Milan could slow down to 30 km/h from 2024

The Italian city might join a rank of other European municipalities that have calmed their car traffic this way

Yesterday, the Milan City Assembly passed a motion which calls on Mayor Beppe Sala to institute a city-wide speed limit of 30 km/h for traffic. If eventually approved by the council, the measure is meant to enter into force from 1 January 2024 and would cut the speed limit from the current 50 km/h.

The argument behind the proposal states that lowering the speed limit to 30 km/h per hour in the city would help reduce road accidents and improve the quality of life and the air. The measure has already been implemented in other Italian cities of smaller size, such as Parma and Bologna.

30 km/h zones are a growing trend in Europe

In Italy, the measure is also popularly called Zone 30. The idea is to expand this kind of speed limit to the entire city, save for a few major arterial roads.

“The impact between a car travelling at 50 km/h and a pedestrian or cyclist is almost always fatal for the light road user, and that on the contrary the impact at 30 km/h is almost never lethal and offers ample reassurance that the consequences are less serious,” states the document, as cited by News Italy 24.

The proposed legislation sources scientific evidence that between reaction time and hitting the brakes of a vehicle moving at 30 km/h the braking distance is 13 meters, while at 50 km/h it travels about 28 metres before stopping.

According to those who presented the text, the measure would not negatively affect average journey times. On the contrary, it would make the movement of motor vehicles more fluid “by avoiding acceleration and braking which consume more fuel, produce more smog and are more dangerous for safety”. Not only that: it would be able to increase the average speed of traffic flow also “thanks to the use of technologies”, such as green waves.

Other European cities that have already introduced 30-km/h-zones are Paris, Zurich, Brussels, Helsinki and Valencia.