In a major step toward enhancing road safety, a San Diego City Council committee has moved forward with a proposal to reduce speed limits to 20 miles per hour on select commercial streets. This decision comes three years after Mayor Todd Gloria expressed a desire to implement AB 43, a state law aimed at giving cities greater authority to establish enforceable speed limits based on safety factors rather than just the average speeds of drivers.
Currently, city traffic engineers are developing a comprehensive “Speed Management Plan” slated for release in December, which is set to propose further reductions along numerous streets across the city. However, the immediate changes will affect a limited number of blocks in popular neighborhoods, including Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Old Town, Hillcrest, North Park, and City Heights. Most streets in these areas will see speed limits drop from 25 to 20 miles per hour, while certain segments of Mission Boulevard, El Cajon Boulevard, and Washington Street will see reductions from 30 to 25 miles per hour.
Advocates for street safety have expressed support for the reduction in speed limits but are cautious about relying on signage alone to effectively change driver behavior.
In conjunction with the proposed lower speed limits, the city is also working to maintain existing limits on a larger variety of streets in situations where state law would typically necessitate increases. The current speed limit policies are often guided by the “85th percentile” rule, which dictates that cities cannot issue speeding citations unless a speed study shows a driver is exceeding the speed of 85% of other vehicles. This guideline can lead to a phenomenon known as “speed creep,” where speeding becomes normalized, thus establishing a new, unofficial speed limit over time.
The full City Council is expected to vote on the proposed speed limit changes next month.
