Stonnington Council proposal to put the brakes on motorists

MOTORISTS could be forced to drive at speeds of just 20km/h if an inner city council’s plans get the green light.

STONNINGTON Council could reduce speed limits to as low as 20km/h under new plans to abolish the road death toll.

The proposal to drop speeds to between 20-30km/h along local roads was floated in the council’s draft Towards Zero Road Safety Strategy report, with public consultation finishing last month.

Motorists have already had to drop their speed to 40km/h in parts of South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor and Toorak since 2012, and the current plans to drop limits even further has been met with fierce criticism.

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The council has yet to nominate the areas it might trial the lower speed zones.

South Yarra resident Malcolm Brown wrote in his submission to the council that dropping the speed limit further would do little to diminish the crash rate.

Instead, he feared the slower speeds could encourage pedestrians to weave between moving cars or drivers to pull out into slow-moving traffic.

Prahran Highway Patrol Senior Sergeant Darryl Macintire said while the lower speeds could reduce the severity of injuries if an accident occurred, enforcing the new speed limits could prove “problematic”.

RACV spokesman Dave Jones said speed humps and traffic islands would be more effective than lowering the speed limit.

“Speed limits need to match the look and feel of the street,” Mr Jones said.

“Without that, average speeds will be higher and constant police enforcement may be necessary.”

Council chief executive Warren Roberts said research showed reducing the speed limit to 30km/h or under lowered the risk of serious injury and death.

“At this stage this is a recommendation only,” Mr Roberts said.

“The draft strategy is yet to be adopted by (the) council, and no decision has been made to trial a 20-30km/h limit in any location.”

There were 10 fatalities and 632 serious injuries on Stonnington roads in the five years to June 2016.

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