The measure is aimed at reducing accidents in urban areas with heavy pedestrian traffic and narrow streets, marking a major shift in the country’s traffic rules as these roads account for around 70% of all ordinary roads nationwide.
[...] above [30 kph] the risk of pedestrians suffering fatal injuries in accidents is said to spike.
[...]
The aim of the speed limit change “is to prevent accidents by stopping dangerous driving, such as failing to slow down even on busy streets”
Most residential areas in Estonia are the default urban speed limit, sometimes they're limited to 30. 40 is rare but exists too. Usually someone has to complain for speed limits to get put up.
The living street sign is in places where kids play on the street often, etc. Tbh I think more residential areas should have that, but it does come with the caveat that you need to stop the car and either exit or have a passenger enter or exit within the residential area. Passing through is not allowed, which means you can't put it on bottleneck streets unless the entire area on one side of the street is covered too