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Speed in a high-speed society

Hydén, Christer LU (2020) In International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion 27(1). p.44-50
Abstract

Speed control is the most important aspect of promoting road safety world-wide. The question is how are speeds developing? The European Transport Safety Council concludes: There is little progress on reducing speeds in Europe. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the US and Australia. Attitude surveys show that people’s answers are not very consistent and represent statements without any strong bearing on norms or behaviour. Many factors are ‘pro-speed’: higher performance vehicles, more comfort, media coverage, etc. Enforcement, particularly with cameras and with section control is efficient, but the scale of adoption is too small. Traffic calming is efficient in cities, but the most obvious measure is one that makes it impossible to... (More)

Speed control is the most important aspect of promoting road safety world-wide. The question is how are speeds developing? The European Transport Safety Council concludes: There is little progress on reducing speeds in Europe. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the US and Australia. Attitude surveys show that people’s answers are not very consistent and represent statements without any strong bearing on norms or behaviour. Many factors are ‘pro-speed’: higher performance vehicles, more comfort, media coverage, etc. Enforcement, particularly with cameras and with section control is efficient, but the scale of adoption is too small. Traffic calming is efficient in cities, but the most obvious measure is one that makes it impossible to drive faster than the speed limit. During the last 30 years, a few trials have taken place which are promising; speeds at or below the speed limit, improved behaviour, and attitudes. The predicted effect is a reduction of up to 50% of fatalities in a regulation-driven scenario and a benefit to cost ratio of 3.5 to 4.8. It is time for authorities to see to it that lower speeds with the help of efficient vehicle-based solutions becomes part of the agenda.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
speed campaigns, Speed enforcement, speed limiter, traffic calming
in
International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion
volume
27
issue
1
pages
7 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • pmid:31656123
  • scopus:85074584350
ISSN
1745-7300
DOI
10.1080/17457300.2019.1680566
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e1226414-b3b9-4617-98aa-68623c4af10b
date added to LUP
2019-11-22 09:53:30
date last changed
2024-07-24 09:32:07
@article{e1226414-b3b9-4617-98aa-68623c4af10b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Speed control is the most important aspect of promoting road safety world-wide. The question is how are speeds developing? The European Transport Safety Council concludes: There is little progress on reducing speeds in Europe. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the US and Australia. Attitude surveys show that people’s answers are not very consistent and represent statements without any strong bearing on norms or behaviour. Many factors are ‘pro-speed’: higher performance vehicles, more comfort, media coverage, etc. Enforcement, particularly with cameras and with section control is efficient, but the scale of adoption is too small. Traffic calming is efficient in cities, but the most obvious measure is one that makes it impossible to drive faster than the speed limit. During the last 30 years, a few trials have taken place which are promising; speeds at or below the speed limit, improved behaviour, and attitudes. The predicted effect is a reduction of up to 50% of fatalities in a regulation-driven scenario and a benefit to cost ratio of 3.5 to 4.8. It is time for authorities to see to it that lower speeds with the help of efficient vehicle-based solutions becomes part of the agenda.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hydén, Christer}},
  issn         = {{1745-7300}},
  keywords     = {{speed campaigns; Speed enforcement; speed limiter; traffic calming}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{44--50}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion}},
  title        = {{Speed in a high-speed society}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17457300.2019.1680566}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/17457300.2019.1680566}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}