Why it's worth doing
Fewer injuries, less severe injuries, fewer people killed on our streets. It sounds dramatic, but it really is as important (and simple) as that. In study after study*, in country after country the data is overwhelming: The introduction of 30km/h zones and lower speed limits in urban areas, where people walking or people riding a bicycle and vehicles regularly share the same space, has been found to effectively reduce fatalities and injuries.
What's getting in the way?
Our streets have been engineered to prioritise the rapid movement of vehicles through our urban areas. While that’s appropriate for major thoroughfares and arterial roads, it creates dangerous conditions in neighbourhoods and urban centres. The fear of change and misinformation have led some people to believe that lowering speed limits on some streets will make it harder for them to move around, add to congestion or create economic harm. No study has been able to produce data to support these fears. In fact, the opposite is often the case: calmer traffic actually reduces congestion and slower streets are great for local business.
How we make positive change
Fortunately, it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to physically reduce speeds on neighbourhood streets and around urban centres: signage and enforcement. In terms of Return On Investment, there is no cheaper way to literally save lives in your neighbourhood.
Getting residents to understand why these changes are important (fewer dead or injured neighbours) and how they might even benefit (less congestion, better local business, more people choosing healthy transport options) is the trickier bit. But it is totally do-able. Organising locally, gathering support and taking your evidenced-based requests to local council is a proven, effective way to lower the speed of your neighbourhood streets.
Getting residents to understand why these changes are important (fewer dead or injured neighbours) and how they might even benefit (less congestion, better local business, more people choosing healthy transport options) is the trickier bit. But it is totally do-able. Organising locally, gathering support and taking your evidenced-based requests to local council is a proven, effective way to lower the speed of your neighbourhood streets.
The most effective groups to lead this change
Community groups, resident’s associations, school groups and local businesses are all well-placed to recommend changing street speeds. Getting representation from all the different types of people who will be affected and who will benefit is key, as opposition is usually mounted from a hyper-local perspective and often comes from a few vocal campaigners who fear change. Thankfully, most city leaders are committed to evidence-based decision-making and the evidence for slower street speeds is nothing short of overwhelming.
How we can get started
If you’d like to bring your local group or other organisation into the Better Streets coalition, and deliver lower, safer street speeds in your neighbourhood, contact@betterstreets.org.au
Studies
*Here are a few of the recent studies into the effects of speed on street safety:
- NSW Centre for Road Safety found that in a crash between a car and somebody walking, there is a 10 per cent risk that the person will be killed at 30 km/h, 40 per cent risk at 40 km/h, and a 90 per cent risk at 50 km/h.
- World Health Organisation (WHO) have concluded that an increase in the average speed by just 1 km/h results in a 3% higher risk of a crash and a 4 to 5% increase in fatalities.
- In Toronto, Canada, road crashes fell by 28% since speed limits were reduced from 40 to 30 km/h in 2015, which led to a reduction in serious and fatal injuries by two thirds.
- In Colombia, Bogota, 30km/h zones are included a package of measures in its Speed Management Plan that have reduced traffic fatalities by 32%.
- A study from London found that lower speed limits (in this case 20mph zones) were associated with a 42% reduction in road casualties.
- In Bristol the introduction of 20mph limits was associated with a 63% reduction in fatal injuries between 2008 and 2016.
- In Edinburgh, restricting the city's speed limits to 20mph (30km/h) - without extra any traffic-calming measures or police patrols - has reduced road deaths by almost 25%.