Safe-Street Neighbourhoods: The Role of Lower Speed Limits

Abstract

Neighbourhood streets play a vital role in making places liveable. Rather than seeing them as simply transport corridors for cars, they are important places for walking, cycling, social interactions and even playful exploration by local children. This paper argues that neighbourhood streets provide a valuable focus for a road safety intervention that is low cost and yet promises considerable benefits for road safety, neighbourhood amenity, public health and the community at large. While there is likely to be opposition to the introduction of lower speed limits in local neighbourhood streets, this paper provides evidence that such opposition is not justified. Lower speed limits in residential streets provide an important new strategy for achieving continued reductions in injury rates from road crashes in Australia. Current trials of 30km/h traffic calmed Bicycle Boulevards in Perth are already showing early signs of general community support, while such trials in Adelaide and Melbourne are imminent.