25 December 2009

ACT Gov behind the times, again

| Sgt.Bungers
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A recent post about the ACT Gov considering 40km/h zones in pedestrian areas, stirred up a bit of debate about nannying.

http://the-riotact.com/?p=16220

Australian research shows that a person who is hit by a car at 60km/h, has a 75% chance of being killed. At 50km/h, 38%. At 40km/h <20%. At 30km/h, <10%. Yet many residential streets in the ACT still have 60km/h zones. We tell kids to stick to the footpath and nature strips… stay off the road… no worries… except many Canberrans have no dramas with illegally parking on foot paths and nature strips in order to keep the road clear. Forcing pedestrians, kids on bikes, people in wheelchairs, onto the road to go around their blocked path, is apparently not considered an issue, and less important than keeping their car off the road to enable people in cars to pass through at high speed?

Our CBD, naturally a pedestrian heavy area, still has pedestrian unfriendly roads with 60km/h speed limits (Northbourne, London Cct, Barry Drive, and particularly Marcus Clarke Street).

Meanwhile, the US has had 25mph (40km/h) residential streets for decades, and authorities in Europe and the UK are already implementing blanket 30km/h zones in residential streets. Melbourne CBD has had 30km/h streets for years, and the folk up in QLD have had 40km/h zones in Brisbane for some time… not bad considering they're generally stuck in the 70's in regards to everything else 🙂

In some European cities, the benefits found from returning the streets to pedestrians through blanket shared zones and removal of all traffic control devices, have been results of up to 95% decrease in fatalities, ~25% decrease in travel time for those who must drive, as well as local businesses doing better, given more people walking around means more people wandering into shops. (A typical design; think of Canberra’s city walk with just a little bit of clutter removed so cars may pass through slowly ie: Drivers travel at walking pace.) Major roads running near to major pedestrian areas are not converted to shared zones, however the ease for pedestrians to cross is considered and engineered into the road. A pedestrian having to wait more than 60 seconds for a light to change is considered unacceptable… a far cry from the up to 5-6 minutes, that is legally crossing Northbourne Ave using pedestrian signals. Imagine if a person in a car, the only vehicle on the road, attempting to traverse 100 metres, had to wait up to 6 minutes to legally do so due to traffic light timings… there would be uproar! Yet it is acceptable practice to make pedestrians wait this long in Canberra’s CBD?

My 2c: Do we need 40km/h zones on CBD streets? No… they should’ve been in place decades ago. We need education programs for everyone. Education is key. We need shared zones with a speed limit of walking pace in the CBD and high density housing areas. We need CBD roads to be ripped up and redesigned with pedestrian ease of access coming first, cyclists coming second, motor vehicle drivers coming third, given this is the most successful strategy at reducing road trauma worldwide. We need 50km/h zones on existing wider residential streets, and 30km/h zones on narrower back streets. We need penalties of several hundred dollars and points for endangering pedestrian lives by parking on the foot path, not the measly ~$80 fine that exists at the moment. In short the ACT needs a complete new way of thinking when it comes to road safety. Problems can’t be fixed using the same logic that created them.

The ACT Gov is attempting to get people out of their cars and onto their feet or onto bikes, good idea, the benefits of more exercise and less pollution are well known. IMHO, the first step should not have been to eliminate car parks and raise parking fees in the CBD, that has just bred resentment… the first step should have been to create a pleasant environment for pedestrians and cyclists at the expense of high speed for motorists. Not the setup that we currently have, where pedestrians and cyclists are considered a nuisance who shouldn’t be anywhere near a road.

More info on the worldwide push for 30km/h residential streets: http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/12/22/twentys-plenty/

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I’ve driven on roads without speed limits. It didn’t feel any different then any other highway I’ve ever driven down. I think that in areas with high numbers of non-car road users, speed limits are important so that everyone knows how fast car might be going, thus allowing them to judge when stepping in front. This isn’t the case on highways.

I doubt that changing the speed limits will achieve much; every day, on my morning/evening run I see young drivers hooning around suburban streets at around 80 – 90kms – especially the circuit streets around Fadden and Macarthur. So many young people have no regard for the potential to accidently kill a child, kill themselves or damage property – all acts that could potentially damage/change their young lives forever. I wish I could tell these kids about my cousin who was killed by driver in his suburban street at the age of seven – and the absolute ruination of the driver’s life afterwards (and the lives of my Uncle, Aunt and wider family). I think education and some hard-truth messages are the key – young drivers just don’t seem aware of the consequences of their ‘fun’ – maybe they feel bullet-proof in their youth?

