The traffic department (DGT) is planning to sign an agreement with the Spanish Federation of Towns and Provinces aimed at reducing traffic accidents in towns and cities.  The main priority will be creating more areas with a 30kmph speed limit, which could affect up to 80% of streets in certain built-up areas.

Ana Ferrer, Director of the National Observatory for Road Safety, explained to the press today that this agreement was the result of studying the DGT's proposals for improving road safety in towns and cities in particular, as road safety on A roads and motorways is already improving at a much better rate.

Ferrer went on to explain that the DGT wants to work with local councils so that road safety can be improved for the most vulnerable - pedestrians and motorcyclists.

The DGT is keen to see local councils put their full weight behind these initiatives and the agreement they are drawing up will see the introduction of by-laws ensuring that certain pedestrian crossings are elevated, that there is better signposting and that there are more 30kmph zones.

Traffic accident expert, Andrés Monzón, pointed out that the chances of surviving an accident that happens at 30kmph are much higher and that there is a "much greater" chance of avoiding the accident in the first place.

As Monzón pointed out, in most towns and cities, 80% of traffic circulates on 20% of the roads, the main ones.  But the ones that need to be 30kmph zones are the other 80%, where people pay less attention because they are in their own neck of the woods and tend to drive on auto-pilot so more pedestrians get knocked down as a result.

"Drivers need to remember that the streets are for the people, the pedestrians, and that cars are at the bottom of the pecking order, " added Monzón.