hit the brakes Austin leaders voted to lower the speed limits on dozens of roads as traffic fatalities increase.
SOUTHWEST AUSTIN
are having a positive effect on traffic safety, though because the reductions happened so recently, Vision Zero staffers have yet to release hard data confirming their effectiveness. Slower speeds reduce the number of accidents on roads, which causes less traffic to pile up and ultimately reduces costs stemming from public safety resources such as EMS and fire trucks, Leff said. “[We just need] the majority of peo- ple to slow down a little bit,” Leff said. A need for enforcement At a June 28 meeting, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted not to change the speed limit of Braker Lane in the Whisper Valley neighbor- hood from 50 to 40 mph after con- cluding the change would be moot without the Austin Police Department enforcing it. “What is the point of reducing the speed limit if we don’t have the staff to enforce it?” Precinct 2 Commis- sioner Brigid Shea said at the meeting. For his part, White agrees the APD is understaffed and unable to provide the level of oversight needed to miti- gate the situation in Austin. “We don’t have the staff to enforce the current speed limits, much less a change in the speed limits,” he said. “There’s no plan going forward as far as our traffic enforcement goes.” ADP’s Driving While Intoxicated unit has been temporarily suspended and the motorcycle unit has been shifted to a volunteer-based program, according to APD’s website. Staff at APD and Vision Zero recog- nize that without law enforcement, speed limit reductions and traffic safety education do not have as big an impact on accident reduction. However, Leff said about 85% of motorists travel within 10 miles per hour of a given posted speed limit. Therefore, reducing speed limits can
Traffic crashes January 2018-June 2022
Fatal Serious injuries
Speed limit changes
SOUTHWEST PKWY.
5 MPH reduced speed 10 MPH reduced speed 15 MPH reduced speed
360
OLD BEE CAVES RD.
MOPAC
290
35
71
71
DAVIS LN.
183
1826
METRO CENTER DR.
130
E
MOPAC
BLUFF SPRINGS RD.
BRADSHAW RD.
1626
N
45
SOURCE: AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT
CONTINUED FROM 1
Austin Police Department Lt. Wil- liam White said July 1 that staff- ing shortages have rendered traffic enforcement virtually nonexistent on certain Austin roads. Still some traffic experts said chang- ing speed limits and focusing on edu- cation can make a difference. Changing the limits City action to reduce speed limits began in 2020 when the Austin Trans- portation Department ran a study that concluded many of Austin’s speed lim- its were “unreasonable and unsafe.” On June 16, Austin City Council
approved reducing the speed limit of almost 50 urban arterial street seg- ments—a term defining busy main roads—in the city. The majority of streets were reduced by 5 mph; nine streets were reduced by 10 mph; and one street, McKinney Falls Parkway, will be reduced by 15 mph. The speed limits will be adjusted over the next few months, according to Jack Flagler, Austin public information specialist. Leff said the city is reducing speed limits on the streets where the majority of serious injuries and deaths happen. He added early data shows the speed limit reductions from 2020
Further, traffic deaths have steadily ticked up in Austin since 2018, per data from Vision Zero—a city program cen- tered on reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries through education, policy and street improvement. Com- pared to last year, there has already been one more death, 22 more serious injuries, and 246 more accidents in 2022 as of July 4. While entities including the city of Austin, Travis County and TxDOT are working to advance policy and increase awareness involving traffic safety, lack of enforcement remains an issue.
30
COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook