New Study Shows Lower Speed Limit on Shore Drive May Not Be Safer

A new city-commissioned study shows that lowering the speed limit on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach may not have been the safest decision. The road’s speed limit changed in June 2010, moving from 45 miles per hour down ten miles to 35 miles per hour. This change was due in large part to the high frequency of accidents there in previous years. Ten pedestrians have been killed on Shore drive in the past eight and a half years – two in just the last year. The speed limit change was pushed for by families of the victims, along with civic leaders. Since the change in June, police have been heavily patrolling and enforcing the new speed limit.

But a new study shows that the change may not have been for the best. The study conducted by Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc., showed that 45, not 35, was the appropriate speed. In fact, the study showed no significant difference in safety between the two speeds. City traffic engineers agree with the study’s findings.

Now, it’s up to local politicians to decide what to do with their findings. Some argue that the study measured too short a time. Indeed, there have not been any deaths on Shore drive since the change has been implemented – surely a sign that something is working. Others suggest that the limits aren’t stopping most people from speeding; in fact, the average speed limit on the road is between 36 and 45 miles per hour. Whatever local leaders decide, Shore drive will probably always have a dangerous stigma attached to it.