Victoria has enacted a new state-wide speed limit law allowing local councils to reduce Melbourne street speeds to 30km/h.
The Victorian government recently updated its Speed Zoning Policy, giving local Melbourne councils the power to lower street speed limits on a case-by-case basis in areas where vehicles mix with people walking, cycling or using other forms of transport.
This could include local streets with high pedestrian numbers, activity centres and some school zones across Melbourne streets and beyond.
Melbourne street speed limits
- When: Now available for councils to implement
- Where: School zones, city streets and high pedestrian areas across Victoria, depending on local council decisions
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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Transport Victoria reports speed matters when it comes to pedestrian survival rates. A pedestrian hit by a car travelling at 30km/h has a 90 per cent chance of survival, but as speed increases, so does kinetic energy. Chances drop to 60 per cent at 40km/h, and merely 10 per cent at 50km/h.
City of Yarra has been trialling the 30km/h speed limit in Fitzroy and Collingwood since 2018, expanding the trial in May 2024 to other high pedestrian areas. Now the Victorian government has quietly updated its speed laws, potentially paving the way for other councils to reduce speeds on Melbourne streets throughout the city.
Stephen Jolly, Mayor of Yarra City Council, said in a media statement that the council was glad to inspire widespread change. The Victorian Government knows that this limit saves lives – it has seen the data. And now pedestrians and road users more broadly will be safer as result from any new 30km/h zone.
Whether your local council will adopt the reduced speed limits on Melbourne streets remains to be seen, but the framework is now in place for councils across Victoria to make the change.
For more information, head here.
