Now Seattle Is Moving to Lower Speed Limits

Seattle is slowing down: Speed limits will drop from 30 to 25 mph along main corridors and from 25 to 20 mph on residential roads, assuming officials approve a recent move by a city council member. If all goes according to plan, crews could start erecting signs as soon as November, says the Seattle Times.

That would make Seattle the latest in a list of cities to trim vehicle speeds in the name of “Vision Zero,” the urban policy platform calling for an end to all traffic fatalities, which have risen dramatically in the U.S. in the past few years. At least seventeen cities around the U.S. have officially adopted the stance, which involves engineering roads for safer mobility, ramping up traffic enforcement (for better or worse), and educating drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. Boston moved earlier this week to lower its default street speed from 30 to 25 mph. New York City enacted the same limits in 2014, and San Francisco is attempting to do the same.