Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt talks about lower speed limits with former deputy mayor Jean Hobson.

The speed limit along Fremantle’s cappuccino strip is dropping to 30kph.

It mimics the European parliament’s “making streets liveable” project that aims to drop speed in pedestrian-friendly zones in cities such as Paris and London.

The council had considered dropping the speed to 20kph and introducing zebra crossings but “that would have restricted more informal pedestrian crossing,” mayor Brad Pettitt says.

Most pedestrians will survive a collision with a vehicle travelling at 15kph but even small increases in impact speed are shown to significantly magnify injuries.