Living Streets position on 20 mph

Context

Streets are where we live, play, work, and socialise – they should be safe, attractive and enjoyable places for everyone. The current default speed limit for built up areas is set at 30 mph. Yet half of drivers admit to regularly “driving significantly above” the current 30 mph speed limit in built-up areas. If you are struck by a passing car in your street at 35 mph there is a 50% chance that you will be killed. This shocking fatality rate, has an impact not just on those involved in collisions, but creates a wider fear of traffic speed that in turn adversely affects how we use our streets. At a traffic speed of 20 mph, the pedestrian survival rate is immediately increased to 97%.

There is increasing evidence of the civilising impact of 20 mph limits on our streets- leading to greater enjoyment of our social spaces and a greater uptake in people walking and cycling and a positive impact on emissions and traffic flow.

Action

We believe a new national framework is required to enable Local Authorities to achieve wider coverage of 20 mph speed limits.  Our preferred method of achieving this is to introduce a national 20 mph default speed limit, with exemptions from 20mph at local discretion.  Local Authorities tell us that although they have existing powers to introduce 20 mph limits and zones, it is difficult to achieve this on a wide area scale without bureaucratic twists and/or physical infrastructure changes.  We’d like more Local Authorities to follow the example of Portsmouth in introducing a town wide 20 mph limit, and we believe a national framework with a default 20 mph limit is the easiest way of achieving this.    

Resistance to 20 mph often focuses on claims that it is either unenforceable or is too costly. In fact, the successful work in Portsmouth shows that it can be done cheaply and is enforceable.

Recommendations

1. The standard default speed limit on “restricted roads” 9 in built-up areas of the UK to be reduced from 30 to 20 mph;
2. The DfT’s Road Safety Strategy and Scottish Road Safety Strategy, and any related speed limit guidance, to be clear in stating that 20 mph is one of the most significant actions to improve road safety and general quality of life in all built-up areas – not merely targeted areas around schools, markets or residential streets;
3. All local authorities to implement authority-wide 20 mph default limits in all built-up areas, in advance of or alongside any moves by national governments to implement the first two points.

For further information please see Living Streets’ policy paper on 20 mph. www.livingstreets.org.uk/whatwethink