Go-slow Sydney drops to a 40km/h crawl to halt alarming rise in pedestrian deaths
DRIVERS will be restricted to just 40km/h outside train stations, shopping strips and hospitals in a bid to tackle the state’s horror road toll. IS YOUR AREA ONE OF THE FIRST TO GO SLOW?
NSW
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DRIVERS will be restricted to just 40km/h outside train stations, shopping strips and hospitals to tackle the state’s horror road toll.
The low-speed zones will be rolled out across Sydney in busy, congested streets where pedestrians are at greater risk of being hit by a car.
The Sunday Telegraph has learned the measures are part of a record $1.9 billion spend on road safety over the next five years to be included in next week’s state Budget.
Mobile drug testing will also be increased, along with major upgrades to country roads.
Campbelltown, Seven Hills, Mosman and Milsons Point will be some of the first suburbs to go slow with 40km/h zones introduced at bus interchanges, train stations and around retail precincts.
Pedestrian deaths are at alarming levels, with 31 people killed in NSW this year — 10 more than the same time last year.
Roads Minister Melinda Pavey said the tough measures would keep pedestrians safe.
“We see a lot of issues around high traffic areas — shopping centres, hospitals — and we want stronger focus there,” Ms Pavey said.
“They won’t be coming just out of the blue. We still have to work with local traffic committees.
“We don’t do it to be mean, we do it because we care and we want us all to be better and to realise having your hands on the wheel can be a deadly weapon if you don’t respect it.”
Ms Pavey said revenue raised from speeding fines in the new 40km/h zones would be ploughed back into the “road safety bucket”.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said: “I think it’s absolutely crucial there’s adequate education provided to the community about the fact that these speed limits are now being introduced.
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“In addition to that, we want the government to monitor the impact that it’s going to have on traffic flow because you don’t want to be adding to congestion.”
Schools already have 40km/h zones between 8am and 9.30am and from 2.30pm to 4pm.
Slower speed limits have been shown to reduce pedestrian deaths.
An evaluation of roads where 40km/h limits were introduced between 2005 and 2015 found the number of car crashes causing serious injury or death fell by a third.
Next week’s big budget spend includes an additional $600 million to enforce the government’s road safety blitz, which will target speeding and drink-driving, and boost police numbers.
Roadside drug testing will also be expanded across the state with $1.4 million allocated for 30,000 new MDT kits.
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Ms Pavey said: “You just can’t run the gauntlet of thinking you can continue to get away with it.
“Too many people that lie in morgues or cause other people to lie in morgues have illicit drugs in their system.”
It comes after road carnage during the Christmas holiday period claimed 28 victims, including former Home And Away actor Jessica Falkholt, her parents and her younger sister Jessica (pictured left).
Already this year 155 people have died in road accidents, an increase of five on the same time last year. The latest fatality occurred on Friday night at Lucas Heights after a head-on collision.
The latest report by the Australian Automobile Association highlighted the number of road deaths in NSW in the year to March.
It is higher now than when the National Road Safety Strategy was introduced in 2011.