The Dutch don’t want to slow down in town

More than a third of Dutch people are not willing to reduce their speed in urban areas from 50 to 30 kilometers per hour. This is the result of research by Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN).

In the Netherlands you are allowed to drive 50 or 30 kilometers per hour in built-up areas. More and more municipalities want to introduce lower speeds in more places and take 50 instead of 30 kilometers per hour.

The Dutch do not want to drive 30 kilometers per hour

A large part of the Dutch think differently about it. The research shows that only 68 percent of drivers in built-up areas are willing to obey a speed limit of 30 km/h (on roads where the speed limit is now 50 km/h). 85 percent state that they stick to the speed limit if the top speed is 20 km/h higher.

Only 54 percent of those surveyed believe that the traffic situation becomes safer at lower speeds. Almost half of those surveyed therefore do not think that the lower speed is associated with more security.

safety in built-up areas

Olso and Helsinki already have a system in which 50 kilometers per hour can only be driven if there is a spatial separation between motorized and non-motorized traffic. Although cycling is of course less common in the Scandinavian countries.

The reason cities have adopted speed is simple: safety. If a pedestrian is hit at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, the survival rate is 95 percent. That is 10 percent more than at 50 kilometers per hour. This emerged from earlier research by the Foundation for Scientific Research on Road Traffic Safety (SWOV).

Although a third does not want to drive 30 kilometers per hour in town, the VVN calls on the municipalities to reduce the maximum speed. After all, the majority of Dutch people agree with the cut.