Slowing down pollution and speed
Will the lock down help to reduce the number of Road Traffic Victims?
A) Increased speeding reported on empty roads across the world
If you go through the news and social media posts, you learn that in many countries empty roads are tempting drivers to go out and shift into high gear.Coronavirus lockdowns have drained traffic from normally crowded roads.
Brussels Times:
Coronavirus: Fewer road fatalities and accidents from mid-March Brussels times
But that has opened space for drivers who want to defy police warnings and automated traffic enforcement systems to go racing in the streets.
In the US according to data by transportation analytics firm INRIX, the average speed on interstate highways, state highways and expressways in those areas increased by as much as 75% compared to January and February.
In New York City, transportation officials reported an increase of more than 60% in the amount of speed camera tickets issued in March compared with the year-ago period. Preliminary city data suggests a similar trend for the first week of April. At the same time, traffic was down more than 90% compared with January in Manhattan, the city’s central borough.
Even though significantly fewer people are driving, the people that are out there are putting vulnerable road users at higher risk.
London police on Tuesday released a video showing a driver speeding at 150 mph (240 km/h) and officials
said speeds on some roads had nearly doubled over the weekend with some drivers taking advantage of empty roads. In Luxemburg a reckless driver was going at 240 km/h on a highway and even recorded a video on social media of this behavior. He is known by the police, what will come next...?
said speeds on some roads had nearly doubled over the weekend with some drivers taking advantage of empty roads. In Luxemburg a reckless driver was going at 240 km/h on a highway and even recorded a video on social media of this behavior. He is known by the police, what will come next...?
In Germany, police officials in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said about 30% of all
vehicles exceeded speed limits in March - compared with roughly 5-8% in a
regular year. France reports less decrease in the number of victims than the related decrease in traffic. In March there were 154 fatalities, the lowest number since ever but this number should have been even lower considering the small exposure to road
risk. This is the decrease we should have reached in traffic as usual said Chantal Perrichon the president of the French Ligue against road violence.Pierre Chasseray, the president of the French Automobile Club: this is a catastrophe,normally we should have zero victims during this period.
vehicles exceeded speed limits in March - compared with roughly 5-8% in a
regular year. France reports less decrease in the number of victims than the related decrease in traffic. In March there were 154 fatalities, the lowest number since ever but this number should have been even lower considering the small exposure to road
risk. This is the decrease we should have reached in traffic as usual said Chantal Perrichon the president of the French Ligue against road violence.Pierre Chasseray, the president of the French Automobile Club: this is a catastrophe,normally we should have zero victims during this period.
And France is also reporting higher speeding on the raise.
Official data from Denmark show a 10% increase of drivers speeding during Covid-19 lock down.
In Brussels there was 55 à 75% less traffic compared to the same period last year mentioned Elke Van den Brandt, the minister of mobility and road safety, but in many police zones the speed violations are on the rise and also dangerous driving as the use of mobile phones behind the wheel is growing.(VIAS Institute)
Maybe we will see more injured cyclists, pedestrians and jogger as more road users are using this active way for moving around, having exercise and spend some time in the fresher air, this also instead of using public transport where social ( physical ) distancing is a problem and the fear getting infected is higher than outside, especially in streets closed for vehicles which puts the safety first for vru´s.
+150% usage VLS in Pekin, mainly for +3km trips ( source BFU)
World cities turn their streets over to walkers and cyclists
The pandemic could be an opportunity to start thinking about how to improve cities after the health crisis recedes. For every €1 invested in walking or cycling €13 is returned in benefits for traffic
congestion, the environment & public health.
B) Decreased CO2 emissions = cleaner air in our cities
We learn also from many cities that the pollution is decreasing very fast as there is less motorized traffic. Some report a decrease of more than 70%. At least it is contributing to less air pollution.
This is a positive (side-) effect of the new epidemic, but for how long …?
Further reading recommended:
Manuel Ramos: Covid-19 – another perspective,another question
Soames Jobs: https://blogs.worldbank.org/transport/can-covid-19-teach-us-something-road-safety-epidemic pictures: IFP posts
*Reuters Reporting by Tina Bellon in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis
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