SALEM, Mass. — City officials in Salem want to force drivers to go slower in an effort to protect pedestrians and tourists.
On a beautiful day like Monday, people are out and about and some of them may not be familiar with the streets or how to cross them.
That’s one reason why city officials say they wanted to lower the speed limit to 25 miles per hour.
The new law, which took effect last week, is only for local roads in Salem. The speed limit on state roads in the city is still 30 miles per hour.
It may not seem like a big difference, but according to a AAA study, dropping the speed limit from 30 to 25 increases your chances of surviving a car accident by more than 30 percent.
“We have our residents walking through town, we have a lot of visitors who come here every year. We have a lot of people walking to the train station,” traffic and safety director Matthew Smith said. “So this is really a traffic calming measure so it allows safety for our residents, tourists and workers.”
Last year alone, Salem had 31 pedestrians who were hit by cars.
Of course, not everyone we asked was happy about it. Some people said traffic was just too slow to begin with.
Cox Media Group
