POLICY WIN: Twenty is Plenty / Veinte es suficiente
The evidence is clear: Speed kills. / La evidencia es clara: la velocidad mata.
20 is Plenty is the rule of the road on Denver’s residential streets
On December 20, 2021, Denver City Council voted 11-1 to lower Denver’s default speed limit from 25 to 20 miles per hour. This was a huge policy win for the Denver Streets Partnership and supporters like you, who have advocated for this change for two and a half years.
We are grateful for the thousands of Denver residents who requested #20isPlenty and #SlowTheFunkDown yard signs, and we we appreciate the Denver Department of Transportation & Infrastructure staff for their work demonstrating that lowering the speed limit makes sense, and for their commitment to lower speed limits on collector streets and arterials, too.
Reducing the speed limit might be a small step in eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries, but it’s a sign that our culture is shifting to value safety and livability over the speed and convenience of driving. Please join us in thanking Denver City Council for voting to lower the default speed limit.
Read more about the change and process at 9News, the Denver Post, and Denverite.
Learn more about why we advocated for this change below.
Many thanks to Lyft for championing safe streets and sponsoring our Twenty is Plenty Campaign.
It’s time for action. / Es hora de actuar.
Denver’s Vision Zero Action Plan identifies speed as a factor in 53% of fatalities that occurred in traffic crashes on Denver streets in 2015, and specifically calls for speed reduction as a tool to reduce traffic deaths and injuries.
El Plan de Acción de Vision Zero de Denver identifica la velocidad como un factor en el 53% de las muertes que ocurrieron en colisiones de tránsito en las calles de Denver en 2015. El plan específicamente pide la reducción de la velocidad como una herramienta para reducir las muertes y lesiones en el tránsito.
We have the data. / Tenemos los datos.
The faster a car is moving, the less time the driver has to see a pedestrian and slow down or stop and the higher the injury risk for the pedestrian. Even small increases in vehicle speed can have fatal results. A pedestrian has a 13% likelihood of a severe injury or fatality if struck by a vehicle traveling 20 mph. That chance jumps to 40% if the vehicle is going 30 mph. Last year, 71 people were killed in crashes on our city streets. We don’t need any more crash data to demonstrate that slowing vehicle traffic is one critical step our community can take to improve safety and livability for everyone.
Cuanto más rápido se mueve un automóvil, menos tiempo tiene el conductor para ver a un peatón y reducir la velocidad o detenerse y mayor es el riesgo de lesiones para el peatón. Incluso pequeños aumentos en la velocidad del vehículo pueden tener resultados fatales. Un peatón tiene un 13% de probabilidad de sufrir lesiones graves o la muerte si lo atropella un vehículo que viaja a 20 mph. Esa probabilidad aumenta al 40% si el vehículo va a 30 mph. En 2019, 71 personas murieron en colisiones en las calles de nuestra ciudad. No necesitamos más datos de colisiones para demostrar que reducir la velocidad del tráfico de vehículos es un paso fundamental que nuestra comunidad puede tomar para mejorar la seguridad y la habitabilidad de todos.
City leaders should act. / Los líderes de la ciudad deberían actuar.
We’re calling on city leaders to reduce the default speed limit for Denver’s neighborhood streets from 25 mph to 20 mph. People should be able to safely walk dogs, play with kids in their front yard, garden in the planting strip, walk to get groceries, or bike with their kids to school on neighborhood streets.
Hacemos un llamado a los líderes de la ciudad para que reduzcan el límite de velocidad predeterminado para las calles del vecindario de Denver de 25 mph a 20 mph. Las personas deben poder pasear perros de manera segura, jugar con los niños en el patio delantero, cultivar un huerto en la franja de plantación, caminar para comprar alimentos o ir en bicicleta con sus hijos a la escuela en las calles del vecindario.
Join the Twenty is Plenty campaign with a FREE yard sign.
You can join the Twenty is Plenty campaign by ordering a yard sign delivered for FREE to your home. We’ve got two great designs you can choose from!
Order your free yard sign here!
Want to help out even more?
We need volunteers to help deliver the signs, and because we like to do things the car-free way, a limited number of volunteers will have the opportunity to borrow an electric cargo bike or a trailer that can be attached to a regular bike for deliveries!
Sign up to volunteer here!