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Speed limits and safety: follow the science
BRENT BELLAMY
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2026/03/16/speed-limits-a...
THE premier of Manitoba recently appeared hesitant about collaborating with Winnipeg City Council on a public works proposal to lower the city’s default residential speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. Without a provincial amendment to the Highway Traffic Act, the city says implementing the change would require installing signs on hundreds of streets, at a cost of up to $10 million to taxpayers.
The province’s apparent reluctance to explore solutions may reflect a desire to avoid a controversial issue. The city’s approach, however, aligns with emerging best practices across Canada, as cities nationwide work to improve road safety and neighbourhood livability. In recent years, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa have reduced residential speed limits to 40 km/h, while Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Victoria have gone even further, lowering them to 30 km/h.
As a large, densely populated city, Winnipeg faces unique vehicle safety challenges compared with the rest of Manitoba. Approximately three-quarters of all injury related vehicle collisions in the province occur within Winnipeg, along with nearly 90 per cent of cyclist collisions and around 80 per cent of pedestrian collisions. As a government responsible for representing the needs of Winnipeggers, it’s reasonable to expect the province’s help in addressing these challenges and supporting the implementation of solutions.
The city’s recommendation to lower residential speed limits followed the 2023 Reduced-Speed Neighbourhood Pilot, which tested the safety and livability impacts of lower speed limits in selected communities.
The study found that drivers already travel well below the 50 km/h limit, averaging about 36 km/h on residential streets. Reducing the posted limit lowered average speeds slightly (other Canadian cities have experienced an average decrease of 3 to 5 km/h) and made drivers significantly more aware of their speed as they approached the maximum, where most collisions occur. The study concluded that lowering residential speed limits could reduce fatal collisions by up to 20 per cent and crashes causing serious injuries by as much as 12 per cent.
The study indicated that lower posted limits are most effective when they are part of a broader strategy to improve road safety, one that includes enforcement and, most importantly, physical changes to street design that intuitively slow vehicle speeds and create clearer separation between different types of road users.
This largely aligns with the experience of cities across the country.
Edmonton lowered residential speed limits to 40 km/h in 2021 as part of Vision Zero, a strategy that aims to eliminate all traffic deaths and serious injuries by designing transportation systems that anticipate human mistakes and reduces their consequences.
Since implementation, the number of pedestrian collisions has declined by about 25 per cent, with injuries and fatalities falling by 30 per cent. When Montreal and Toronto moved from 40 to 30 km/h, they realized a further drop in both metrics by a similar amount.
These findings show that even a modest reduction in average speeds on local streets can significantly decrease pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
Crash severity is largely determined by vehicle mass and speed, which together dictate the energy released in a collision. A vehicle striking a pedestrian at 40 km/h carries about 35 per cent less impact energy than one at 50 km/h, while at 30 km/h the energy is reduced by 65 per cent. These reductions translate into dramatic improvements in survival rates, with the chance of a pedestrian surviving a collision rising from about 10 per cent at 50 km/h to 60 per cent at 40 km/h and 90 per cent at 30 km/h.
The amount of energy in a collision is compounded by the increasing size and weight of the vehicles people are choosing to drive. In Manitoba, the trend to larger trucks and SUV’s has coincided with a 50 per cent increase in collisions resulting in injury over the past decade.
Slower speeds also make roads safer by reducing vehicle stopping distances, from an average of 28 metres at 50 km/h to 20 metres at 40 km/h and 13 metres at 30 km/h. This improves the ability of drivers to avoid collisions altogether.
The push for slower traffic on residential streets aims not only to improve safety but also to enhance neighbourhood livability.
When vehicles travel at lower speeds, residents often report that streets feel quieter and more comfortable, creating spaces where people are more willing to walk, bike or socialize. This strengthens community connections, encourages social interaction and supports local businesses.
Such changes are especially meaningful for children, older adults and people with limited mobility, who are far more likely to walk or bike when streets feel safe and inviting.
When many people hear proposals to reduce residential speed limits, they imagine crawling around the city at a snail’s pace. However, after experiencing Winnipeg’s pilot project, 60 per cent of surveyed residents supported the lower limits, with 20 per cent even calling for a reduction to 30 km/h. Research in other cities shows a similar pattern.
Before implementation, residents tend to greatly overestimate how much time they spend driving on residential streets, and after the changes are made, they typically find the impact on their overall trip time is minimal.
It seems illogical that Grant Avenue has the same speed limit as a cul-de-sac where neighbourhood kids play street hockey, or that Route 90 has the same allowable speed as the street at the end of your driveway.
Residential streets are where children ride bikes, neighbours walk dogs and communities gather. Lowering speed limits would align Winnipeg with other Canadian cities that recognize this reality. The benefits are clear. What remains is the willingness of the province and city to work together to make Winnipeg’s neighbourhood streets safer and more livable for everyone who uses them.
Brent Bellamy is creative director at Number Ten Architectural Group.