Text file: 1604.txt
author: mlad26
downvotes: 16
end consideration date: 2011-04-21
id: '1604'
number comments: 24
number views: 5239
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of Transport\nI. ROAD SAFETY\nSpeeding is still\
  \ a widespread social problem and one of the main causes of road accidents with\
  \ the most serious consequences in Slovenia and in other EU Member States.\nIn 2010,\
  \ 21544 road accidents were reported, compared to 20945 in 2009, an increase of\
  \ 2.9% compared to 2009. 40701 persons were involved in these accidents, compared\
  \ to 40329 in 2009, an increase of 1% compared to 2009.\nDriving speed is an important\
  \ factor in road safety, which is directly related to the severity of a collision\
  \ and its consequences, and is also linked to the risk of being involved in a road\
  \ accident, as drivers have less time to react at high speeds, which in turn leads\
  \ to a higher number of road accidents.\nOn Slovenian roads, in 2010, 45 road users\
  \ died as a result of inappropriate or inappropriate speed, out of a total of 139\
  \ fatalities (32.4% of the total number of road user fatalities in 2010), compared\
  \ to 62 road user fatalities out of a total of 171 fatalities in 2009 (36.3% of\
  \ the total number of road user fatalities in 2009), which means that the number\
  \ of fatalities caused by inappropriate or inappropriate speed has decreased by\
  \ 3.9% compared to 2009.\nIn 2010, 318 out of a total of 878 road users were seriously\
  \ injured as a result of inappropriate or inappropriate speed (36.2% of the total\
  \ number of road users seriously injured in 2010), compared to 396 out of a total\
  \ of 1055 road users seriously injured in 2009 (37.2% of the total number of road\
  \ users seriously injured in 2010),5% of the total number of road users seriously\
  \ injured in 2009), which means that the number of road users seriously injured\
  \ due to inappropriate or inappropriate speed decreased by 1.3% compared to 2009.\n\
  In 2010, 2405 out of a total of 9513 road users (25.3% of the total number of road\
  \ users slightly injured in 2010) were slightly injured as a result of inappropriate\
  \ or inappropriate speed, compared to 2629 out of a total of 11251 road users slightly\
  \ injured in 2009 (23.3% of the total number of road users slightly injured in 2010),4%\
  \ of the total number of seriously injured road users in 2009), which means that\
  \ the number of people who may have been injured as a result of inappropriate or\
  \ inappropriate speed increased by 1.9% compared to 2009.\n \nII. TECHNICAL STANDARDS\
  \ AND OTHER ASPECTS\nTraffic can proceed very safely at speeds of 130 km/h or even\
  \ higher, if technical standards and the environment in which the motorway route\
  \ is located allow it.\nThe technical elements of roads in Slovenia are determined\
  \ on the basis of the Road Design Regulation (Official Journal of the Republic of\
  \ Slovenia No 91/05, 26/06 and 109/10 - ZCes-1). The Regulation sets maximum design\
  \ speeds for each category of road, and the individual geometric and technical elements\
  \ of the road (horizontal radius of curvature, radius of vertical curvature, transverse\
  \ gradient of the carriageway, width of traffic lanes, etc.) are adjusted to these.\
  \ The Regulation also sets out certain other elements that are directly related\
  \ to the design speed. These are, for example, the minimum coefficient of sliding\
  \ friction, the size of clear berms and clear triangles, etc. All these elements\
  \ are adapted for motorways to the maximum permissible speed of 130 km/h laid down\
  \ in the current Road Traffic Safety Act (Official Gazette of the RS no. 56/2008\
  \ - Official consolidated text, 57/08 - ZLDUVCP, 58/09, 36/10 and 109/10 - ZPrCP),\
  \ which will be replaced as of 1.7.2011 by the Law on Road Traffic Rules (Official\
  \ Journal of the Republic of Slovenia 109/2010), which maintains the maximum speed\
  \ limit on motorways as laid down in the current law.\nOn sections of roads where\
  \ minimal road elements are used due to space and other constraints, the design\
  \ speed and related elements represent an important obstacle when considering a\
  \ possible increase of the maximum speed limit. On some sections where better design\
  \ and geometric elements are used, speeds higher than 130 km/h may be possible in\
  \ practice, but contrary to the rules.\n When deciding on the optimum speed or maximum\
  \ speed, the following should be taken into account:\n safety or the number of accidents\
  \ and their consequences in relation to driving speed, the ecological consequences\
