** The Love 30 Campaign today welcomes Dublin City Council’s implementation of a 30 km/h speed limit on most roads within Dublin's canals. **

In a year which has already seen 5 cyclists killed on our roads, it is more urgent than ever that our roads become safe for everybody; the introduction of a 30 km/h speed limit is a welcome step in the right direction.

“It’s great to see Dublin City Council leading the way towards safer streets,” said Mairead Forsythe from Love 30. “This brings us more into line with the rest of Europe where 30 km/h is becoming the default urban speed limit.”

There is overwhelming evidence that lower speed limits make streets safer and more pleasant places for children and adults to live, socialise, work and play. Road Safety Authority statistics show that lower speeds dramatically reduce the number of people killed in collisions: 1 in 10 pedestrians will die when hit by a car at 30 km/h; at 50 km/h, 5 people in 10 will die, and at 60 km/h, 9 out of 10 pedestrians will die.

The Love 30 Campaign calls on Dublin City Council to follow this important step today with the introduction of 30 km/h in all residential estates and urban villages and to reconsider the speed limit ondistributor roads which are still 50 km/h.

Love 30 also calls on other local authorities to accelerate the introduction of 30 km/h limits in residential estates and to introduce 30 km/h limits in the centre of towns and villages, as well as outside schools.

Note for editors:

The Love 30 Campaign is a campaigning group supported by various organisations, including the European Network for 30 km/h, An Taisce, Reimagining Phibsborough, Dublin Cycling Campaign, Green-Schools, and Jake’s Legacy.

Some examples of the benefits of setting lower speed limits in other locations:

•50% fewer road crashes (Switzerland)

•90% fewer killed or severely injured (Kingston upon Hull)

•50% fewer children killed or severely injured (London)