The government is under pressure again to bring down the current inner city speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour to 30 to match its neighbouring countries, after a fatal collision last week left three dead.
Three people died last week in the city of Luxembourg after a fatal car crash. The tragedy renewed pressure on the Luxembourgish government to implement harsher speed limits.
“As soon as one crosses the border to France and drives through French municipalities, it’s always 30 kilometres per hour. In many municipalities in Germany, this is also already the case”, architect and city planner Florian Hertweck from the University of Luxembourg said.
Luxembourg’s current 50 kilometres-per-hour speed limit within cities is essentially comparable to the non-existent speed limit on German highways, Hertweck explained.
The traffic NGO “Sécurité routière” also wants the speeding limit to be lowered to 30 kilometres per hour within cities in Luxembourg.
But while faster cars result in higher air pollution levels and an increased risk of accidents, the city planner is not convinced that the speed limit should be lowered.
The municipality has failed to take appropriate actions that might have prevented the accident, a member of the Green opposition party wrote on Twitter.
However, the opposition is using the tragic collision for political gains, one of Luxembourg’s cities’ Alderman, Serge Wilmes (CSV) has said. While the Tweet has since been deleted, the question of responsibility and what an adequate response to the incident could still remain.
Compared to other EU countries, the number of deaths in Luxembourg is quite low, with Luxembourg sitting in the second half of the ranking, despite it having the highest car density in the EU, with 696 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants.
(Luka Krauss| EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
