The slower I go the more time I have
Why Sault Ste. Marie urgently needs a maximum speed limit of 30 kph within the city as part of a comprehensive Vision Zero Strategy.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traffic collisions are the leading cause of death for youth aged 5 to 29 years1. Canadian statistics back this up. Traffic collisions in Canada are the leading cause of injury related deaths for youth2.
One of the most effective strategies to reduce the number and severity of collisions is to reduce speed limits to 30 kph or lower. The observed benefits are even more pronounced in areas, such as urban settings, where vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and cyclists, are present.
There are many irrefutable reasons for establishing a maximum urban speed of 30 kph3. Slower speeds reduce collisions of all types, and reduce the severity of collisions, dropping the risk of death for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, from 90% at 50 kph to 10% at 30 kph4.
Velocitisation, the psychological effect of speed upon entering a slower zone, is not an issue when all roads within an urban environment are designed for the same 30 kph. Neither is the problem of aggressive acceleration – which contributes to pollution, noise and safety risks – when exiting a slower area.
A slower maximum speed reduces all speed differentials, a significant cause of collisions, serious injuries and death.
Slower speeds effectively increase reaction times for all road users.
Slower speeds reduce GHG emissions, a primary cause of climate change that will affect youth the most, for which youth have the least agency to protect their own futures. By accelerating slower and to a lower maximum speed, GHG emissions and other pollutants can be reduced. Energy demand is also lower, meaning EV's can travel further and last longer between charges by driving and accelerating slower, further reducing pollution and environmental damage.
A 30 kph network wide maximum speed is a critical and urgent tool for a city with dismal community GHG emission reduction results, and where transportation emissions are the largest single source of GHG emissions.
Slower speeds also reduce the emissions of other pollutants. For instance, tires release significant and dangerous emissions to the environment5. Tire friction with road surfaces emit particulate matter known as PM2.5 that is highly toxic and embeds deep into human lungs. Children are especially vulnerable to PM2.5 damage as their bodies are still developing. Importantly, speed, acceleration and deceleration are directly related to pollution emissions. A slower maximum speed produces fewer pollution and particulate emissions.
Slower speeds also reduce road damage. While heavier vehicles cause greater harm to roads, this can be significantly reduced by slower speeds, leading to huge financial savings for taxpayers, or money that can then be used by municipalities for other urgent matters, or both.
Slower speeds reduce noise levels, a significant contributor to the burden of disease in urban environments. Vehicle noise increases with speed, and is a primary cause of urban noise, responsible for thousands of premature deaths annually. Twenty percent of the population are exposed to long-term noise levels that are harmful to their health, contributing to 48,000 new cases of ischaemic heart disease a year as well as 12,000 premature deaths across Europe6. The WHO calculates that greater than 1.6 million healthy life years are lost annually from traffic noise across Western Europe7 8. Traffic noise in Canada is a major contributor to thousands of deaths annually9 .
Slower speeds reduce aggression by calming drivers too. As counterintuitive as it sounds, slower speeds reduce traffic congestion and decrease travel times by producing a smoother driving experience with fewer aggressive accelerations and decelerations, and less time wasted at traffic signals.
Given that the average speed in the Sault is already 30 kph with traffic congestion, traffic signals and other road factors, 30 kph is only a change in label.
The Sault urgently needs a Vision Zero Strategy. Part of that strategy must include widespread, consistent and comprehensive street redesign that is safe, equitable and sustainable, and self-enforces (through proper street design) a maximum urban speed of 30 kph.
A 30 kph maximum urban speed limit endorsed by the WHO10 11 and many other organisatons, and now being widely adopted around the world, is a simple, immediate and logical win-win that can be established today to save lives and reduce unsafe driving. The slower we go, the more time we have.
3 Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals: https://carsp.ca/en/presentations-and-papers/carsp-acpser-pri-virtual-conference-virtuelle-2021/why-30-km-h-municipal-speed-limits-are-the-right-thing-to-do-2/
5 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/03/car-tyres-produce-more-particle-pollution-than-exhausts-tests-show