I read a lot of information pushed by the government which supports their agenda of reducing speed limits to 40km/h. Some of it I simply don't believe. When that happens I seek out other research and confirm or refute what the government is saying.
For example the latest article I read was the following from Transport NSW.
Wooing drivers to slow down on our roads | Transport for NSW
Basically at 40 km/h there's a 40% risk of death and at 50 km/h there's a risk of death of 90%. This information is to justify the reduction of speed limits to 40 km/h from 50 km/h.
However a quick search on the internet locates the following from America.
Impact Speed and a Pedestrian's Risk of Severe Injury or Death - AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
Whilst the figures are in mph, if we convert the speeds to km/h we get 10% at 37 km/h, 25% at 51 km/h, 50% at 67 km/h, 75% at 80 km/h and 90% at 90 km/h.
The real difference reducing the speed limit is not as significant as we're led to believe and if the article above is correct, more like a 10-15% increase in the risk of death if the speed limit is 40 or 50 km/h respectively.
Another figure you'll often hear is that doubling the speed increases the risk by a the square or four in this case. When you hear that figure take it with a grain of salt. The reason is they're mixing up the kinetic energy which does increase by the square of the speed, but research generally shows (from what I've read), it's more of a linear relationship.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment