Speed limits as low as 30km/h are likely to become commonplace in cities around the world if the recommendations of a road-safety Academic Experts Group (AEG) are adopted.
This was the view of AEG member, Prof Fred Wegman, who delivered a plenary address at the 39th Southern African Transport Conference under the theme Sustainable Transportation Through Enabling Partnerships.
The AEG report, titled Saving lives beyond 2020: the next steps, gave nine recommendations, including that “to protect vulnerable road users and achieve sustainability goals addressing liveable cities, health and security, we recommend that cities mandate a maximum road travel speed limit of 30km/h unless strong evidence exists that higher speeds are safe”.
The recommendations influenced a resolution on road safety adopted by the United Nations last year, proclaiming the second decade of road safety action from 2021-2030 and setting a target of reducing road deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030.
“As one of the cosponsors of the resolution, South Africa is expected to take the recommendations seriously and look into applying them over the coming decade,” Prof Wegman said.
He presented research from Australia showing the relationship between impact speed and the chance of being killed or injured in a crash.
“Basically, reducing impact speed in a crash significantly reduces passengers’ chances of being killed or injured,” he said.
The key to improving road safety was integrating it into sustainable development planning, and not subordinating it to other social needs, he added.
The 30km/h recommendation has already been widely adopted in countries such as The Netherlands, France and Spain.
“It has been highly successful in The Netherlands,” said Prof Wegman. “Already 80% of the road length has 30km/h speed limits, and that has helped to drive a serious shift in thinking about what speed limits are safe in urban settings.”
