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UPDATE October 12, 2021: AB 43 was signed into law on October 8, 2021. 

Assembly Bill 43, introduced by Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Laura Friedman, would begin the process of changing the way speed limits are set, based on recommendations from the Zero Fatalities Task Force. If enacted, the bill would make it easier for local jurisdictions to lower speed limits, something that they are currently prevented from doing by the state’s 85^th percentile rule.

While AB 43 doesn’t do away with the 85^th percentile all together, it is definitely a move in that direction and reflects other efforts (some nationwide) to do so. The NMA opposes this measure since scrapping established standards will result in a patchwork of arbitrary speed limits leading to higher violation rates and no proven safety benefit. Learn more about how speed limits should be set here.