There's a push in the Texas Legislature to make it easier for cities and municipalities to lower speeds inside city limits.
Separate bills filed in both the Texas House and Senate would eliminate the need for entities to perform engineering or traffic investigations beforehand.
One of the bills, Senate Bill 1663 which was co-authored by Dallas Senator Royce West, would allow cities to drop limits as low as 20mph if they deem it a safety concern.
Daniel Armbruster, the Senior Public Affairs Specialist for AAA, said a vehicle’s speed is one of the most important factors in auto pedestrian crashes when it comes to whether or not someone survives.
“There’s a huge difference in the risk for injury and death in just 10 mph,” Armbruster said. “So for instance, 25 mph versus 35 mph, right? That can have a significant increase in risk.”
The link, according to Armbruster, is also backed by data. "That's been shown by several studies, including a recent one by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. So it's just so important."
Opponents of the plan said it could lead to "speed traps" being created by cities, and that they worry that limits will be set too low "unreasonably." But Armbruster said that's a small price to pay. "When you are making these types of changes, safety has to be top of mind," Armbruster said.
Both the Senate and House versions of the bill have passed their respective chambers, and are heading to a committee to work out differences in the two measures, before heading for a full vote in both chambers.
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