[If you are here to sign the petition, feel free to skip the intro. You know this already]
There are two bills currently in committee in the State Senate and Assembly that would authorize the Village of Pittsford to lower the speed limit on the segments of state roads within the Village to 25 mph. If you want to show your support for the bills, consider signing the petition to encourage our State representatives to pass the proposed legislation. Lower speeds are safer for everyone. Lowering speed limits is not a silver bullet. It is, however, one of the solutions that will complement other efforts to help make our community streets safer for everyone (including drivers).
The Village of Pittsford was around before the car. And much of the human-scaled design from back then is still present, which helps make our Village more walkable and beautiful than places that were built after the car ruled our roads.
As the surrounding areas grew, the Village inherited most of the resulting traffic. More than 40,000 vehicles a day pass through the heart of the village. That means tens of thousands of drivers pass right through residential neighborhoods and local business areas on their way to somewhere else every day. And they do so at very high speeds. Our kids can’t safely cross the street to get to school or the library, we witness car crashes in front of our houses regularly, and those of us that live on the main roads can’t even have a conversation on our porches because of the noise of speeding traffic.
Lower vehicle traffic speeds save lives. They offer drivers more reaction time, increase the likelihood that everyone involved in a crash will survive, and offer more room for error (no matter who is at fault). Yet the Village lacks the ability to set the speed limit and design of the roads with the most traffic and highest speeds — our main roads, the speed limits of which are set by NYSDOT.
[Not convinced that speed matters? Take a peek here: Why How Fast We Drive in Our Village Matters]
If you would like to show your support, sign the citizen petition in support of proposed legislation in Albany that will authorize the Village of Pittsford to lower its speed limit to 25 mph on state roads. This petition and signatures will accompany letters of support from local leaders.
Lowering the speed limit alone will not fix our speeding problems. It is, however, one of the important tools in the toolbox to help us calm traffic and allow us all to safely share our community streets.