truth. Far too many Angelenos die in traffic collisions," Garcetti said. "Even one death is too many...we saw that not only do traffic accidents kill, but that they kill disproportionately [most often] in low-income Black and LatinX communities."
The Los Angeles City Council adopted the reduced speed limits ordinance on Feb. 22, according to City News Service (CNS). With it, city municipal code will be amended to adopt the speed limit reductions on the proposed streets.
Before the new law went into effect, LADOT was required to increase
speeds on 200 miles of L.A.'s streets, CNS reported. However, those incremental speed increases seemingly did not factor in the chance of survival for persons hit by cars going at a faster rate of speed, according to department General Manager Seleta Reynolds.
"As humans, we’re not designed to survive an encounter with a moving vehicle going faster than 45 mph," Reynolds said, explaining that the chances of surviving a car crash go way down when increased speed is a factor.
"The day that we had to take that action of increasing speed limits on 200 miles of streets was an extremely dark day for those of us at the Department of Transportation and advocates everywhere," Reynolds said. "People who experience the consequences of being near fast streets…they are the ones who ought to be consulted first. They are the experts who know best."
The list of streets where the lower speed limits will be implemented include
- Avenue 28 between Cypress Ave. and Figueroa St. (from 30 to 25 mph)
- Devonshire St. between DeSoto Ave. and Topanga Canyon Ave. (from 30 to 35 mph)
- Reseda Blvd. between Country Club Place and Winford Dr. (from 40 to 35 mph)
More than 95 sections of L.A. roads will be affected, many of them going form 40 to 35 mph. To read the full list, click here.
"No parent should worry about their child [walking] to school. No older adult should feel unsafe when they walk around their neighborhood," Garcetti said upon announcing the chances Monday.
"This is an important step toward the safer streets that we all deserve - the day when speeding vehicles in our city no longer injure or worst of all take someone’s life."
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