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Virginia Legal News

Should the Shore Drive speed limit be increased back to 45mph?


Posted on Feb 28, 2011

If you’ve spent any time in the Virginia Beach area, you may appreciate how controversial the speed limit on Shore Drive is.  In an attempt to cut down on pedestrian accidents and fatalities, the City Council lowered the speed limit on the stretch of Shore Drive between Pleasure House Road and North Great Neck Road to 35mph from 45mph.

 

However, a study commissioned by the City Council recently made the case that reducing the speed on Shore Drive by 10mph did nothing to make the road safer.  The study’s authors concluded that the speed limit should be raised back up to 45mph.

 

The speed limit was lowered after two tragic pedestrian deaths that happened on Shore Drive within six months of each other.  Both accidents happened as the pedestrians were trying to cross the road.  Critics point out that in both cases the victims had been drinking at the bars that line Shore Drive, and their actions may have contributed to their deaths.

 

Families and some city leaders disagreed that the victims alone were responsible for their own deaths, and wanted the speed limit reduced.  However, the recent study, which was done by Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. came to the same conclusion as a study done last summer by city engineers: a speed limit reduction won’t make Shore Drive safer.

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Michael S. Weisberg, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
Email: info@weislaw.com
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