Poll: Most Swiss back 30km/h speed limit in urban areas
In September the city of Lausanne introduced a 30km/h speed limit on 122 streets between 10pm-6am to reduce noise pollution – a Swiss first.
Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott
Most Swiss residents would be in favour of a 30 kilometre (18 miles) per hour speed limit in urban areas, a survey has found.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/sb
Português
pt
Maioria dos suíços aprova limite de 30km/h em áreas urbanas
A poll by the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BPA), published on TuesdayExternal link, found that 52% of respondents support a 30km/h speed limit on city streets. An exception would be made for main thoroughfares, which would keep the current speed limit of 50km/h.
The proposal was well supported by elderly people (59% in favour) and women (54%), the poll found. The idea was particularly well received in Italian-speaking regions, where two-thirds of respondents were in favour, followed by French-speaking regions (55%); German-speaking regions were more mixed (50%).
The BPA survey coincided with an announcementExternal link on Tuesday by the town of Sion, the capital of canton Valais, that it plans to reduce the speed limit – day and night – in much of the city to 30km/h from spring 2022. The Sion authorities say they want to improve road safety, noise pollution, air quality and conflicts between road users.
This decision follows a similar move last month by the city of Lausanne, which introduced a 30km/h speed limit on 122 streets between 10pm-6am to reduce noise pollution – a Swiss first.
Other Swiss cities are interested in the idea, including Geneva, Zurich and Winterthur.
A speed limit of 30km/h (18mph) came into force across Paris in neighbouring France on August 30 in a drive to cut accidents, and reduce noise and pollution. A poll found that 59% of Parisians are in favour of the measure, but some businesses are among those opposed.
In Europe, similar 30km/h limits are already in force in the French towns of Grenoble and Lille, as well as Bilbao in Spain, and the Belgian capital, Brussels.
More
More
Report outlines hefty bill to cut down on Swiss noise pollution
This content was published on
The bill to deal with excessive noise pollution in Switzerland is estimated at CHF6 billion ($6.2 billion), according to a federal survey.
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
This content was published on
Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri, known for his artworks using leftover food with dirty cutlery and crockery, has passed away in Vienna at the age of 94.
Climate change tipped to alter Swiss avalanche patterns by 2100
This content was published on
Climate change is expected to result in fewer avalanches overall in Switzerland but to increase the danger of wet snow avalanches by 2100.
This content was published on
You might expect that a dark road ahead would prompt motorists to slow down, but a study led by Swiss researchers has reached the opposite conclusion.
Report outlines hefty bill to cut down on Swiss noise pollution
This content was published on
The bill to deal with excessive noise pollution in Switzerland is estimated at CHF6 billion ($6.2 billion), according to a federal survey.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.