Mordd said :

Frankly if everyone took more responsibility for their actions maybe we wouldn’t need speed limits, but seeing as we are talking aboutr infallible humans this really isn’t much of an argument is it?

Get serious, NOBODY is responsible for ANYTHING they do anymore, it’s ALWAYS someone elses fault (insert sarcasm icon).

We would still need speed limits, it’d be the speed cameras that would be reduntant.

Sgt.Bungers said:

“If every single road was built with an appropriate maximum speed in mind, people were taught to drive cars properly, rather than just pass a driving test, then we could have a blanket speed limit of Mach 1 across the entire country without any dramas, as nobody would travel faster than an appropriate speed for the conditions.”

The problem with your argument here is that it presumes every road driver knows the conditions of every road in Australia at all times, which is obviously ludicrous. The maximum speed limit is there to guide drivers who are not familiar with that area, among other reasons.

Let us not forget the speed limit is NOT the limit you have to sit at, our road rules already cover driving appropriate to the conditions, and you are legally required to drive slower on anything from a 60kmh road to a 110kmh zone if the conditions require it. The main problem in my opinion is people see a speed limit sign and think “I have to travel that fast, and if im not im getting ‘ripped off’ somehow”.

Frankly if everyone took more responsibility for their actions maybe we wouldn’t need speed limits, but seeing as we are talking aboutr infallible humans this really isn’t much of an argument is it? Frankly I agree with some of what you say Sgt.Bungers, but you really have gone overboard with this Mach 1 speed limit argument. Lets keep this discussion centred in reality not fantasy yeh?

Sgt.Bungers said :

People speed, therefore, it’s the fault of the road.

You’re either trolling or completely insane.

Palifox said :

Then a few years ago limits were dropped to 50kph to save lives. Now someone was wrong or lying in the 1960s and early 1970s or their successors were wrong or lying recently. This reduction coincided with the introduction of speed cameras which are a whole other controversy involving “donations” to political election funds and in at least two US states, charges of bribery or attempted bribery of politicians by speed camera makers.

Further fiddling with speed limits is likely to be counter-productive. Drivers are already confused by a plethora of different limits imposed here and there.

Couldn’t agree more. I hate the conflicting speed limits, poor speed limit signage in the ACT. The primary focus of my blog, http://capital-roads.blogspot.com, is outlining just how incompetent the ACT Government is at maintaing speed limit signage.

I also hate speed cameras. They are an admission from any road authority who uses them, that the road they have built was engineered and built to a standard that is inappropriate for the area it is in. Not to mention all Australian state/territory governments have come to rely on and even budget in advance for their revenue.

If every single road was built with an appropriate maximum speed in mind, people were taught to drive cars properly, rather than just pass a driving test, then we could have a blanket speed limit of Mach 1 across the entire country without any dramas, as nobody would travel faster than an appropriate speed for the conditions.

In the opinion of many experts overseas, an appropriate road in residential and commercial areas, is not actually a road. It is just a corridor of space that everyone must share. Kids are welcome to play in said space. People are welcome to walk unhindered. People are welcome to cycle on them at sensible speeds. People are welcome to drive on them at sensible speeds. Check out living streets on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_street. This is the setup that’s resulted in a massive decrease in road trauma.

My biggest gripe is that roads in residential and commercial areas, are almost considered the same as motorways. In Canberra, along with the rest of Australia, too many people think roads are for cars, nothing more. This attitude has developed through decades of roads being built wider and wider, speeds limits being raised higher and higher, roads becoming more and more dangerous and intimidating to pedestrians. This is beginning to change however, and motorists who are used to being kings of the road are not happy about being dethroned.

All that said however, I am only talking about residential and commercial areas. Suggest a 110km/h on the Parkway, 110km/h on the GDE when it’s finished, 120km/h on rural dual carriageways in NSW, and 130km/h on their freeways, and I’ll be one of the first to put my hand up in support.

30km/h on residential streets should be an interim step, until Canberra’s back streets are redesigned and rebuilt to be more pedestrian friendly whilst instead being more intimidating to motorists. Thus, there would no longer be any speed limit confusion, as no speed limit would be required.

Anna Key said :

This is typical anti-ALP propoganda from Liberal party stooges, or are stories and comments only partisan if the criticise the Libs???

Political parties didn’t even cross my mind when posting my OP. I can guarantee that the Libs would not have implemented such zones either. The ACT, along with the rest of Australia, needs to catch up with the success that the rest of the world is having whilst thinking outside the box regarding road safety.

