I was recently able to borrow a speed detector from a friend. I wanted to check speeds of cars as they proceeded down S. Main Street, heading away from downtown. This is a stretch of road I walk on at least 4 times a day and while the posted speed limit is 25 mph, I felt that most cars were driving a lot faster. And let’s face it, most of us, myself included, rarely limit our driving speeds to the actual posted speed limit.

What I found was a bit of a surprise. I realize that 25 mph itself feels a little fast as a pedestrian walking on a sidewalk separated from moving cars by only the parking lane next to the curb, which often does not have a car parked in it. I measured a few cars at 15 mph and 20 mph which felt much more reasonable as a pedestrian in this environment.

Since most of us drive over the posted speed limit, many people I measured were driving more like 30-35 mph. I though that the people that were driving 30 mph, only 5 mph above the posted speed limit, were driving a LOT faster than they actually were. I would have guessed the people driving 30 mph were actually driving 35 – 40 mph. That was what had surprised me. 5 mph over the speed limit sounds reasonable, but not in this environment which should be more pedestrian-oriented. 30 mph feels uncomfortably fast.

The fastest speed I measured in my short time doing this was 39 mph. That felt wildly fast. And now knowing how fast 39 mph feels, I know I have witnessed people driving more than 40 mph on this stretch of road. That feels really dangerous. At 20 mph a pedestrian struck by a car has a 5% chance of a fatal injury. At 30 mph it is 45% and at 40 mph this increases to 85% (National Traffic Safety Board, 2017). Those numbers are for adults. Children would of course fair worse outcomes. These numbers have been been getting worse in recent years, most likely because of the increase in car size, particulalry the height of the front end of the car.

Main Street should be a pedestrian environment. And clearly, posted speed limits do little to keep people driving at reasonable speeds. The lanes are wide and straight which encourages faster driving. I’m VERY aware of this issue, but I have to really pay attention when driving on S. Main St. to keep my speed at 25 mph. And now I realize that as a pedestrian, even this feels too fast. The street itself needs to be redesigned to keep people from driving dangerously fast. It is possible, but we have to make the conscious decision that pedestrian safety, and comfort, are more important priorites than how quickly cars can drive through downtown Sebastopol.

I was in Durango, CO when I took this photo. The sign is a step in the right direction, but again it is only a sign. I would say the street needed some more interventions to keep people driving at this desired speed, but at least it does express the intention that this is a slow speed zone. We should at least start with the signs in Sebastopol and signal to cars that this is a people space.