  \ of motor vehicle driving, the spatial interventions required by the design and\
  \ layout of traffic routes, the cost of transport and, last but not least, the acceptability\
  \ of and attitudes towards the proposed maximum speed.\nSwedish data (NTF 2001)\
  \ show that an increase of x km/h in the average driving speed on a given road results\
  \ in a 2x% increase in accidents, a 3x% increase in the likelihood of injury to\
  \ road users and a 4x% increase in the likelihood of a fatal accident. If the average\
  \ driving speed is 10 km/h higher, this means that there will be 20% more accidents,\
  \ 30% more injuries and 40% more fatalities on that road than if you were driving\
  \ at the maximum speed limit. This applies to all roads with two-way traffic.\n\
  On motorways, the key factor is the pollution of the environment by emissions and\
  \ dust particles. Motor vehicles should be driven at the optimum torque with the\
  \ best energy efficiency and the lowest emissions. For many years, Sweden had a\
  \ maximum motorway speed of 100 km/h for this reason, but in 2010 it was raised\
  \ to 120 km/h due to changes in the engine structures of motor vehicles and optimum\
  \ efficiency. Having said this, it is important to note that it all depends on the\
  \ type and age of the motor vehicles and the energy efficiency of the engines themselves.\n\
  \ \nIII. CONCLUSION\nThe maximum speed limits laid down in the Road Traffic Regulation\
  \ Act are in line with the speed limits in most European countries. The only exceptions\
  \ are Germany, where 130 km/h is the recommended speed, but which is very often\
  \ reduced to 120 km/h by variable traffic signalling (volume and structure of traffic,\
  \ rain, fog, etc.), and Italy, where higher speeds are only allowed on six- and\
  \ multi-lane motorways, which we do not have.\n Spain has also decided to lower\
  \ the maximum speed limit for reasons of economy, reducing the maximum speed limit\
  \ on motorways from 120 km/h to 110 km/h, which is an effective measure from the\
  \ point of view of protecting the environment and ensuring road safety.\n In our\
  \ assessment, an increase in the maximum speed limit would not have a positive impact\
  \ either on increasing throughput or on road safety. As regards road capacity, this\
  \ decreases with speed due to the safety distance between vehicles. Expert literature\
  \ and practice show that the maximum road permeability is at 80 km/h, which is the\
  \ speed at which most European countries limit speed in the event of traffic congestion.\
  \ From a road safety point of view, however, in the event of an accident at such\
  \ high speeds, the chances of survival of the driver and passengers are significantly\
  \ reduced. This is not only due to the enormous forces exerted on the driver and\
  \ passengers in the event of a vehicle collision, but also to the fact that the\
  \ road equipment is not adapted to such speeds.\n The length of guardrails in front\
  \ of the danger point or object (poles, overpass columns, walls, etc.), the restraint\
  \ levels of guardrails and crash bellows and many other elements are adapted and\
  \ checked for the current speed limit system. However, the way in which the quality\
  \ and function of these elements are checked is laid down in standards adopted by\
  \ the European Union, which apply uniformly to all its Member States.\n Last but\
  \ not least, the impact of such a measure on the speed of travel must be taken into\
  \ account, which we consider to be minimal. If we consider the assumption that instead\
  \ of driving at 130 km/h between Ljubljana and Koper, a driver would manage to drive\
  \ at 160 km/h on at least half of the motorway route between these two places (taking\
  \ into account the sections with tunnels and viaducts, the areas of junctions where\
  \ drivers are able to merge onto the motorway by pulling over into the overtaking\
  \ lane in heavy traffic, and the 130 km/h overtaking drivers), he or she would arrive\
  \ in Koper 5 minutes faster. This is not a reason that would justify a significant\
  \ increase in the cost of the road equipment installed and the expected reduction\
  \ in road safety.\nFor the latter, the European Union has adopted an action plan\
  \ which aims to reduce the number of deaths by 50% over the next 10 years. In order\
  \ to achieve this objective, many countries are choosing to reduce the maximum speed\
  \ limit rather than increase it."
response date: 2011-05-17
response due date: null
sent date: 2011-03-18
title: Reduction of the speed limit in the overtaking lane
upvotes: 18
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/1604
