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Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

nltimes.nl

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Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#31
post #20
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the city will install almost 5,000 new speed signs, adjust 170 traffic lights How is 5000 signs 'slowly' ?

5000 signs at once is not slowly, but this isn't new. It wouldn't surprise me if Amsterdam already had 5000 30 km signs before this (I'm trying to find data but I can't find anything). The street I live in is a 30 km zone, as are most other residential streets in the city. They're not starting something new; they're expanding it even further. Probably because of the experience they have acquired with slower speeds ov…

It wouldn't surprise me either about the 5000 signs already there. Except you are presenting this new 5000 signs as something incremental while at the same time arguing it might be a doubling.

Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#33

There's probably a huge cultural difference here, but the image there sure does not look like a 30km/h street to me --- more like a 30mph one. That said, I've seen pictures of other European streets, far narrower and meandering, where even 30km/h would seem too fast. It is also launching a campaign with the slogan: “We drive 30 for each other.” Not surprisingly, the socialism is blatantly obvious.

Not surprisingly, the socialism is blatantly obvious.

The science as well, the dependency between impact veolocity and severity of injury and risk of survival of pedestrians and cyclists is fairly well studied and known.

the image there sure does not look like a 30km/h street to me

I've been there (or somewhere in Amsterdam where it looks exactly the same) and at peak hour 50km/h passing by a crowded bicycle path while at the same time there's a tram next to you surely does not feel appropriate. But yes, that could be cultural.

Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#34

That's getting close to something reasonable to achieve on a (non-"e") bicycle. I have always wanted to get a speeding ticket on my bike, but never have.

Just checked, my fairly hilly commute on a bike averages about 25kmh. That would mean exceeding 30 for a fair bit of the ride.

I have never seen anyone get a ticket on a bike for anything. It would be more like a badge of honour I think.

Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#35
The city I live in enacted 30kph limits at night this year, throughout the city, which is nice.

Most of the roads aren't that congested where I am already, I think the road I live on used to be a major through road, it's wide with multiple lanes, but hardly any traffic so I think it benefited from some previous work. But still, it's even quieter in the evening now

They also turn off traffic lights out of peak hours, this gives priority to pedestrians but doesn't hold up the odd car.

Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#36
post #5

Yes! This will save at least 3 lives a year! Even one life counts!

Cities are not a place for me live anymore. Airbnb, Uber, Uber-eats, delivery robots, security cameras everywhere, gentrification, poverty...

It's ok if you guys feel this is normal but for me it´s too much. Cities were vibrant places to share experiences that today are a complete mess of zombies taking pictures for the trendy social network. And this is just one more drop to make cities more soulless and "2030 ready" for people who does not really exist. I cannot say this is useless, it's just another politically correct decision to deal with. Too much already for me at least.

Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#37
post #19

Wales (UK) did this about a week ago. Setting 20mph as a limit in urban areas. I was there yesterday and now the problem is that it's very unclear where exactly it applies and if it will be enforced. Also satnavs such as Apple and Google maps have not been updated for the new speeds leading to further confusion. There are some areas where this makes sense, but a blanket change seems political. Hopefully it will cause…

Less pollution not so much, everyone will be in 2nd gear, less deaths perhaps.

Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#38
post #5

Yes! This will save at least 3 lives a year! Even one life counts!

Just in the UK it's like 5 road deaths a day or so. A pedestrian being killed by a car every single day. I've also read they've somewhere reduced speeds. I posted a graph in another comment here about the drastic effects such a small speed change has for survival rate. This can have a huuuge impact.

Do you want impact? Take tobacco out of the streets and you´ll see impact. This is just another free solution to an almost non existent problem.

Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#39
post #32

I wonder if car manufacturers are working with this limitations in mind. I feel cars with combustion engines suffer at 20-30 km/h but electrics seems to be okay with that. Am I right?

What do you mean by suffer? I’ve never had any problem driving at any speed in any car apart from crawling (1-2km/h) in a manual.

Re: Amsterdam preparing to lower speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I moved a short distance in London to an area that is all 20mph and for me the most noticeable change is the reduction in noise levels (the limits in the previous area were generally 30mph). The new area feels so much more peaceful. It surprised me how much difference a 10mph drop makes.

It's also surprising how much safer that little speed change is for pedestrians/cyclists if they were to get hit. https://www.nullvisjonen-agder.no/images/grafikk/dodsrisiko-... Speed in km/h vs death rate. From about 10% death (90% survival) at 30 km/h (~18mph) to about 80% death (only 20% survival!) at 50 km/h (~31 mph)

I think this is by far the biggest reason for the preference for 30 km/h. Reduced noise and pollution are certainly nice, but killing far less people is huge.
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