Reducing the number of people who lose their lives on our roads remains one of the greatest challenges facing us as a community. In 1998, the New South Wales Government took a major step in combating our biggest killer – speed – by inviting local councils throughout the state to join us in reducing the speed limit on urban streets to 50 km/h. Initially there were some doubts about just how effective this initiative would be, however, nearly two years on it has become one of the most outstanding achievements in improving road safety since the introduction of random breath testing. Currently 111 councils and a community within the unincorporated area are involved with the RTA in the 50 km/h urban speed limit initiative and more are implementing the lowered limit all the time. This evaluation report shows that for the 21-month evaluation period there was a 25 per cent reduction in the risk of having an accident on streets zoned at 50 km/h. This is the equivalent of 262 fewer accidents on these streets and represents a cost saving to the community of $6.5 million. (A)
Samenvatting