Opinion: BC needs to end the 50 km/hr default speed limit | Daily Hive

Opinion: BC government needs to end the 50 km/hr default speed limit

50 km/hr road speed limit sign in Pemberton, BC. (Klara Steffkova/Shutterstock)

Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by North Vancouver resident Johnathan French.

I’m glad to see that Mike Farnworth has been appointed as the new BC Minister of Transportation and Transit. I’m hopeful that the BC NDP will improve transportation options, and deliver on their campaign promises.

That said, there’s one critical bit of transportation legislation that desperately needs addressing in BC: default speed limits.

If no other speed is posted, the default speed limit across all of British Columbia is 50 km/hr. This might seem okay to the average person, but to any traffic engineer or city planner, this might set off alarm bells.

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We have speed limits posted on almost all major roads and highways. They have their own problems, but let’s put that aside for now, as these aren’t affected by the default limit.

You know which streets are most affected by the default limit? Residential streets.

Maybe it is a matter of money, maybe it is sheer apathy on the part of municipal governments, but almost all residential streets in BC don’t post speed limits, and therefore default to 50 km/hr.

Just look at Baycrest Drive in North Vancouver. The road looks narrow, right? Despite this, a driver can legally plow through this quiet neighbourhood at 50km/hr. If anything, they often drive even faster.

How about Queenston Crescent in Burnaby? Same problem: the default speed limit is still 50 km/hr.

Step onto almost any residential street in BC, and you’ll see the same thing.

Baycrest Drive, North Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Queenston Crescent, Burnaby. (Google Maps)

Yes, this is a failure on the part of municipal governments, as signs aren’t that expensive.

But you know what? Legislation is cheaper than signs. It’s frankly appalling that 50 km/hr is the default, when every study shows that it’s a deadly speed for everyone on the road. The much more appropriate default is 30 km/hr.

It’s common knowledge that when hit by a vehicle travelling at 30 km/hr, pedestrian survivability is around 80% to 90%.

However, if the vehicle is travelling at 50 km/hr, survivability drops to just 20%.

Not to mention the increased stopping time and noise pollution when you drive at 50 km/hr. There is simply no good reason why 50 km/hr should be the default speed limit. Setting the default limit to 30 km/h is such a simple and easy solution that I’m shocked we haven’t implemented it yet.

Municipalities like Toronto dropped their default speed limit to 40km/hr. Calgary’s default is the same, and Victoria is lowering the limit to 30 km/hr on most streets, along with Duncan. And of course, this is commonplace in European cities.

If some municipalities in BC want faster speed limits, fine. Let them pay the cost of putting up new signs. But the default limit should not be so life-threatening.

Naturally, merely lowering the default speed limit won’t be enough to slow down all drivers. Unless we make physical changes to our streets, many drivers will still go ahead and break the law.

But lowering the default speed limit would still make a noticeable difference. It would still save lives.

Sure, it might take some time for drivers in BC to adjust to the new defaults, but once they do — and once a new generation of drivers passes their tests with this knowledge — we’ll see a significant difference. There’s no excuse not to implement it when we know it will save lives.

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