School zones, city streets set for 30km/h under new speed limit rules

Traffic will be slowed to 30km/h around some schools and busy pedestrian areas, after the government quietly cemented it as a standard speed-zone option.

Though likely to trigger a backlash from some motorists, the implementation of 30km/h zones follows widespread use in Europe and the UK, where it has been credited with reducing road trauma among pedestrians and cyclists and drawn praise from road safety experts.

Transport Accident Commission data shows that 194 pedestrians and 58 cyclists were killed in Victoria and another 4798 were hospitalised in the five years to January 1.

Research shows a pedestrian hit by a car at 30km/h has a 90 per cent chance of surviving. That drops to a 60 per cent chance of survival if hit at 40km/h and only 10 per cent if hit at 50km/h.

In Victoria, 30km/h zones have operated only through a handful of trials run by local councils and the Department of Transport and Planning. Councils have said the trials are slow and difficult to receive government approval for.

The largest trial is in the City of Yarra, where almost every street in Fitzroy and Collingwood is now 30km/h.

But an updated Speed Zoning Policy quietly published by the Department of Transport and Planning this week cements 30km/h as a standard speed-zone option that councils and the state government can roll out in suitable areas.

The policy recommends a 30km/h limit in built-up areas where pedestrians frequently cross the road, including the main streets of Melbourne’s CBD, along busy shopping strips and near train stations.

A 30km/h limit is also proposed for school zones, but arterial roads next to schools will remain 40km/h during school zone hours.

“Active travel precincts” with a 30km/h limit can also apply across a 200-metre radius around schools, “enabling pick-up and drop-off to occur further away from the school gate and greater active transport participation from children”, the policy says.

Victoria Walks chief executive Sarah Pilgrim said she hoped local councils took the opportunity to roll out 30km/h limits in busy pedestrian areas, which would reduce the number and severity of crashes.

“It is a safer speed for children who walk and ride to school, and it also creates nicer neighbourhoods,” Pilgrim said. “The government has listened to the experts and the communities that have been calling for safer speeds, so this is a really positive outcome.”

Councils will still need to apply to the state government for authorisation to change the speed limit on their local roads. The transport department sets limits on state arterial roads.

Australasian College of Road Safety chief executive Ingrid Johnston said more communities were asking for 30km/h limits as the benefits became clear.

“It not only saves lives, it also reduces emissions, it reduces fuel consumption, it reduces noise. In Wales, where it was introduced countrywide, it has even reduced insurance premiums for motorists,” she said.

“You want to be able to have your local area where your kids can walk to school and ride their bike to the shops, and where someone who is elderly is able to cross a road.”

Johnston said experience overseas showed lower speed limits had a relatively small impact on travel times in cities, because motorists spent so much of their journeys stopped at traffic lights or behind other vehicles.

Under the new policy, a 40km/h limit can still apply on busy “activity streets” provided there is infrastructure such as raised pedestrian crossings and separated bicycle lanes to protect people from traffic.

City of Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly said he lived in Fitzroy’s 30km/h trial zone and was sceptical when it first started.

“But now I’m a convert. And speaking with other residents along these streets, I can tell you that they are all for it,” he said. “The only people who don’t seem to like it are those from outside Yarra who use our streets as rat runs for their commutes to and from work.”

A study published last year by the National Technical University of Athens examined 40 cities, including London, Paris and Brussels that implemented citywide 30km/h limits and found that, on average, they reduced crashes by 23 per cent, fatalities by 37 per cent, and injuries by 38 per cent.

Emissions also fell 18 per cent and noise pollution dropped 2.5 decibels on average in those cities, the study found.

The World Health Organisation recommends a 30km/h limit on urban streets where cars and pedestrians mix, and Infrastructure Victoria also called for 30km/h zones around schools and playgrounds in a report earlier this year.

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