Aussie drivers hit with new 30km/h speed limit
Melbourne drivers will be the first in the country to trial a new road rule that forces motorists to slow down to 30km/h in residential areas, to improve road safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
The 12-month trial of the new speed limit will be enforced on residential streets in Collingwood and Fitzroy from September.
Led by the Yarra Council, if the trial is successful the road rule may be introduced to other parts of Melbourne– as well as other major cities.
Yarra Mayor Daniel Nguyen told news.com.au that the new speed limit is about making the roads safer for everyone who uses them.
“This trial is about improving safety. From 2012-2017 there have been more than 100 crashes in the trial area, resulting in more than 30 serious injuries,” he said.
“90 per cent of these crashes have involved pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle riders.”
Research from Monash University found that lowering a 40km/h speed zone by 10km/h reduces by half a pedestrian’s chance of dying when hit by a car.
According to the World Health Organisation, just a 1km/h decrease in a car’s speed could lead to a 3 per cent reduction in road crashes.
The council said they took this approach which focuses on making the roads safer by adjusting people’s behaviour, rather than using expensive infrastructure like speed bumps to force people to slow down.
“We want to make livelier, healthier streets that everyone can enjoy, whether they are walking, driving or riding,” Mr Nguyen said.
“We hope that this trial will help reduce the number of serious injuries, and also bring other benefits including reduced congestion and encouraging more people to choose active transport options, like cycling and walking.”
Chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, Harold Scruby, said something needs to be done about the country’s rising pedestrian death toll.
“Most of Europe now … they are all 30km/h in areas of high pedestrian activity and it works,” he told ABC Radio.
“We have right around Australia this phenomenon where the pedestrian death toll is going back up through the roof.
“In Brisbane, 92 per cent of the road users will be pedestrians, 6 per cent vehicles and 2 per cent cyclists. Why is the whole CBD controlled by vehicles?”