IT TAKES A NEIGHBORHOOD TO CHANGE A SPEED LIMIT

When my children were preschool age and a number of our neighbors also had preschool age children, I felt that the speed limit on our street was too fast.  So, I called the city traffic engineer and explained my concern about the safety of our children and why I wanted the speed limit lowered.  He asked if I really thought that lowering the speed limit would lead to people driving slower.  I answered yes.  The traffic engineer laughed and then suggested that I talk to my neighbors and ask them to drive more slowly and then when they were driving more slowly to call him and he would measure the speed of cars on the road. If they were driving more slowly then he would lower the speed limit.  

My neighbors were driving more slowly and the speed limit was lowered.  I learned something that I consider to be very important.  What matters most is that my neighbors joined with me in driving more slowly and that is what made the difference.  The lowered speed limit only confirmed what we had already accomplished.  Our lives are meant to be shared with others and that is what is important.