In Wake Of Recent Traffic Fatalities, Philadelphia Implementing New Safety Measures In Accident Hotspots
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia is rolling out "slow zones." They're areas with a lower speed limit to improve safety and reduce fatalities.
In the wake of several recent traffic fatalities, the City of Philadelphia is implementing new safety measures in accident hotspots.
The city is celebrating Fairhill as the first neighborhood slow zone in Philadelphia. It's an area where the speed limit has been reduced to 20 miles an hour instead of the city's standard speed of 25 miles an hour.
Residents say slow zones are needed.
"Right here on Westmoreland, they were zooming down the street and I was scared to go to my apartment," one Fairhill resident said.
To increase safety, the city has added newly painted crosswalks, speed bumps, and flex posts between 2nd and 5th Streets and Allegheny to Glenwood Avenues.
Streets in this area have been targeted as "high injury" zones for auto-pedestrian accidents.
"We've all noticed, in the last two years especially, how people have been driving like crazy," Mayor Jim Kenney said.
This slow zone is very close to where a 17-year-old skateboarder, Jesus Gomez Rosario, was fatally struck by a dirt bike rider on Sunday.
Then, on Thursday, an ATV going the wrong way collided with a car on State Road and Rhawn Street in Holmesburg. The ATV driver, 29-year-old Victoria Rose Walker, was killed.
On Friday, a car hit a scooter on Jasper Street and Allegheny Avenue in Kensington.
The scooter driver and passenger were both hurt.
"We know that traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable and unacceptable. We also know traffic crashes are more likely to occur on streets in Philadelphia where most residents are people of color or are families living on low incomes," Philadelphia Deputy Director of Complete Streets Lily Reynolds said. "That's why we are working to ensure equitable traffic safety investments in neighborhoods needing them most."
The city launched the $1 million slow zone program three years ago, but design and construction in Fairhill only recently wrapped up. The city is hoping to expand the program to include other neighborhoods.
