Editorial: Slow down or pay the price

Posted 1/20/25

Shortly after they were first paved, the roads across Barrington were outfitted with signs clearly marking speed limits. And shortly after those signs were installed, motorists began speeding past …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Editorial: Slow down or pay the price

Posted

Shortly after they were first paved, the roads across Barrington were outfitted with signs clearly marking speed limits. And shortly after those signs were installed, motorists began speeding past them.

Now, members of the Barrington Town Council are stepping up to slow drivers down. 

During a meeting on Monday night, Jan. 13, the council voted 5-0 to explore installing speed cameras near local schools. A handful of people spoke out against the speed cameras, but the council pushed forward after listening to a crossing guard posted outside Sowams School. She has stood helpless while vehicles blow past the elementary school traveling 10, 15 and 20 miles over the speed limit. 

While speed cameras should be kept on the table as a possible solution, so should other options, short of speed cameras, that the town has not deployed yet. In many communities, flashing yellow lights, which operate only when schools are in session, have been very effective at changing driver behavior. Consistent police presence during drop-off and pick-up times is always an effective deterrent as well.

Maybe speed cameras ultimately prove to be the town’s best solution, or perhaps they are too aggressive as a first option.

2025 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.