Skip to main content

Fewer UK pedestrians killed as drivers stop speeding

Latest road safety figures from the UK Department for Transport (DfT) show that compliance with 30mph (48km/h) urban speed limits continues to improve while pedestrian fatality levels are falling.
April 19, 2012 Read time: 1 min
RSSLatest road safety figures from the UK 1837 Department for Transport (DfT) show that compliance with 30mph (48km/h) urban speed limits continues to improve while pedestrian fatality levels are falling.

In 1998, 69 per cent of cars were driven faster than the limit in 30mph zones in free-flow conditions: by 2010 this had dropped to 46 per cent. Those exceeding 40 mph in a 30mph limit has halved since 2003, now down to 16 per cent. At the same time, traffic levels are declining on all types of road, a trend observed from 2006 onwards.

Pedestrian fatalities have also reduced significantly, down 40 per cent since 2005 from 671 to 405. Ninety-six per cent of pedestrian accidents happen on urban roads.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Travel information is heading towards smartphones
    January 30, 2012
    Travel information services are undergoing a step change as rapid increase in sales of smartphones brings ITS technology to consumers' fingertips. A virtuous circle of expanding capability is under way in traffic and travel information services, promising much for drivers and reduction of road congestion. A recent rapid rise in sales of smartphones has boosted numbers of vehicles carrying GPS enabled devices and so brought expansion of traffic data available for analysis and dissemination. Greater numbers o
  • Barcelona's bike share scheme a life saver
    January 26, 2012
    A recent study of the health benefits of Barcelona's Bicing communal bike share scheme, reveals it is a life-saver, responsible for saving 12 lives a year. Barcelona's community bicycle programme, Bicing, was inaugurated in March 2007. One of several schemes operated in cities around the world by Clear Channel, it has fulfilled its role of providing an efficient, ecologically friendly and critically important form of transport, helping to increase urban mobility and reduce street congestion. Clear Channel h
  • Driver feedback causes rise in Queensland speed limits
    September 20, 2013
    Following a public review of speed limits on Queensland’s roads, the Queensland police service has revealed a further reduction in speeding tolerances will begin in a bid to reduce the state's road toll. Transport Minister Scott Emerson said the speed review was one of 60 actions announced as part of the Newman Government's $350 million, two-year Road Safety Action Plan and revealed most of the 3,300 submissions to the review wanted increased limits. "About 52 per cent of the submissions identified speed
  • China’s BYD wins European electric bus orders for Netherlands city
    June 7, 2012
    An island which is home to the Netherlands’ first National Park is about to launch Europe’s cleanest bus fleet. The city of Schiermonnikoog in the province of Friesland, Netherlands is nestled on this 16 km long island and is virtually car-free. While home to about 1000 residents, over 350,000 people visit the island every year and will now ride in six new, long-range, all-electric BYD buses set to launch on Schiermonnikoog early next year. In a European legal tender and open bid supported by four major bus