Local roads in Perth’s inner city suburbs are one step closer to becoming safer with a proposed drop in speed limit from 50km/h to 40km/h.

The Perth Inner City Group (PICG), an alliance of the Cities of Perth, South Perth, Subiaco, Vincent, and the Town of Victoria Park, are working together on a proposed drop in the speed limit on local roads to 40km/h.

The PICG has worked with the WA Local Government Association, Main Roads WA and the Road Safety Commission on the region-wide project.

Following the success of Vincent’s permanent 40km/h speed zones roll-out last year, the rest of the group agreed to join an expansion project and engage their communities on the proposed change.

The neighbouring Town of Cambridge Council also voted to ask their residents if they support a reduction from 50km/h to 40km/h on its local roads.

Each proposal applies to residential streets and does not include distributor and main roads.

Slower speeds come with many benefits including less severe road crashes, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists and more connected communities. All with a minor impact on average travel times.

If supported, applications will be sent to Main Roads WA for approval.

For more information, visit the PICG website: perthinnercitygroup.org.au/40km-h/

Comments attributed to City of Vincent CEO and PICG chair David MacLennan

“Major cities across the world, including in Scandinavia, United Kingdom and right here in Australia, have dropped speed limits to 40km/h on local streets.

“Slower speed is the key to making our residential roads safer. It also reduces the risk of crashes and creates better shared environments for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

“We welcome the decisions by our fellow member councils and our neighbours at Cambridge to consider rolling out 40km/h speed zones in local roads.

“We’ll continue to work with our fellow councils on this important joint project to enhance road safety in the inner city residential areas.”

Background information

• A 20 per cent reduction in speed from 50km/h to 40km/h results in a 200 per cent increase in the likelihood of surviving a collision.
• Lowering the speed limit to 40 km/h can lead to a substantial reduction in the number of crashes and the severity of injuries.
• If hit by a car driving at 50km/h, there is 80 per cent chance that it will result in a fatality and 20 per cent chance that the person survives the collision.
• If hit by a car driving at 40km/h, there is 40 per cent chance that it will result in a fatality and 60 per cent chance that the person survives the collision.
• 1,300 people were killed in Australia on the roads last year, with nearly half of those were in urban areas. Of this, 151 deaths occurred in 50km/h speed zone areas, but only 36 in less than 40km/h.