JC said :

The UK is 30MPH not 30km/h. As for our streets and your melodrama, sure some residential streets have 60km/h limits, but these are generally the main suburban roads that do have good footpaths where the issues you raise above are not of concern. The smaller suburban streets are 50km/h which is good enough.

The UK had been 30MPH for decades yes, however 20MPH zones are now becoming the norm. 20MPH = 30km/h.

JC said :

As for the CBD you mention roads like Marcus Clarke, Northborne, Barry Drive and London circuit. well unless I am mistaken the only time pedestrians come in contact with the road is when crossing it, controlled by lights. You don’t need 50km/h in these situations. You compare to other cities such as Brisbane and Melbourne, if you have ever been to these places you would see the roads are different, there are more people so a lower figure may well be sensible. It doesn’t mean it should be the case here.

If you’ve ever traversed Marcus Clarke Street during peak periods, you would know that pedestrians are *everywhere*. Not just at traffic lights. Pedestrians are required to use pedestrian crossing facilities only if they are within 20 metres. Otherwise they may cross the road anywhere, and they do.

The problem with expecting pedestrians to only cross at lights on any road, is that it creates a more certain and comfortable road environment for motor vehicle drivers. Comfortable environment = higher speed. Higher speed = more serious trauma when something out of the ordinary happens. Hence why converting entire networks of CBD streets to shared zones has been so successful overseas. Pedestrians meandering all over the road is no longer out of the ordinary. High speed is not comfortable for motor vehicle drivers, so people in cars naturally slow to a crawl.

JC said :

You also seem to ignore that many roads in the ACT with a 60km/h limit in Sydney for example would have a 70km/h limit. You also forgot one stat. Vehicles moving at 0km/h produce 0 fatalities and injury’s. Maybe we should aim for this figure rather than 40 or 30 as you suggested.

You’re quite right about the 0km/h would = 0 fatalities, but it’s hardly practical is it 🙂 However 5km/h, for short 100-200 metre distances in high pedestrian areas however, is hardly an unreasonable request, particularly given the chance of a fatality or even injury at that speed is near zero.

I’m not sure which 70km/h streets you’re referring to in Sydney. In my experience up there, 70km/h streets are on main arterial roads. 50km/h applies on almost all residential streets, even on wider ones. It is worth noting however that international experts regarding pedestrian friendly roads slammed Sydney a few years ago, for having such a pedestrian unfriendly road network. Perhaps my original post should’ve been Australia is behind the times?

The ACT does have the interesting practice of implementing 60km/h zones on wider residential streets, that should really be of a lower speed. Then implementing 60km/h on sections of wide spacious arterial roads with no private entrances… and enforcing that limit with speed cameras. Never been to sure about ACT GovCo’s priorities.

Palifox said :

“except many Canberrans have no dramas with illegally parking on foot paths and nature strips in order to keep the road clear. Forcing pedestrians, kids on bikes, people in wheelchairs, onto the road to go around their blocked path, is apparently not considered an issue”

You could park an ACTION bus fully on the footpaths / nature strips in this suburb and not inconvenience anyone. Most pedestrians walk on the carriageway in any case, and even those who do use the nature strip/ footpath could easily walk around the bus. Wheelchairs could not use the drought stricken grass as a surface, they need paved areas for ease of use.

A few years ago I reviewed the causes of death of those killed on ACT roads in the previous year. If I recall correctly there was one pedestrian death in Civic, the tragedy of the young woman struck by a stolen car which was being chased by police. Two others outside Civic appeared to be of recent arrivals from countries with traffic on the right and they stepped in front of cars because they looked the wrong way. A fourth was of an elderly man carrying shopping across a multilane road at night, not on a pedestrian crossing.

No reduction of speed limits would have made the slightest difference in these deaths.

I am old enough to remember town speed limits being INCREASED from 48.4 to 56.5 kph (30 to 35 mph) about 1964. This was an Australia wide move to get uniform national speed limits. At the time, we were told that no extra fatalities were expected. Some years later, town limits were increased again to 60kph (metrication) and again we were told that no extra fatalities were expected.

Then a few years ago limits were dropped to 50kph to save lives. Now someone was wrong or lying in the 1960s and early 1970s or their successors were wrong or lying recently. This reduction coincided with the introduction of speed cameras which are a whole other controversy involving “donations” to political election funds and in at least two US states, charges of bribery or attempted bribery of politicians by speed camera makers.

Further fiddling with speed limits is likely to be counter-productive. Drivers are already confused by a plethora of different limits imposed here and there.

