Thirty people would save lives in Prague. Is this a negligible argument?
The reasons are strong, now you still find the courage to start talking about them in public. Enforce it. Make the city a place for people, not cars.
I’ve already written about the introduction of mandatory thirty on most streets in Prague and other cities multiple times. And I admit that the reactions were quite overwhelming (but not all), either doubting my common sense or outright hostile and hateful. At the same time, there are a number of compelling reasons for reducing speed, which he wrote about, for example List Messages Peter Bednar, an architect and urban planner who studied and worked in the USA, the Netherlands and China, focuses mainly on urban planning, landscape and public space.
As I ride my bike around Prague, I follow more places where thirty should be a matter of course. Wherever there are residential areas (but they are not marked as “residential zones” where the maximum speed limit of 20 kilometers is worth an hour), on the roadside thousands of parked cars, whenever a child or an adult can run there (one for me exactly this is how he literally jumped under the bike in Karlín). In fact, wherever they live densely. I live in Břevnov. ) is out of the question (but in Berlin they have already started to allow children to do so).
I was very pleased when Transport Research Center (CDV) issued a comprehensive report on 1 November: Paris has introduced a speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour on most of its roads. For security and noise. AGAINST Paris this major restriction came into force on 30 August this year. The CDV report pleased me because it does not correspond at all to the “Czech mood”, ie the idea that cars must no longer be restricted, cars are our right, our freedom, our tin self.
The CDV states that the motivation for the introduction of compulsory thirties has become “the protection of vulnerable road users and the reduction of noise”, and of course mentions the enlightened mayor of Paris Anna Hidalgo, which transforms Paris to serve not cars, but people, pedestrians, cyclists and other alternative ways of moving from place to place. Hidalgo’s previous activities are mentioned, thanks to which more bicycle paths have been added in Paris, “cars have disappeared from the waterfront and zones with a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour have spread to 60 percent of Paris’s roads. However, the new 30-kilometer speed has become the norm, from which only some key arteries are excluded – for example, the Périphérique or the Champs-Elysées. ”
Let’s imagine it here, in the Czech capital. The first carbol, the speed limit in Prague depends on the decision of the individual city districts, of which there are fifty-seven. Mayor Hřib, the municipality, cannot order it. And it is certain that not all 57 would be in favor, because Prague is still a city, no one leads the locals not to be one. Speed doesn’t slow down even where a normal driver just can’t drive a fifty (but many abnormal ones go even better).
59 percent of Parisians are in their thirties
Another problem (I suppose) would be Czech politics. (We saw her lobbying against the mandatory safe distance of the overtaken cyclist of 1.5 meters, which in the end miraculously passed.) The police are still primarily autopolicius. (Recently, Councilor Adam Scheinherr described to me how the local police in Prague 8 vehemently rejected quite minor changes that helped pedestrians and cyclists in Povltavská Street.)
This is not the end, a huge number of people drive to Prague for work or for other reasons (shopping, doctor, culture, etc.). go to see under Strahov, for example). Most commuters will certainly not support the established thirty. And the well-known fact that it is often not possible to drive in the 1930s does not change anything.
There is no campaign, and it would not have to be a campaign in the early thirties, but rather in Prague for people, a less noisy and safer Prague. What is fascinating is that in Paris, 59 percent of its population agree with the limit. As the CDV writes: “39 percent of Parisians, but only 16 percent of the inhabitants of other parts of Île-de-France, were in favor of the speed limit (the answer is” definitely yes “). 39 percent of the population of the French capital and a full 61 percent of the rest of the Île-de-France opposed any speed limit (“certainly not”). 20 percent of the population of Paris and the Île-de-France region voted in favor of the speed only on selected roads (answer “partially yes”), with 59 percent of the population of Paris and 36 percent of the Île-de-France population agreeing to at least a partial reduction of the speed limit. . If we consider these numbers by a proportional representation of respondents from Paris and respondents from Île-de-France, we come to a value of 50.5 percent, ie a very close majority. “
So that it is no longer “crazy” to ride a bike
As soon as the speed was reduced to 30 in Prague, it turned out that it was no longer so “crazy” to go shopping or cycling. The CDV writes: “According to the World Health Organization (WHO), which published a publication on accident prevention in 2004, the risk of death of a pedestrian in a car accident is 80 percent at an impact speed of 50 kilometers per hour, but only 10 percent at an impact speed. 30 kilometers per hour. ”This is already a crucial argument in a densely populated city, why is it not used? Why can’t the police hear him?
Another argument: “WHO that noise, along with air pollution, is one of the two most important environmental stressors with negative effects on public health. Prolonged and regular exposure to excessive noise results in disorders of sleep, mood, concentration, memory, carries a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and is also associated with a higher incidence of obesity. “
One argument goes against the 30, “a car traveling at 30 kilometers per hour emits 19 percent more oxide into the atmosphere than if it were traveling at 50 kilometers per hour. However, the word “constant” needs to be emphasized here, which is a state of speed that is almost unattainable in cities. In fact, drivers often brake and stop, start and accelerate. ” (But maybe thirty would mean a drop in cars in the city, as Paris and Mayor Hidalgo promise.)
Very interesting is the CDV’s commentary on the Parisian (and not only Parisian) thirties. According to the Center, it is “undoubtedly a topic for discussion”. He cites an in-depth analysis of accidents, which shows that speed is one of the most important factors influencing the severity of accidents.
The director of the Center, Jindřich Frič, says: “Research shows that the risk of a traffic accident is 12.8 times higher if the speed limit is exceeded. Higher speeds are also associated with a many times higher risk of serious injuries, both for vehicle occupants and road users. The European Transport Safety Council has calculated that if the average speed on all European roads were to fall by one kilometer per hour, the number of deaths per year would fall by more than 2200. ‘ here.)
I would add again that if the speed of large cities (where it makes sense) were reduced to thirty, more people would find the courage to ride a bike, e-bike or electric scooter. Walk. It would be safer, less noise. The arguments for the thirty are extremely strong, now you still have the courage to start talking about them in public.
Prague drowned in columns. Mayor’s failure or necessary evil? Zdeněk Hřib on DVTV (video from September 14, 2021)
Other guests of the broadcast are the Czech Television correspondent Martin Jonáš, the leader of the Free Block in Prague Jana Bobošíková and the businessman Zdeněk Rinth. | Video: Michael Rozsypal, Daniela Drtinová