Speed Reduction Key to Safer European Roads

A publication from Athens University in Greece in 2024 confirmed the benefits of reducing city speeds to 30 km/h.

Results from cities like Brussels, Paris, London, and around 40 others have shown a significant improvement in road safety with on average a 23% reduction in road rashes, 37% reduction in fatalities, and 38% reduction in serious injuries.

The reduction in speed limits has not only led to fewer traffic accidents and fatalities, making the streets safer for everyone, but, pedestrians and cyclists feel more secure, which has led to an increase in people walking and cycling instead of driving

The Athens study also highlighted impressive reductions in emissions, congestion, and noise pollution.

This should be standard practice now, not only for cities but on other roads as well. And no city that has adopted this measure has ever regretted it

Also at the national level there has been excellent results. Wales, in the UK, reduced the default speed limit in built-up areas to 20 mph (approximately 32 km/h) as of July last year. This resulted in a an average 4.6 km/h (2.9 mph) fall in speeds, averaging 31.2 km/h (19.78 mph) compared to 35.6 km/h (22.67 mph) the week before the change, and more importantly the number of collisions and casualties are both down 26% and 28% respectively.

Cities have seen excellent results too. A typical example is Bologna which reported last year on it’s Città 30 programme, the results;

road collisions decreased by nearly 11%, injuries by over 10%
serious crashes by 38%
fatalities dropped by a third, reaching the lowest levels since 2013
vehicle traffic decreased by 3%
pollution related to urban traffic fell by over 20%
and bike sharing nearly doubled, and bicycle trips increased by 12%

Not a bad collection of stats!

Good speed management is also a part of International calls for road safety. The Marrakech Declaration, the result of the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, calls for

“safe adequate speed limits supported by appropriate speed management such as redesigning road infrastructure to allow self-enforcing speed limits through the application of the concepts of self-explaining and forgiving roads, and also enforcement measures; create safety conditions enable multimodal transport and active mobility; establish, where possible, an optimal mix of motorized and non- motorized transport, with particular emphasis on public transport, walking and cycling, including bike-sharing services, safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and convenient, accessible crossings, especially in urban areas”

For an international statement of intent this is reasonably strongly worded as it has to include all authorities globally.

We think the EU should be a leader here and should follow the great work by cities across the EU by laying down a guideline or set of recommendations on 30 km/h as the basic default speed in urban areas. That would set the bar for other regions in the world to follow.

The benefits are clear for all to see!