The Sunshine Coast's leading traffic safety advocate is urging the Town of Gibsons to reject a proposal by Victoria city council to drop the default speed limit across the province from 50 km/h to 40 km/h.
Speaking as a private citizen, Speed Watch coordinator Jon Hird told Gibsons council March 19 that as much as he approves of the City of Victoria's efforts to lower the default speed limit, "I feel compelled to disagree with their position and label their proposal quite literally a half measure."
Reducing the default speed limit by only 10 km/h, Hird said, "hardly seems worth the effort" and would be a mere "token gesture."
Municipalities will vote on the Victoria proposal during next month's Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) convention. If endorsed, the proposal will come forward at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention in September. Ultimately the province would have to approve the motion.
Hird said the 40 km/h limit might be fine for Victoria, but he did not support an "unworkable one-size-fits-all approach."
He asked Gibsons council to instead push at UBCM for a "more practical and appropriate proposal" that would "allow each municipality to determine appropriate speed in residential areas up to a maximum of 50 km/h."
Hird noted that Gibsons had reduced the speed limit to 30 km/h on short stretches of North Fletcher, South Fletcher and O'Shea roads, and about half of Shaw Road.
As well, he said, the City of Burnaby has set aside 150 blocks between East Hastings and the Burrard Inlet for 30 km/h, which is also the posted speed limit for Crescent Beach in Surrey.
"Certainly lower speeds are coming and certainly, I think, Gibsons would support that trend," Hird told council.
Lower speeds enhance both livability and traffic safety, with dramatically reduced stopping distances and severity of collisions, he said.
"You're nine times more likely to be killed if you're struck at 50 than if you're struck at 30. To my mind, that should be enough of an incentive to seriously consider lowering speed limits on residential streets."
Responding to Hird's request, Mayor Wayne Rowe said he wondered as well about the "one-size-fits-all approach," noting the 40 km/h default speed limit would not be appropriate for some communities in the Interior.
Coun. Lee Ann Johnson said the City of Victoria resolution could be amended on the floor during the AVICC convention.
"I think it's appropriate we try to advocate for more flexibility and not be forced to litter our community with signs everywhere," Johnson said.
Meanwhile, Speed Watch will be among the non-profit groups represented at a volunteer fair hosted by the Sunshine Coast Volunteer Centre on April 27 at Sunnycrest Mall. The fair, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is designed to recruit new volunteers and to publicize the work of non-profit agencies in the community.
