Sunshine Coast RCMP are not advising a drop in speed limits on Highway 101, Sgt. Mike McCarthy told the regional transportation advisory committee on April 29.
"I did canvass all of our members and there was no resounding consensus on adjustment of speed limits," McCarthy said.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board had requested advice after the transportation committee raised the question of lower speed limits last September.
The idea arose after Const. Todd Bozak of Sunshine Coast RCMP Traffic Services pointed to the stretch of Highway 101 between Flume Road and Lower Road as having the highest volume of fatal accidents and collisions causing serious injuries. Bozak had suggested "honing in on that section of highway."
While lower speeds do reduce the likelihood of serious accidents, "there's a practical component as well," McCarthy said at the April 29 meeting. In the case of Highway 101, "it's more about following the existing speed limit," rather than reducing it, he added. "My sense is there's people exceeding the existing limit."
ICBC crash statistics for Roberts Creek show the highest number of crashes between 2007 and 2011 occurred at the intersection of Highway 101 and Flume Road, where a total of 20 crashes were reported during the five-year period, with 12 of them resulting in injury or death. Next highest, with 12 crashes each, about half resulting in injury or death, were the intersections of Highway 101 with Roberts Creek Road and Joe Road.