The ‘slight’ increase in road users since the good ol’ days may have something to do with the increase of fatalities.

But I have to agree, changing speed limits again will only confuse many drivers who are already confused the moment they get behind the wheel. Driver training is the answer, not more rules and nannying

georgesgenitals11:40 pm 02 Jan 10

vg said :

“Australian research shows that a person who is hit by a car at 60km/h, has a 75% chance of being killed. At 50km/h, 38%. At 40km/h <20%. At 30km/h, <10%."

Statistics composed by people who've never visited a fatal accident site in their lives

So I guess we better make these decisions using emotion rather than science then.

“except many Canberrans have no dramas with illegally parking on foot paths and nature strips in order to keep the road clear. Forcing pedestrians, kids on bikes, people in wheelchairs, onto the road to go around their blocked path, is apparently not considered an issue”

You could park an ACTION bus fully on the footpaths / nature strips in this suburb and not inconvenience anyone. Most pedestrians walk on the carriageway in any case, and even those who do use the nature strip/ footpath could easily walk around the bus. Wheelchairs could not use the drought stricken grass as a surface, they need paved areas for ease of use.

A few years ago I reviewed the causes of death of those killed on ACT roads in the previous year. If I recall correctly there was one pedestrian death in Civic, the tragedy of the young woman struck by a stolen car which was being chased by police. Two others outside Civic appeared to be of recent arrivals from countries with traffic on the right and they stepped in front of cars because they looked the wrong way. A fourth was of an elderly man carrying shopping across a multilane road at night, not on a pedestrian crossing.

No reduction of speed limits would have made the slightest difference in these deaths.

I am old enough to remember town speed limits being INCREASED from 48.4 to 56.5 kph (30 to 35 mph) about 1964. This was an Australia wide move to get uniform national speed limits. At the time, we were told that no extra fatalities were expected. Some years later, town limits were increased again to 60kph (metrication) and again we were told that no extra fatalities were expected.

Then a few years ago limits were dropped to 50kph to save lives. Now someone was wrong or lying in the 1960s and early 1970s or their successors were wrong or lying recently. This reduction coincided with the introduction of speed cameras which are a whole other controversy involving “donations” to political election funds and in at least two US states, charges of bribery or attempted bribery of politicians by speed camera makers.

Further fiddling with speed limits is likely to be counter-productive. Drivers are already confused by a plethora of different limits imposed here and there.

georgesgenitals5:59 pm 28 Dec 09

Ridiculous. What we need is drivers who are better trained, including in attitude. As it is we have this stupid notion that if you are’t speeding you are ‘safe’, which too many people actually believe.

And as well as having requirements for vehicles to look out for pedestrians, some road sense for pedestrians wouldn’t go astray either. A lot of people these days seem to think it’s fine to amble across the road, without right of way, when there’s traffic bearing down on them.

Education and brains, people. Anything else is Darwin at work…

30km/h in the Melbourne CBD? WHERE? There is not a blanket 30km/h speed limit. It is 50km/h like in the suburban streets of Canberra. Granted in *some* streets it is 40km/h.

The Adelaide City Council is wondering why the Rundle Mall shopping centre is losing out to suburban malls. May I suggest that in the CBD of Adelaide, the reduction of speed limits with added revenue from speed cameras, the dodging the hated trams, and the high cost of city parking is putting many people off from visiting the CBD?

Knock knock peoples.

I support this idea 100% on the basis that canberran drivers are so comfortable with a good road system and so willing to break the rules anyway when they think it is safe, that the only way to get most people to drive at 60 is to make the limit 40, so im for this idea 100%.

40km/h is fine for most suburban roads. By the time you are off the 60/80km/h intersuburban or the 60km/h intra suburban routes you are seconds away from your destination (either that or you’re rat running). 40km/h makes little difference compared to 50km/h over the very short distance at the beginning or end of every journey.

This is typical anti-ALP propoganda from Liberal party stooges, or are stories and comments only partisan if the criticise the Libs???

The UK is 30MPH not 30km/h. As for our streets and your melodrama, sure some residential streets have 60km/h limits, but these are generally the main suburban roads that do have good footpaths where the issues you raise above are not of concern. The smaller suburban streets are 50km/h which is good enough.

As for the CBD you mention roads like Marcus Clarke, Northborne, Barry Drive and London circuit. well unless I am mistaken the only time pedestrians come in contact with the road is when crossing it, controlled by lights. You don’t need 50km/h in these situations. You compare to other cities such as Brisbane and Melbourne, if you have ever been to these places you would see the roads are different, there are more people so a lower figure may well be sensible. It doesn’t mean it should be the case here.

