Manly: Poll reveals drivers are unhappy with new 30 km/h limit
Drivers have revealed they are not impressed with the new 30 km/h speed restrictions in Manly, although supporters say it could save a life. See the poll results here.
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A Manly Daily poll has found that 67 per cent of people are against the new 30km/h speed limit around Manly.
The reduced speed restrictions were brought in earlier this month and start from Queenscliff bridge all the way along the oceanfront to Manly and within the town’s CBD.
The new speed limit is currently being trialled to see whether it reduces the number of accidents along that stretch.
However, the Manly Daily’s 24-hour Facebook poll attracted 737 votes and many comments across Facebook and Instagram, mostly voicing their unhappiness at the move.
One person on Instagram @thisholidaysucks said they set their cruise control to 30km/h coming along the beach and “was overtaken by 6 people on bikes and an old bloke in a motorised cart decked out with fishing rods. It’s beyond slow.”
While @paddydpics on Instagram said a pedestrian is more at risk of “getting skittled on the shared walkway along the beachfront”.
Others suggested tougher measures should be taken out against pedestrians and cyclists who don’t abide by the rules.
Diane Elizabeth Cowley commented on Facebook that while the 30km/h may be safer for everyone which is good, there are rules for pedestrians and cycle riders which are often ignored.
“Pedestrians and cyclists are supposed to stop and look first at a pedestrian crossing,” she wrote. “Sometimes they ride or run out of nowhere, taking no responsibility for themselves. It should work both ways.”
Meanwhile, Casper Matthews called for cyclists to be ticketed too.
“I was at 30km the other day and was being overtaken on the left by a group cyclists,” she wrote on Facebook.
“Also there has been an increase in the area of people on cycles with no helmets.”
Candy Bingham, a councillor for Manly said most cars end up going at around 30 km/h through most of Manly anyway, and the speed reduction only amounted to an extra 30 seconds or so on someone’s journey.
However, she said it could save a life.
“If someone is hit at 30 rather than 40 km/h it makes an enormous difference,” she said.
“That’s the key.
“People don’t appreciate that people are getting hit or appreciate that more people walk in this area.”
In the most recent five years to 30 September 2019, there has been a total of 73 crashes within the new Manly 30km/h area, resulting in 62 people being injured, 34 per cent of these crashes involved a pedestrian and 11 per cent involved a cyclist.
Cr Bingham said Manly was the first suburb to pedestrianise its main street, along the Corso and said the suburb had always been innovative in this area.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said the new speed limits were permanent contrary to the perception it is being trialled.
He added that pedestrians have a higher risk of dying at higher crash impact speeds, with the fatality risk at 50 km/h being more than twice as high as the risk at 40km/h and more than five times higher than the risk at 30 km/h.
Studies also indicate that a 1km/h decrease in travelling speed would lead to a two to three per cent reduction in road crashes.
A reduction to 30 km/h will reduce trauma for all road users included vehicle occupants, motorcycle riders, bicycle riders and pedestrians.