Reducing speed can save thousands of lives

We can save so many lives around the world if we just slow down. Each year, more than 1.25 million people - many of them young people - die in automobile crashes. And a large proportion of these deaths are preventable: about one-third is due to vehicles traveling at excessive speeds. In low- and middle-income countries, that figure is closer to half.

Regardless of where one lives, speeding is a lethal problem. Studies show that on most roads, in most countries, 40 percent to 50 percent of all cars travel above the posted speed limit. And whether or not a car is speeding can make the difference between life and death. For example, someone who is hit by a vehicle traveling at 50 miles (80 kilometers) an hour has a three times higher risk of dying than if they had been hit by a vehicle moving at 30 miles an hour.

This means that just setting urban speed limits at 30 miles an hour or less, and allowing local authorities to reduce speed limits further around schools and other areas with high pedestrian traffic, would save many lives. It is encouraging to see 47 countries have already implemented these commonsense practices. But we must do far more to expand the reach of such measures, and to ensure that more governments adopt them.