Speed limits can now be set based on safety thanks to passage of AB 43
Late last Friday, we got word that Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 43 into law. Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, and Tweeted the Governor to support this commonsense, lifesaving legislation!
The passage of AB 43 is an important step forward for safer streets. Other leading Vision Zero cities are showing the power of reduced speed limits, both in bringing down average speeds and high-risk speeds. But California cities haven’t been able to tap into this solution until now.
Before AB 43, cities had much less control than you’d expect in setting speed limits. The fact that a street had high crash rates and large numbers of people walking and biking was irrelevant (read more in the San Francisco Chronicle).
The final language for AB 43 means only certain streets will be eligible for reduced speed limits, but regardless, there are a lot of new possibilities to #SlowOurStreets. And with supporters like you at our side, we will pursue every opportunity available within AB 43 here in San Francisco.
On another note, we were disappointed that two other bills Walk SF supported this session didn’t make it across the finish line: AB 550, which would have allowed San Francisco to pilot speed safety systems, and AB 1238, the Freedom to Walk Act.
Thank you, Assemblymember Friedman, and all of YOU!
We’re grateful for Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s leadership with the state’s Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force and for crafting and championing AB 43. Send your thanks to Assemblymember Friedman.
And big thanks to all our members. Your support launched Walk SF’s #SlowOurStreets campaign and gives Walk SF the ability to work on state legislation like AB 43!
Our gratitude goes out to members of San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets and other chapters of Families for Safe Streets, who have been incredible advocates for AB 43 every step of the way. Families for Safe Streets members have either lost a loved one to a traffic crash or survived a crash themselves.
Banner image: Mathieu Thouvenin via Flickr Creative Commons
