Slowing down for road safety

Slowing down can help boost road safety.
By MJ Woof November 30, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Reducing speeds will help reduce the incidence of road crashes – image © courtesy of Tom Schwimmbeck
A new study carried out by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) shows that increasing vehicle speeds by 1% increases the incidence of crashes. The study shows that a 1% jump in speeds boosts the incidence of crashes involving serious injuries by 3% and fatal crashes by 4%.

Despite this risk, some 54% of UK drivers questioned for the survey have admitted speeding in 50km/h (30mph) zones.

To reduce the incidence of crashes, TRL is calling for a change in speed limits in urban areas with a switch to 30km/h (20mph) limits being introduced, particularly in high density areas. TRL says that this low level speeding can be risky as with high level speeding.

Reducing urban speed limits would assist in promoting active travel in urban areas according to TRL, with a boost for public health and a reduction in urban pollution from traffic emissions.
Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

TRL

Related Content

  • Road safety changes for 2022 in Europe
    January 20, 2023
    Road safety changes have been seen for 2022 in Europe.
    Read More
  • World road safety status hits plateau
    May 27, 2016
    The World Health Organisation has published a new report on road safety during 2015. Its global status report uses information from 180 countries and indicates that the total number of road traffic deaths has plateaued at 1.25 million/year worldwide. The annual global road fatality rate has remained roughly the same since 2007, a point worth noting considering growing vehicle numbers around the globe. Low income countries remain those of most concern for this report as in previous years. But some progress i
    Read More
  • Road safety concepts aimed at developing nations
    October 31, 2012
    In this second of a two-part interview, Rohit Baluja introduces the work of the Delhi-based Institute of Road Traffic Education that he established in 1991 by way of practical response to the particular challenges of road safety in a developing world context Despite the alarming trends outlined in the first part of this article (World Highways: Vol.21, Issue No.6), Rohit Baluja remains optimistic that, if only the proper foundations of traffic management systems can be established, there is no reason why dr
    Read More
  • Cannabis use has negative effects on driving ability
    September 25, 2019
    Smoking a single cigarette containing cannabis can lengthen reaction times by 17-20%, while the effects can last for up to 13 hours. That is the result of research carried out in France.
    Read More

Highlighted Content