State Legislature 2013 session

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51. SB 5066 up for a floor vote soon (3/7) Ask your state senator to support it

It depends on you taking action right now to ask your state senator to vote yes for SB 5066, our Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill.

SB 5066, the Neighborhood Safe Streets Bill, should be coming to the floor of the Senate for a vote in the next day or so. Its companion bill, HB 1045, recently passed the House with strong bipartisan support, 86-10. It’s time to ask your state senator to vote yes for safer streets, less red tape, and cost savings for taxpayers.

SB 5066 is simple: It allows cities to save our tax dollars by letting them slow speed limits on non-arterial streets to 20 mph without having to spend money on a traffic and engineering study, as long as they set up a procedure for decision-making on the change.

Safer streets: When you, your neighbor’s child, or your grandmother gets hit by a motor vehicle at 25 miles per hour (the de facto speed limit on many non-arterial streets) versus 20 miles per hour the consequences are far more serious. This is especially true for the elderly.

According to a 2011 report by AAA, a person’s chance of being severely injured sharply increases as vehicle speeds increase (odds of serious injury go from 10% at 16mph to 50% at 31mph). The risks are far greater for older people. This is why AARP strongly supports SB 5066.

An additional study shows the chances of death at 5% when you’re hit at speeds of 20 MPH, versus a 45% likelihood of death when you’re hit at 30 MPH.

Safe, walkable streets are important for safety and livability, and they improve the quality of our schools and neighborhoods—this is why so many of the partners we work with on Safe Routes to School support this bill.

Less red tape and cost savings for taxpayers: Cities already have traffic and transportation plans in place developed with the expertise of professional engineers. They already have the power to lower the speed limit to 20mph. They just can’t lower it without doing another study.

The Washington State Association of County Engineers estimate the cost of such studies at $1,000 to $5,000 for jurisdictions that can assign the studies to staff in-house, with costs higher for smaller jurisdictions that have to employ outside consultants. SB 5066 would let cities spend that money on actually making safety and traffic improvements instead of conducting yet another study. This is why the Association of Washington Cities and several individual cities support the bill.?

Contact your state senator and ask for a YES vote on the floor for SB 5066