Bologna, 6 May 2023 – For Bologna the revolution of 30 per hour it is almost done: in fact it shoots by June 2023in less than a month and a half. But being there is not enough for the capital of Emilia Romagna first city of Italy to reduce the speed of the cars to reach the finish line of ‘zero deaths on the roads‘: the idea is to advance a national law proposal to give Italy a reference regulatory framework for the establishment of the ‘Cities 30’.
City at 30 per hour: the bill starts from Bologna
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In addition to making the safer roads and save livesthe goal is also to make urban spaces more livable.
The bill was presented in the context of Mobilitarstraining symposium organized by Michele Scarponi Foundation in collaboration with Bikenomistwith the patronage and support of the Metropolitan city of Bologna and the Municipality of Bologna and with the sponsorship of Network of Universities for Sustainable Development.
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Bologna at 30 per hour, councilor Orioli: “Don’t worry, it will be a shared choice”
Who drafted the bill
The bill, drafted by Andrew Columbus with the adhesion of numerous realities that deal with the environment and road safety, has at its heart the reversal of a principle: establishing in the cities the limit of 30 km/hproviding for exceptions with limit of 50 only on high traffic roads. There are numerous European cities which have promoted the ‘City 30’, while in Italy the experiences are less numerous, including Bologna.
The bill gives the Municipalities a year’s time to introduce the new limits inside the inhabited center and at the same time also equip them with the necessary tools, with strong simplifications compared to the current legislation and ad hoc funds.
How ‘City 30’ works
Where the ‘City 30’ has been a reality for years road deaths are greatly reduced and travel times for cars have not increased, because the average speed remains the same, eliminating only the acceleration peaks which are the ones where, statistically, more accidents occur. The proposed law, following the example of France and in analogy with what happens in the tobacco market, it also provides that car advertisements contain a promotional message for encourage safe driving and the use of sustainable mobility.
The four points of the standard
For the first time, a normative definition of Cities 30 is introduced, which includes four points: 1 – the general application of the maximum speed limit of 30 km/h on all urban roads except only those with fast traffic at 50 km/h 2 – the adaptation ofroad infrastructure for traffic and speed calming 3 – the strengthening of controls on compliance with the rules of conduct on the road 4 – education campaignsinformation and communication aimed at citizens and all road users.
The hierarchy of responsibilities on the street
Inspired by the United Kingdom Highway Code, the bill introduces the principle of hierarchy of road users’ responsibilities, according to which vehicle drivers which, by mass and speed, can cause the greatest damage in the event of a collision, they bear the utmost responsibility to take care and reduce the danger to the most vulnerable users of the road: this applies in particular to drivers of motor vehicles in proportion to each other and to non-motorised users, and for cyclists to pedestrians.