An online petition, which gathered more than 1,000 signatures, was calling for Jersey’s maximum speed limit to be increased from 40 to 50 mph.
However, Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis said he could not think of any roads on which a 50 mph limit would be suitable.
And he added that pedestrians and cyclists would be put off from travelling if they felt unsafe using the roads.
Around a third of injuries in the last five years have involved pedestrians and cyclists, while motorcyclists account for around a quarter of casualties.
Deputy Lewis said: ‘Increasing the speed limit to 50 mph would considerably adversely impact road safety, particularly for vulnerable road users.
‘Vehicles may be getting safer, but driver error is still the biggest factor in road traffic collisions. While increasing vehicle speeds may shorten journey times for drivers by a minute or two, it would increase risks for other road users.’
He said an increase in the speed limit could lead to more people travelling by car if they felt unsafe travelling by other methods, which could in turn increase congestion and negatively impact on young people’s health, as they would have ‘less opportunity for exercise’.
‘Increasing vehicle speed from 40 mph to 50 mph adds another 50 per cent to the energy of any collision,’ he said. ‘At 50 mph a pedestrian or cyclist has a 95 per cent chance of being killed if hit by a car, at 40 mph it’s 85 per cent and at 30 mph it’s 45 per cent.
‘The speed limit review programme is working with parishes to talk to communities about speed limits in their area.
So far no community has advocated increasing speed limits and it is difficult to think which roads would be suited to 50 mph.
‘Even on roads such as Victoria Avenue or the Five Mile Road, while they may appear suitable, pedestrians need to cross, or there are side roads, and most of the roads currently at 40 mph are parish roads, which would not be safe at 50 mph due to the width, alignment and frequent junctions or accesses.’
Last month, Deputy Lewis announced that the speed limit for a number of St Helier roads – including all roads within the ring road and some in the Havre des Pas area – would be dropped to 20 mph. Meanwhile, Gorey Village would also become a 20 mph zone, while the Grouville coast road would be dropped to 30 mph.
