Western Australia’s Minister for Transport says dropping speed limits at some of the state’s busiest intersections will save lives.

Rita Saffioti says speed limit at more than 60 intersections will be reduced by 10 kilometres, down to 70kms/hour.

The move is designed to reduce the number of major crashes on WA roads.

The Minster says there are approximately 100 intersections expected to be impacted by the change in the next “few years”.

Work is underway on 66 intersections impacted by the speed reductions, including Marmion Avenue, Gnangara Road, Tonkin Highway and Wanneroo Road.

Ms Saffioti says the reductions will come into affect over the next 12 months.

Ms Saffioti says dropping the speed limit at busy intersections will save lives.

“Figures show that reducing the speed limit over a set of traffic lights from 80 to 70 will create a 15 per cent reduction in those who are killed or seriously injured.”

Member for Maylands Lisa Baker has welcomed the move, saying it’s an important step.

“As there are going to be more cars, the safety is an issue more and more … so actually having a slower speed limit through those intersections makes more sense,” she says.

For most of the intersections, Ms Saffioti says new speed signs will be installed.

Ms Saffioti says the move is “all about saving lives and creating consistency across the network”.

“The vast majority of intersections that will be impacted are 80kms/h already, so this is only a small change that will make a positive difference to the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads,” she says.

The changes come after a review of the Main Roads’ Speed Zoning policy.