Sir, – There are many benefits deriving from a 30 km/h speed limit, but arguably the most important will be for the children of Dublin, who do not drive and who never caused the current traffic congestion problems in the first place. Many children want to walk, cycle or scoot to school, but at present do not. An essential condition for getting more children travelling to school in an active way is to create a safer environment in which to do so.
I believe a 30 km/h safer speed limit is a step in the right direction.
If the streets are calmer and quieter, eventually more trust will be placed in allowing children to travel to school in an active way.
I welcome the introduction of the 30 km/h speed limit, the reduced traffic on the journey to school, and I look forward to a time when it is extended beyond the canals and into our urban villages.
Maybe then I will begin to enjoy the streets on which I walk. – Yours, etc,
ALLY MENARY,
Terenure, Dublin 6W.
Sir, – With regard to the proposals for expanded 30 km/h speed limit zones in Dublin city, it is crucial to consider these in the context of the kind of cities we want and the everyday lives of our many urban dwellers.
The difference between 30 km/h and 50 km/h speed limits is about living in some form of comfort and security on the one hand, and living in fear of continuous fast-moving traffic on the other.
For the many hundreds of thousands of children living in our cities, the streets may be their playgrounds. Daily trips to school on foot or by bike equate with negotiating huge volumes of motorised traffic.
At 30 km/h someone cycling a bike or crossing a road can easily see approaching traffic – and someone driving can easily see them. Both can make eye-to-eye, person-to-person contact.
In an era when society needs people to walk, cycle and look after their health, would it really cost any of us to add the extra minute or two to journeys that a safer 30 km/h speed limit will create? – Yours, etc,
BARBARA CONNOLLY,
Cycling Standard
Development Officer,
Cycling Ireland,
Kelly Roche House,
North Circular Road,
Dublin 1.