Slovakia adopts speed limit for pedestrians

ARCHIVE - A police officer in Slovakia waves a driver over for a check. In future, not only drivers but also pedestrians will have to adhere to speed limits. Photo: Frantiöek Iv-n/TASR/dpa/Symbolic image

Keystone

In Slovakia, pedestrians will also have to adhere to speed limits in future. This is provided for in an amendment to the traffic law, which was passed by parliament in Bratislava on Tuesday afternoon. In future, pedestrians will not be allowed to travel faster than six kilometers per hour on footpaths in urban areas. The law will come into force on January 1, 2026.

"The main aim is to increase safety on sidewalks in view of the increasing number of collisions with scooter riders," said Lubomir Vazny, member of parliament and former transport minister from the left-wing nationalist party Direction - Slovak Social Democracy (Smer-SSD), explaining the bill he had tabled. The new speed limit applies to pedestrians as well as skaters, scooter and e-scooter riders and cyclists, who are also allowed to use the sidewalks in Slovakia.

Plan caused head shaking and jokes

The fact that the speed limit also explicitly applies to pedestrians caused some head-shaking and jokes on the internet before the parliamentary decision, such as the joking question: "Can I fall into a speed trap if I want to catch my bus quickly?"

However, supporters pointed out that drivers would not be able to stop in time if someone unexpectedly ran across a crosswalk and that pedestrians were also to blame for many collisions with scooter riders.