Lower speed limits the key to a living city
Issued: 05 Feabhra 2010
Statement by Ciarán Cuffe
Cuffe accuses Labour Party and Fine Gael of back-tracking on speed limits
The Green Party has accused the Labour Party and Fine Gael of back-tracking on their support for new lower speed limits in central Dublin.
Green Party Transport Spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD said:“I am disappointed that yesterday Eamon Gilmore put on record his opposition to the new 30 kph speed limit in central Dublin. Fine Gael councillors are also attempting to rescind their decision to introduce lower speed limits.
“This measure will improve the quality of life for all, and it will save lives. City centre casualties contribute significantly to road fatalities compared to suburban and rural roads.
“Figures are available for traffic accidents in the 30 kph zone in Dublin City Centre for the years up to 2007. Over a fifteen year period forty-nine people lost their lives, almost three hundred were seriously injured and over three thousand suffered minor injuries. These numbers are significant. The good news is that accident rates have fallen in recent years. However in the five years leading up to 2007 all eight fatalities in the city centre were pedestrians, as were almost half of the hundreds of people injured.
“Clearly the 30 kph zone is long overdue, as we know that speed kills. At 50 kph a pedestrian hit by a car has a 45% chance of dying; at 30 kph they have a 95% survival rate.
“However the argument for lower speed limits goes further than safety. What kinds of towns and cities do we desire? I want a city where I can have a conversation on the street without having to shout over speeding traffic, and where children, tourists, older people, shoppers and residents can feel safer and at ease in their surroundings.
“The new speed limit has already been in place in the centre of Dún Laoghaire for over a month and has worked well. I am sure that it will also work well in Dublin city centre.”