Pedestrians are 5.5 times at risk on speedy roads: Countries fixing speed limit of 32 km/h to reduce this

Road accidents are a major reason for untimely deaths in cities. To reduce these deaths, many countries in Europe, including Britain, are fixing a speed limit of 32 km/h in their cities. Queen's University in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, conducted a study to find out the effect of reducing the speed of vehicles.

In this study, data on road accidents, deaths, number of vehicles, and speed were analyzed on 76 roads before speed limits were implemented, one year after implementation, and three years later. These figures were compared with those of cities where the speed limit was not in force or was more than 32 km/h.

Reduction in accidents due to non-implementation of the speed limit

The results revealed a 15% reduction in vehicular collisions after three years. Accident casualties decreased by 16% after one year and by 22% after three years. The average traffic speed decreased by 0.3 kmph after one year and 1.4 kmph after three years. However, according to the researchers, this decrease is less than expected in terms of numbers.

The biggest improvement was seen in morning vehicular congestion. The risk to pedestrians increased by 3.5 to 5.5 times on roads with speed limits of 48 to 64 km/h compared to roads with speed limits of 32 to 48 km/h. Apart from a speed limit of 32 km/h, driver training, CCTV cameras, social awareness, speed watch, and police action is also necessary to control accidents.

Vision Zero plan to prevent accidents in New York

Vision Zero plan was implemented in New York, USA to prevent deaths and serious injuries in accidents. Under this, a speed limit of 40 km/h has been fixed for vehicles in the city. Earlier it was 48 km/hr.

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