The measure is aimed at reducing accidents in urban areas with heavy pedestrian traffic and narrow streets, marking a major shift in the country’s traffic rules as these roads account for around 70% of all ordinary roads nationwide.

[…] above [30 kph] the risk of pedestrians suffering fatal injuries in accidents is said to spike.

[…]

The aim of the speed limit change “is to prevent accidents by stopping dangerous driving, such as failing to slow down even on busy streets”

    • Frozengyro@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      It would be painful to drive at that speed. Slowest you’ll ever see in the US on public roads is generally 25mph/40kph even in residential or downtown areas. Even then most people are driving 30mph+, 48kph+

      • phant@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        40km/h has been the minimum speed limit on public roads in Aus for quite a while, and it’s still the norm. 30 is pretty new and will probs take some time to adjust to.

    • No_Maines_Land@lemmy.ca
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      5 hours ago

      I will admit that driving at 30km/h is pretty painful sometimes.

      That’s probably street design issue.