You also seem to ignore that many roads in the ACT with a 60km/h limit in Sydney for example would have a 70km/h limit. You also forgot one stat. Vehicles moving at 0km/h produce 0 fatalities and injury’s. Maybe we should aim for this figure rather than 40 or 30 as you suggested.

In peak hours the traffic on most of those roads in the CBD area is unlikely to reach speeds greater than 40/50kph due to to being gridlock. Lowering the speed limits in these areas would more than likely cause more traffic chaos rather than anything else, which wouldn’t make it much safer for any users.

The speed limits are only as useful as the systems that enforce them. And in the ACT there are none. The 40km/h limits around Canberra are not enforced and as a result no one obeys them, as you can see at the roadworks at Russell and the Airport.

And the odd fixed speed camera or speed camera van in the same place on the same road at the same time of day is not enforcement. It is an absolute minimum effort that does not achieve the aim. And fixed speed cameras just create a boom and bust culture amongst the self-centered peanuts who seem to be the majority of ACT drivers, as anyone who drives on the Tuggeranong Parkway would have seen.

Fix the problem of nil to no speed enforcement (well road rule enforcement as a whole) and you’ll most likely see the need for lower speeds around shopping centers etc go away…

Oops I forgot double the road deaths occurs because of suicide. Staying at home is not safe either. Nogod how do we stop people getting hit with the bell. Bicycles and maybe runners can do more than 25 Kph so perhaps we can create a new income stream by fining them for excessive speed.

I remember when the 50kph limit was being imposed there was a study done by the NSW RTA put about. It said that by imposing it a 10% reduction would be achieved. The same paper had a study on the actual speed reduction after 6 months. Before was I think 62Kph after 61Kph. So for 1Kph we get 10%. From 60 to 25 we have 35 that is 350%. So it can not be done lots of people would come back to life and then we would have an unmangeable zombie problem.

Just imagine what we could do to the road toll if we get people to walk in front of the cars ringing a bell. Then we’d have progress.

Places like civic should just be re-designed to better accommodate both cars and pedestrians.. it should be convenient to go past or into civic in a car, and once you get out you shouldn’t have to really cross any roads.
(but I guess it would be all too expensive to achieve this from what we’ve currently got to work with, and there’s no pioneering spirit, just backwards thinking..)

Good idea but just does not go far enough. Lets ban cars all together and remove the roads. Further a law stopping people leaving their houses would do much to lower the number of deaths.

50km/h in ALL city and suburban streets over all of Europe (except feeders, then 60km/h) and 30km/h in pedestrian and school zones. Oh, and pedestrians have right of way crossing an intersection or drive way too. Works fine there!

Felix the Cat9:37 pm 25 Dec 09

Not sure how this would work but I think the speed limit on certain roads such as Northbourne Ave and Barry Dr (not all of it, just the bits near Civic/ANU) need to be lowered during peak hour and left how they are outside of these times.

Civic and Braddon CBD should be 40km/h definitely during weekdays and consider maybe weekends as well.

Pedestrians and in particular cyclists need to be educated on what red crossing lights are for and the cops need to fine people who walk/ride against the red light, same as they do for motorists. You see so many pedestrians and cyclists have near misses with cars because of their own stupidity/impatience.

“Australian research shows that a person who is hit by a car at 60km/h, has a 75% chance of being killed. At 50km/h, 38%. At 40km/h <20%. At 30km/h, <10%."

Statistics composed by people who've never visited a fatal accident site in their lives

Yet another WOFTAM.

There is a point of diminishing returns, you cannot, will not and never can prevent every death.

Yet if the 30 kph speed limit came in, someone would turn around and say it should be 20.

We have hardly any road deaths in this territory, although we can’t see what they are per posted speed limit as for some reason that isn’t reported (which is kind of silly).

The wider streets you want to make 50, they are feeder roads, you don’t want to make them slower, make them slower and you’ll end up with more drivers ignoring the speed limit.

30 for a normal street would become very irritating for the people who live there.

Quite frankly go for a drive around the suburbs and count how many kids you see, usually there are none.

I would have no objection to turning Bunda street into a joint use zone as it suits the area, It might be advantageous to make it one way at the same time. Northbourne, London circuit, Cooyong st etc have no need to be 40 zones.

Just out of interest how many pedestrians have been killed on Canberra’s 60km/hr streets? And not the couple that from memory have been killed because they were sleeping on the roads pissed. I think there was one like that in Red Hill a couple of years back.

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