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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

#41
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.

Is demonstrated pollution with such slow speed will increase dramatically. Next stage, take out cars from the center of the cities totally. Good luck if you bought there a house to take your kids to the college or to go to a better supermarket. Airbnb is rubbing hands

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

#42

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.

The roads are narrow and meandering for a reason: cars are just one type of traffic and in cities it's generally the most inefficient, even when the roads were optimised towards cars. So there's no reason to optimise for cars at all.

Luckily in some countries governmental organisations protect their citizens from inconsiderate people who lack empathy. You can call that socialism, no one cares.

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

#43

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.

Did you mean to say "communism"? "Socialism" has a different connotation in Europe: it often means something softer, like just "social in nature" or "socially just".

Socialism has a 100 different flavours, there isn't one universal version. Social democracy maybe.

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

#44
post #7

We've had a 20mph limit in towns here in Wales for a couple of weeks now. It seems to be going well where I am; the traffic is noticeably slower during the day (though the people who hoon about at night are still doing it) and the only negative effect I've noticed so far is it might be fractionally harder (as in one has to wait longer) to cross the road at places other than designated crossings, presumably because th…

I opted out of all tracking on Facebook, so now it serves me the average shite I assume gets shared a lot.

Half the crap is people ranting about the speed limit in Wales, the other half is vandalism of low emission zone cameras and signs in London.

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

#45

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.

>“We drive 30 for each other.”

>Not surprisingly, the socialism is blatantly obvious.

You do the speed limit only for yourself?

Is "for each other" really so triggery?

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

#46

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.

Did you mean to say "communism"? "Socialism" has a different connotation in Europe: it often means something softer, like just "social in nature" or "socially just".

No he probably meant he doesn't want to care about other people if it impacts him personally.

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

#47
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.

It would be interesting to know the financial cost of those deaths. Years of tax not paid, medical bills for the maimed etc.

It would seem likely to be a massive economic drain, quite apart from the sheer waste.

Here in NZ for a road toll of 300, 4000ish serious injuries and 30k minor injuries, the cost was $4.6 billion in 2019.

That doesn’t cover lost tax take etc. Reducing that number down is obviously helpful.

https://www.transport.govt.nz/about-us/news/social-cost-of-r...

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

#48
if anyone is interested in a comparison, Paris has had this for some months now. The main idea was to slow / limit traffic through the residential areas (which is most of the city center). There has been an initial wave of skepticism, but things have calmed down somewhat as people seem to have gotten used to it.

Personal (anecdotal) experience : -cars now go about as fast as some bikes. Makes it easier for cyclists to merge / left turn through even some of the bussier intersections.

-during the bussier parts of the days, speed limit is useless. Nobody is doing 50 on Monday afternoon and it seems that the 30 helps with fluidity / merging. Which (at least in my experience) means that though the traffic jams still exist, they're moving somewhat faster

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

#49

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.

In the UK, speed limits don't apply to cyclists so you'll be disappointed if you try it here.

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

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

5 deaths a day in the uk is almost nonexistent?

Keep in mind the massive number of minor and serious injuries that accompany that stat.

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