30kph speed limit on urban roads suggested to reduce pedestrian accidents - Android

The suggestion was made by urban planner and transport expert Robert Siy at Move As One Coalition during the media forum conducted by the Department of Health (DOH) last Tuesday.

As per Siy, the 30Kph speed limit can bring “dramatic results” in lowering injuries or deaths among those on the road.

The expert said that one of the key strategies that other countries use is to implement speed limits.

In the Safer Urban Speed Limits report of Victoria Walks from Australia, pedestrians who are hit by a vehicle moving at 50kph have a 20% chance of dying, while those hit by cars at 80kph have a 60% chance of dying.

With that, Siy said that accident fatality would be “much, much lower, but it rises very fast with speed.”

To implement this, Siy suggests that roads should be designed so that vehicles will naturally slow down — apart from putting signs announcing the 30kph speed limit.

This means that roads should have speed humps, curves, and speed tables.

Siy also highlighted that those who drive vehicles and design and manage the roads have a heavy responsibility for pedestrian safety.

Motorcycles and passenger cars have 80kph maximum allowable speed in open country roads, while larger vehicles such as trucks and buses should max out at 50kph. That’s under the Republic Act 4136, also known as the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.

Passenger cars and motorcycles can drive 40kph on streets or boulevards, 30kph on municipal and city streets, and 20kph in crowded streets. Trucks and buses should be at 30kph in streets, boulevards, cities, municipal streets, and 20kph in crowded areas.

However, the DOT, DPWH, and DILG issued a Joint Memorandum Circular 2018-001 in 2018 that gives LGUs standards and guidelines on setting speed limits, road crash data collection, and road classification.

This gives Sangguniang Panglungsod or Sangguniang Bayan the right to enact a speed limit ordinance on their local areas.

Via: Inquirer

This article, 30kph speed limit on urban roads suggested to reduce pedestrian accidents, was originally published at NoypiGeeks | Philippines Technology News, Reviews and How to's.