The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, pointed out this Monday that the legal reform that limits the speed on streets with a single lane in each direction to 30 kilometres / hour “places Spain at the forefront of a global movement that, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals wants our cities to be more humane, our streets to be streets of life and for life. ”
This Tuesday, May 11, Royal Decree 970/2020, of November 10, comes into force, modifying the General Traffic Regulations (approved by Royal Decree 1428/2003, of November 21) and the General Vehicle Regulations (approved by Royal Decree 2822/1998, of December 23), and introduces various new features in the regulation of urban traffic.
One of the most prominent is the reduction of the generic traffic speed limit on urban roads from 50 to 30 km / h for those streets that have only one lane per direction of movement. The objective is to reduce road accidents, especially those affecting the most vulnerable groups; guarantee the fluidity of trips made on the city’s main avenues, and reduce the negative impact of vehicle traffic on air quality in cities.
ALIGNED WITH THE UN
The Minister of the Interior has explained that, with being a fundamental objective, the reduction of the speed limit is not limited to seeking the reduction of road accidents, but is “one of the most important measures that Spain has approved in terms of mobility and road safety because it helps to build cities for its citizens, where the streets serve above all to live, it transforms our cities to make them more humane”.
Grande-Marlaska recalled that the United Nations integrates road safety into its 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), specifically in areas related to climate action, gender equality, health and well-being, planning of sustainable cities and communities, quality education, infrastructure, responsible consumption and production, as well as the reduction of inequalities.
The United Nations has recommended the limitation of urban speed to 30 km / k in the Stockholm Declaration of February 2020, emanating from the Third World Road Safety Conference, and in the Resolution that was approved by the General Assembly on August 31, 2020 And on May 17, the Sixth World Week of the United Nations for Road Safety begins, convened with the slogan ‘Streets for life’ and the hashtag # Love30.