A new proposal in Prince George's County to reduce speeding in residential areas comes after a series of crashes along Allentown Road, including a fatal collision earlier this year.
“People speed off the main streets, and then they come into your community and your neighborhoods, and they just still have this mentality where they have to still keep speeding up,” said Fort Washington resident Darnell.
When he first moved in with his family 17 years ago, speed humps were installed, but Darnell believes they need an upgrade and should be installed in more locations throughout the county.
“It did good 17 years ago, but it’s a whole new year,” Darnell said.
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“Sometimes at night, it’s dark in this area, and they just think they can just drive as fast as they want to,” he said.
Legislation introduced Tuesday by Prince George’s County Council member Ed Burroughs aims to stop speeders. It would create safeguards after a woman lost her life earlier this year when, police said, she crashed into a Fort Washington home.
“This bill comes out of a tragedy off of Allentown Road, where residents off Allentown Road had made several requests for traffic calming measures,” Burroughs said.
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The measures include deterrents like street humps, speed cameras, and steeper fines for speeding and reckless driving.
The bill would be the first step toward action, Burroughs said.
“This bill standardizes the process,” he said. “It shortens the window of time in which a determination is made, and then it also puts that recommendation to the County Council for final decision.”
By November of last year there were more than 54 fatalities on the roads, police said, which is why some inside of the county say these steps are necessary especially in residential areas.
“It’s best that you have to make the speed bumps higher and then have surveillance cameras within the neighborhoods,” Darnell said.
“We want everybody to be safe,” he said. “We have elderly people, we have children, we have these pets that run into the street, and we don’t want any harm this year. We really don’t.”
A date has not been set for the community to comment.
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