Council's speed limit changes praised as lifesaving during awareness week

The changes, implemented late 2023, dropped speed limits by 10kmh along several key roads through the CBD and suburban precincts.

Peter Frazer, founder and president of the Safer Australian Roads and Highways (SARAH) Group said the move would save lives.

"This is incredibly important when you consider that people are seriously injured or killed because of the actual forces involved," Mr Frazer said.

"The slower the vehicle is going - if there is an interaction, that person's got a much higher level of chance of surviving.

"Unfortunately, too many people are killed. In Australia every single year, we lose 1200 people and more than 40,000 are seriously injured."

Mr Fraser said there needed to be a focus on preventing serious injuries, as even though people may survive the crash they were left with lifelong injuries.

He said it was gratifying to see banners commemorating National Road Safety Week on several streets and yellow ribbons on council vehicles - something that came about after the council was the first in Tasmania to partner with SARAH.

Data collated by the council shows 2024 has started strong from a road safety perspective.

As of April 30 there had been 38 crashes on Launceston roads, most of them classed as 'minor' but six have been counted as serious.

If the trend continued through to the end of the year - something council traffic engineering officer Nigel Coates stressed was not guaranteed - crashes on Launceston roads would reach a five-year low.

Mr Coates said it was too early to say whether this was the result of reduced speed limits - something that would be analysed in the long-term - or one of the several other road safety interventions the council made.

He said there were four principles underlying the council's approach to traffic management - safety, efficiency, sustainability, and equity - and when it came to safety the council was continually reviewing the road network.

"Intersections are particularly challenging - how we manage those intersections," Mr Coates said.

"Quite a lot of our interventions over the last few years have been things like small roundabouts within suburban streets, and improving visibility so people can pull out a little bit further and see what's coming.

"We are also doing quite a lot of work on our rural road networks, improving delineation or centerlines, signage and guideposts."

Acting mayor Hugh McKenzie said while the council had its part to play when it came to infrastructure and traffic management, there were things all road users could do to ensure everybody got home safely.

"We live in a world where we rush, rush, rush everywhere - it's a just-in-time world," he said.

"If you do what I do and put yourself on a 10 minute early schedule, you can get into traffic and just concentrate on getting where you need to.

"Even if you get caught in one of our two minute traffic jams you'll still be eight minutes early."