'I Will Be A Pain': Man Pushes For Lower Speed Limits After Wife's Death

SAUGUS (CBS) - State transportation officials have put the brakes on a request from the town of Saugus to lower the speed limit on some streets in the town.

"They study it until it dies and people go away," said resident Robert Hoffman who, along with his wife Judith, suffered serious injuries in a crosswalk in an accident in January of 2018.

Their ordeal became an impetus for the town to push for lowering the speed limit on several major streets from 30 to 25 miles an hour. "Five miles an hour makes a difference. You get hit by something, it's a big difference," said Hoffman.

MassDOT says the town first has to submit a traffic study which could now take a few months. It's only increased the pain for Hoffman whose wife Judith died last November from injuries she suffered in the accident.

"I saw her withering, withering and getting worse. She felt very degraded by what was happening to her," said Hoffman who took daily walks with his wife.

He's already concerned about slow progress, including the placement of signs in the town to make crosswalks safer. "I will become a pain, I will be very tenacious about it," he said.

Through his loss he's advocating ever harder to slow things down. The chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen Debra Panetta says she's hoping to have results from the study done by the spring and that safety is a top priority.