“DDOT Advances Vision Zero by Lowering Speed Limit to 25 MPH in Key DC Corridors”

From DDOT:

“The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) today announced it is lowering speed limits from 30 miles per hour (MPH) to 25 MPH in key corridors throughout the District to advance Mayor Bowser’s Vision Zero goals and better align with national standards in roadway safety.

“DDOT joins peer cities including New York City and Seattle by reducing the speed limit in key corridors because we know reducing speed by even five miles per hour makes a big difference in avoiding crashes and serious injury,” said DDOT Director Everett Lott.

DDOT has changed the speed limit to 25 MPH on Connecticut Avenue NW and New York Avenue NE. Future locations for speed limit reductions will include

North Capitol Street/Blair Road NW from Harewood Road NE/NW to Van Buren Street NW, and Wheeler Road SE from Wahler Place SE to Southern Avenue SE.

Reducing the speed limit from 30 MPH to 25 MPH helps decrease the frequency and severity of crashes. Traveling at a slower speed increases the driver’s cone of vision, providing more reaction time. It also greatly improves the survival chance of pedestrians. Studies show once cars reach a certain speed (just above 20 MPH), they rapidly become more deadly; a person is about 70 percent more likely to die if they’re struck by a vehicle traveling at 30 MPH versus 25 MPH.

DDOT’s decisions for speed limit reductions are based on data using USLIMITS2, a nationally accepted tool from the Federal Highway Administration that considers existing roadway travel speed speeds, safety performance, and other information about a roadway section to guide the selection process. DDOT engineers will continue to assess traffic corridors along with crash data to determine high-impact locations for speed reduction.

In addition to speed limit reductions, DDOT uses many tools to manage speeds and reduce conflicts to improve safety. Also, as part of Vision Zero, DDOT’s Annual Safety Improvement Program (ASAP) rapidly deploys multi-modal safety improvements at multiple locations across the District and works with the Metropolitan Police Department to continue to support safety improvements through enforcement. To learn more about Vision Zero and the ASAP program, please visit ddot.dc.gov/page/vision-zero-initiative.”