subject: Should the UK have a 20mph residential speed limit? [print this page] Should the UK have a 20mph residential speed limit?
Dominic Harrison, the Director of Public Health for Blackburn with Darwen recently suggested that all residential areas in the UK should have a 20mph speed limit.
Most residential areas currently have a 30mph speed limit but Mr Harrison thinks that all towns and cities in the UK should follow the lead of Portsmouth, which has imposed a 20mph limit on most of its residential streets.
Many experts believe that lowering the speed limit could lower the number of road accidents on UK roads.
This in turn could lower the number of whiplash injuries suffered by motorists and cyclists injuries which can lead to people having to seek out the expert help of no win, no fee solicitors such as Claims Direct in order to receive the compensation they deserve.
Arguments in favour of a 20mph residential speed limit
1.Mr Harrison, writing for the Scrubbing Up section of the BBC website, argues that imposing a nationwide limit would be cheaper than creating 20mph zones which require extra signage and traffic calming measures such as speed bumps.
2.Child safety: Liberal Democrat Norman Baker, the Under Secretary of State for the Department of Transport is one of many politicians who believe that drivers should kill their speed to save children's lives. He said: "For a child being hit at 30mph and 20mph is the difference between life and death."
3.Improving community life. Streets make up 80 per cent of public space in cities and there is a school of thought that having less fast cars buzzing around these vast areas will lead to city residents becoming sociable.Adrian Roper, of cycling charity Sustrans, told Bristol 24-7: "Neighbourhoods with slower traffic have more social interaction, people get to know their neighbours, kids get out more in the street to play, be active and socialise and there is a sense of community."
Arguments against a 20mph speed limit
1.Effectiveness. According to a recent Atkins report carried out on behalf of the Department of Transport, lowering the speed limit had little effect in Portsmouth. The report found that the road accident level did fall in the city after a 20mph limit was imposed but the rate did not fall as quickly as it did in other areas where the old 30mph limit still remained. These findings have been queried by campaigners who favour a lower speed limit in residential areas.
2.Slowing down cities. The AA believes that knocking 10mph off the limit will significantly slow down bus journey times and impede delivery firms. This is why the organisation favours new speed limit zones rather than a blanket limit.
3.Confusion. Nine out of every ten streets in Portsmouth have a 20mph speed limit but there are no speed cameras or humps to enforce the law. Have officials created a rod for their own back by creating a law which is too costly to enforce?
4.Money. The expense of implementing a 20mph speed limit providing extra signage, installing speed cameras and enforcing the law makes a blanket limit unpopular in these times of recession. In Portsmouth the price of lowering the limit has been put at 500,000. In York it is thought that a 20mph speed restriction could cost as much as 1million. Pro-20mph campaigners argue that a new speed limit would save money in the long run by reducing the legal and medical expenses associated with road accidentsmore importantly, it could also save lives.
