Deputy PM McCormack off to Sweden to help UN bring in 30 klm/hr urban speed limit - for climate action, gender equality & air quality
Saturday, 21 December 2019
Might's well have elected The Greens.
Australia is preparing to sign an international road safety declaration in Sweden that endorses a 30km/h limit on suburban roads in response to “traffic injuries, air quality and climate change”.
Nationals leader Michael McCormack is scheduled to attend the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety on February 19, where he will join other transport and infrastructure ministers in ratifying the Stockholm Declaration, which will be referred to the UN.
A draft obtained by The Weekend Australian includes a preamble recommending integration of road safety with UN Sustainable Development Goals, including climate action, gender equality and reduced inequalities targets.
The summit is expected to endorse speeding up the “shift toward cleaner, safer and more affordable modes of transport, incorporating higher levels of physical activity such as walking, cycling and using public transit”.
Clause seven of the draft declaration suggests mandating lower speeds on urban roads, which would have a significant impact on Australian residential limits, currently 50km/h.
It resolves to strengthen “law enforcement to ensure zero speeding and mandate a maximum road travel speed limit of 30km/h … in residential areas and urban neighbourhoods within cities as efforts to reduce speed will have an impact on both road traffic injuries, air quality and climate change”.
The two-day road safety summit, which includes sessions with Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prince Michael of Kent, will also focus on “sustainable transport”.
The Stockholm Declaration calls on public and private organisations to purchase “safe and sustainable vehicle fleets”. It flags addressing “the connections between road safety, mental and physical health, development, education, equity, gender equality, environment and climate change”.