Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Mayors and deputy mayors from cities across Europe have defended the right of local authorities to set appropriate speed limits.
The move follows central government initiatives in England and Italy that, it is claimed, could hamper the power of cities and towns to implement road safety measures such as lower speed limits and traffic enforcement cameras.
Meanwhile in Germany, more than 1000 cities are calling for the right to set local speed limits, a policy that is currently heavily restricted by national rules and only permitted on a case-by-case basis for individual roads. A similar initiative in Austria was successful, with cities able to set their own speed limits and run enforcement operations from later this year.
Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council, said, “Lower speed limits in our cities and towns are a low-cost, no-regret move to improve safety, reduce noise, and encourage walking and cycling. There is absolutely no good reason to restrict the freedom of local authorities to take such measures.”
André Sobczak, Secretary General of Eurocities – a network of more than 200 large European cities, added, “Cities are uniquely positioned to determine what speed limits and traffic measures are needed to keep their roads safe. Restricting their ability to implement those measures puts vulnerable road users at a higher risk. We urge national governments to heed this call from local leaders and empower them to carry out crucial interventions to make their streets safer and healthier.”
The letter’s signatories are:
Philippe Close, Mayor, City of Brussels, Belgium
Mathias De Clerq, Mayor, Ghent, Belgium
Filip Watteeuw, Deputy Mayor, Ghent, Belgium
Alison Lowe OBE, Deputy Mayor, West Yorkshire, England
Juhana Vartiainen, Mayor, Helsinki, Finland
Thomas Dienberg, Deputy Mayor, Leipzig & Frauke Burgdorff, Head of Planning, Aachen, Germany
Matteo Lepore, Mayor, Bologna, Italy
Dario Nardella, Mayor, Florence, Italy
Arianna Censi, Deputy Mayor, Milan, Italy
Melanie Van der Horst, Deputy Mayor, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Vincent Karremans, Deputy Mayor, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Karin Pleijel, Deputy Mayor, Gothenburg, Sweden
Andréas Schönström, Deputy Mayor, Malmö, Sweden
