DRIVING SPEEDS AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IN THE CITY OF HELSINKI

Abstract

This article deals with urban traffic speeds and pedestrian safety. According to a mathematical model, pedestrian safety depends to an alarming degree on vehicular speed: a speed of 50 km/h increases the risk of death almost eight-fold compared to a speed of 30 km/h. Video-taped records of real-life accidents are introduced as a new source of information. They show that the so-called 'free vehicles' and their speed determine the safety of pedestrians. Finally, the new 40 km/h speed limits in Helsinki's inner city are described and some initial observations concerning their effects on driving speeds are made. Language: en