There is a serious problem with speeding cars in the “Escarpment Estates” survey of Grimsby, Ontario. This is a residential area with only two points of ingress and egress. Yet, at all times of the day and night we have witnessed cars zipping by at speeds of up to an estimated 100 km/h. We, the residents, are afraid that is isn’t a safe environment for our children and would like the Town of Grimsby to take traffic-calming measures seriously before someone is hurt or killed, not after.

Specifically, we would like to see the addition of extra stop signs making each intersection a three-way stop. We believe this measure would effectively slow traffic down Lampman Drive, a 600-meter straight-of-way that sees some motorists treating as a dragway.

As well, we recommend that that the overall speed limit be reduced to 30 km/h from 50 km/h – a measure the City of Toronto has recently unanimously approved throughout areas zoned “Neighbourhood”. The speed reduction was a recommendation by the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto after his report noted that pedestrians have an over 20% chance of dying when hit by a car travelling at 40 km/h but fatality rates decrease to less than 5% when hit by a car that travels at 30 km/h. After 30 km/h zones were introduced in London, England, these zones experienced a 42% reduction in fatalities. Additionally, would-be extreme speeders would be subjected to harsher punishments, which would hopefully dissuade them from driving as fast.

We, the undersigned, believe that the high proportion of young children in our neighbourhood warrants special attention and prudence. As residents, we are becoming afraid that something terrible may happen. These changes could mean the difference between someone’s life and death.