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House advances school‑zone safety review after amendment to cut speeds is withdrawn
Summary
Lawmakers debated Representative Nielsen’s proposal to cut school‑zone limits to 15 mph before Nielsen withdrew the amendment and asked for a summer study; members raised fiscal, signage and enforcement concerns. The underlying bill, as amended, passed and will be sent to the Senate.
The Utah House on the floor considered an amendment to House Bill 22 that would have lowered school‑zone speed limits to 15 miles per hour but the sponsor withdrew the change after floor debate, asking instead that the issue be studied over the summer.
Representative Nielsen proposed the lower limit, saying it would “have a measurable difference on the safety in the school zones,” but withdrew the motion after members raised concerns about immediate costs and enforceability. “I recognize that the cost … by the way, rather than 25 to 15, I think it would have a measurable difference,” Nielsen said before offering withdrawal and study.
Opponents argued the change would impose significant new costs on municipalities for signs and enforcement, and that enforcement—not the posted limit—was the central problem. Representative Atkinson warned the amendment would add a “huge fiscal note” and could jeopardize the bill’s chance to pass, and Representative Shepherd said the key issue is effective enforcement rather than further lowering posted speeds.
After Nielsen withdrew the amendment and supporters summarized the bill’s remaining provisions (including an earlier amendment by Representative Reber on signage and maintenance), the House voted to pass HB22 as amended and referred it to the Senate. The clerk’s announcement of the tally in the transcript is garbled in places; the House recorded the passage and referral.
