Belfast (Commonwealth Union) – Speed limit violations together with the lack of sleep while driving and drunk driving, have been key traffic violations in focus by governments across the world. Penalties in relation to these violations vary according to the country, regional areas and local municipal governments.
A 3-year study of a major UK city has demonstrated that limiting speed to 20mph in towns and city centers does not appear to lower road traffic collisions, casualties, or driver speed. Professor Ruth Hunter from the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast led the study, which however found that the scheme does seem to be linked to a significant minimization of the traffic volume.
The whole objective of traffic speed reduction in urban areas is to reduce road traffic collisions and the intensity of associated casualties. Traffic speeds of 30–40 mph, can make the possibility of pedestrian fatalities 3.5–5.5 times higher than at speeds of 20–30 mph. Schemes to minimize road traffic speed to 20 mph, or the equivalent 30 km per hour, have become significantly common in the UK and certain parts of Europe, but no proof of their effectiveness, as prior studies generated mixed results, with lesser coverage of longer-term outcomes, according to the studies.
Evaluation of these issues in greater depth had the researchers draw on routinely gathered data for road traffic collisions, casualties, driver speed and traffic volume for the city of Belfast, the Northern Ireland capital prior to1 and 3 years after 20 mph speed limit implementation in 2016 across 76 streets in the city center. The findings were then contrasted with those in city center streets with no limitations, and streets in the surrounding metropolitan area together with similar streets in other parts of Northern Ireland that had all retained their speed limits to 30-40 mph.
