Slovakia’s parliament has approved a controversial traffic amendment, which defines as maximum speed allowed at sidewalks of urban areas the… 6 kilometers per hour.
The limit applies to pedestrians, cyclists, skaters and users of e-skates, who circulate on the pavements, and aims to avoiding conflicts.
“The main goal is to increase safety on the sidewalks, given the increasing number of collisions with skates”said the amendment’s author, Ľubomír Vážny, a member of Prime Minister Robert Fičo’s left-populist Smer party.
Although the law will enter into force on January 1st 2026has not been specified how it will be implemented.
The average speed a person walks is 4 and 5 km/h. However, according to the British Heart Foundation a speed 6.4 km/h is considered moderate for someone who is in excellent physical condition.
The opposition criticized the amendment, while Slovakia’s interior ministry said it would be better to are prohibited the electric skates on the sidewalks, rather than being enforced a general speed limit.
Martin Pekár of the opposition liberal party “Progressive Slovakia” said that the pedestrians are at risk from the cars, not by cyclists or the skatesand that this amendment penalizes sustainable transport.
“If we want less collisions, we need safer bike lanes, not unreasonable limits that are naturally impossible to keep,” Pekár stated. “At the stated speed, ehbeing a cyclist can hardly keep his balance», he added.
As Politico writes, the amendment caused a lot of reactions on social media as well, with many wondering if they will be fined for running to catch the bus…
Source :Skai
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