Our View: Kid-friendly driving
Northwest Boulevard in north Spokane narrows from two lanes to one at Alberta. Drivers often feel squeezed there and many try to speed in that one lane to recover lost time. But in the summer, just past that intersection, the speed limit switches from 30 mph to 20 mph, because of Audubon Park.
Drive just one to five miles an hour over 20 mph, and it could mean a $177 ticket. Drive six to 10 miles over, and it may cost you $198. Speed 11 to 15 miles over and the ticket goes up to $259. “And the list goes on and on upwards from there,” said Spokane police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer DeRuwe. Ouch.
The summer speed limit is also 20 mph next to six other Spokane parks: Comstock, A.M. Cannon, Mission, Chief Garry, Hays and Lincoln. These parks were chosen by the city for the lower speed limits because of high use, high risk of accidents and high visibility for police officers looking for those who speed past these park zones. In our rush-rabbit society, the 20 mph feels like a turtle’s pace.
Yet almost all Grand Boulevard drivers slow down noticeably in the 20 mph speed zone along Manito Park year-round. Manito is considered a four-season park, with sledders making winter use of it. There might be no practical reason to post 20 mph limits at the rest of the parks in all four seasons, except one: Drivers would get in the habit of slowing down year-round, and this habit would protect the kids when they return to play in late spring and summer.
(For the record, driving 20 mph through the roughly one-fifth of a mile now restricted beside Comstock Park takes about 15 seconds longer than driving 35.)
The California health department did a study on accidents involving children hit by cars. The agency found that “many injuries to these children occur during morning and evening commute hours and at hours when they are typically at play.” Nearly one-fifth of the traffic fatalities among children ages 5-9 were sustained by pedestrians, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
These slow summer speeds can be aggravating for adult drivers, but laws that protect our children from harm are always good for the rest of us. Play is almost as essential for children as food and water. Children’s play is their work. So when you see children at play – in playgrounds and parks, on front lawns or in the street – please slow down, even if it’s not against the law to speed on by.