The Dutch Cyclists’ Federation, Fietsersbond, want a general speed limit of 30 km in all built-up areas in the Netherlands. Saskia Kluit, Director of the Fietsersbond, explains: “As a result of increasing traffic volumes, the safety and riding pleasure of cyclists is under pressure. It is time for the next step: 30 is the new 50.”

Although the 30 km/h limit is already implemented in many places, 50 km/h is still the standard. If cars do not go faster than 30 km/h, then they can safely share the road with other road users. And even if it would come to a collasion, at 30 km the other road users stand a far better chance than at 50. at 30, the chances of a serious accident are 3.5 times less than at 50 km/h.

LEVA-EU has always been en will allways be an avid supporter of a generalized 30 km/h speed limit in built-up areas. This will indeed make the traffic conditions much safer for pedestrians, cyclists, electric bike riders, speed pedelec riders, electric scooter and moped riders, etc. What’s more, it will make terminate the endless and growing discussions about where everyonge should or should not be entitled to ride.

If the 30 km/h limit is implemented for all roads, i.e. including cycle paths, in built-up areas this will kill two, maybe even three birds with one stone.

1. Car traffic will become safer because the difference in speed between the cars and other road users will be reduced.
2. It will become much easier for other road users to integrate in the traffic flow.
3. It will make the discussion about the use of cycle paths redundant. If the speed limit is 30 km/h everywhere, including on the cycle path, then there is no more need to confine certain road users to certain parts of the road. In that case, you can let cyclists, e-bikers, speed pedelec users, … decide for themselves. If the cycle path is busy and too narrow to overtake slower users, then faster users will naturally migrate to the raod, which they can safely use thanks to the 30 km/h limit.

Another major advantage of all this is, as pointed out by the Fietsersbond, that it creates more opportunities for children to actively participate in and get used to traffic from an early age onwards.

Can anyone think of any arguments against all this? If so, we would be very interested in reading them.

Annick Roetynck,
LEVA-EU Manager

The original press release by Fietsersbond is here: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/fietsersbond/app/uploads/2018/01/23163859/30-km-als-norm-binnen-de-bebouwde-kom-Fietsersbond.pdf