A shared space

Throughout the day, we move around the city in many different ways. We can walk, take public transportation or drive a vehicle. In each situation we must adopt a different behavior but always with a common nexus, safety is the priority.

Cities also have an important role to play in putting user safety in the spotlight. Thanks to a new mobility model, cities today want to become a space where citizens can walk, enjoy and travel safely by bicycle, car or on foot. Cars are becoming less and less important in mobility and the use of public transport is being encouraged.

Among the measures adopted to approach this model, the speed limitation in cities stands out. As of March, the speed limit in Spain’s cities is 50 km/h on roads with two or more lanes in each direction, 30 km/h on single lanes in each direction and 20 km/h on single lane roads. Reducing speed limits offers greater safety for the most vulnerable users, i.e. pedestrians, cyclists, electric skateboard users, etc. and makes it possible to promote a new way of moving on public roads, which until now were primarily intended for motor vehicles. The new urban mobility seeks greater integration of all users on the streets.

The benefits of this measure will be immediate for the groups that suffer the most accidents on the streets: cyclists and pedestrians who, in 2018, accounted for 15% of urban road fatalities in our continent. Running over is one of the main reasons for these high figures. Most of the incidents involving pedestrians are caused by the impact of a motor vehicle and, another fact to take into account, more than half of the people killed by getting run over were over 65 years of age. The fact is that pedestrian accidents are often caused by the pedestrian’s own behavior, such as not using pedestrian crossings, not respecting traffic lights and crossing the road incorrectly. Hence road safety education is essential as of an early age.

Speed limitation is an important step towards a more ambitious goal, the “Shared Space“. The idea is to eliminate traffic lights, signs, road markings, and even the separation between sidewalk and roadway and make the streets a shared space for all road users. In the absence of elements that regulate the right-of-way, the different users of the street have to negotiate among themselves and respect the other users.

To take steps towards this scenario, all road users must become aware and modify their habits and behaviors. Will you help us to achieve this? Join the new mobility.