Public Chamber experts do not want to reduce speed

01 July 2014

The Public Safety Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation held a hearing on an “Initiative to Restrict the Speed of Vehicles Within the Moscow Boulevard Ring Road”. The initiative, put forward by the Moscow Government’s Traffic Management Centre, proposes that by the end of this year a 40 km/h speed limit be introduced for vehicles within the Boulevard Ring Road. It is intended that this speed limit would apply to all types and categories of vehicle. There would, however, be a list of streets with a 60 km/h speed limit (provisionally, the Kremlin Ring Road, Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, and Tverskaya Street).

The opinions of the participants in the hearing were divided: while some supported the change, others opposed it. Yevgeny Efremov, Chairman of the General Department for Road Safety of the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry, pointed out that just 27% of all crashes, but 57% of cases of pedestrians being knocked over, occur in central Moscow. Therefore, reducing the speed limit would benefit pedestrian safety.

Alexander Polyakov, Deputy Head of the Moscow Government’s Traffic Management Centre, agreed with Mr Efremov. He added that for people to feel safe walking along the street, vehicles should travel at no more than 10 times the speed of a pedestrian walking. As the average comfortable walking pace is 4 km/h, vehicles should travel no faster than 40 km/h. Mr Polyakov stressed that this measure would not increase traffic jams: “Why would a 40 km/h speed limit not bring the city to a halt? Because already the average speed within the Boulevard Ring Road at night is 45 km/h, while during the day it is just over 30 km/h.”

The President of NG0 Road Safety Russia, Natalia Agre, also supported the initiative: “In this case I am entirely in favour of reducing the speed limit, because it would have a direct effect, making the streets calmer for residents and also safer for us and our children. We increasingly see Muscovites being forced to leave the city because they are simply terrified to leave their children unaccompanied within the city bounds. With the “Brake in Advance!” public awareness campaign we explained to all drivers how speed affects the stopping distance. At 60 km/h the stopping distance in dry conditions can be up to 60 metres, and travelling at such a speed is dangerous in the vicinity of uncontrolled pedestrian crossings, educational establishments and places where people congregate, that is, in the city centre. Of course, I support any initiatives to reduce speed that are proposed in the interests of road safety.”

Mikhail Blinkin, Chairman of the Russian Transport Ministry’s Public Chamber, also spoke in favour of the speed restriction within the Boulevard Ring Road. He referred to international experience, which shows that these measures reduce the number of road traffic accidents and the death rate on the roads, and also reduce the number of traffic jams.

However, the majority of the experts from the Russian Public Chamber did not support the initiative to reduce the speed limit to 40 km/h: “We do not support the initiative of the Moscow Transport Department to introduce a speed restriction for the Boulevard Ring Road; in fact, we are actively opposed to it,” said Chairman of the Public Safety Commission of the Russian Public Chamber, Anton Tsvetkov. Boris Tkachuk, first deputy general director of the public transport company Mosgortrans, said he believed it was extremely unlikely that a speed limit would affect the operation of public transport in the city.

At the end of the round table Mr Tsvetkov proposed that the Public Chamber set up a special working group to work closely with core committees in Moscow to examine all the initiatives objectively.

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