North Bay city lowers its speed limit, tickets will be issued starting in winter
Bay Area city lowering its speed limit
This North Bay city is putting its foot down when it comes to drivers with a lead foot. San Rafael is lowering its speed limit starting with signs this fall and then tickets by winter. Its all part of a safety initiative.
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - San Rafael's City Council is putting its foot down when it comes to drivers with a lead foot.
Slower speed limits are coming, starting with signage in the fall and enforcement by way of speeding tickets in the winter.
The backstory:
Back in 2025, unhappy with the collisions and dangers to pedestrians and cyclists, the city reduced speed limits in its downtown area with significant success.
"As we were going through this phase one effort, we saw a lot of community input and feedback in expanding these reductions to roadways outside of downtown San Rafael," said Kelly Abey, a city traffic engineer.
What we know:
This fall, 18 different road sections will lower their speed limit by 5 miles an hour. By winter, tickets will be issued to violators.
"This span between 20 and 40 miles an hour really greatly drives the outcome of people that are involved in collisions. 20 miles an hour; there's a 10% chance that that results in a fatality. But that vehicle that's traveling at 40 miles an hour, there's a chance of fatality. [It] increases greatly to 80%," said James Jessup, another traffic engineer.
Our reporter, Tom Vacar, even took a speed gun to try a few tests. The average vehicle speed in the 25 mph speed limit zone was 33 mph.
Since the council passed the measure, residents living on those road sections are happy and grateful.
"We are excited The Miracle Mile and Weston Avenue and Greenfield Avenue have been identified," said Daniel of the Western Neighborhood Association Board. "These are the areas within our neighborhood that our community members have desperately wanted slower speeds on."
"I live on Lincoln Avenue and I've long felt that the speed limit on the north end of the street is much too fast for a dense residential area because so many families and children live in this neighborhood," said San Rafael resident David Seltzer.