Should there be more 20mph limit zones?

11:41am Monday 18th June 2007

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Drivers could soon be faced with blanket 20mph speed limits as councils across Sussex aim to increase safety and cut accidents.

The proposals, at an advanced stage, centre mainly on roads near schools and residential areas but also include busy town and city centres such as Chichester, Lewes and Seaford.

Other councils, including Brighton and Hove, are looking at the possibility of introducing the go-slow zones. But while advocates of the scheme say it will cut accidents and save lives, SIMON BARRETT finds others believe the proposals are unenforceable and will only serve to antagonise drivers.

For
Matthew Lock, East Sussex County Council's lead member for transport.

Our main priority surely must be to reduce the number of accidents and injuries on our roads.

We believe that in many residential areas 20 is plenty. That is why we are aiming to introduce that lower limit in many of the county's towns over the coming months and years.

But I am willing to look at this on a case-by-case basis, rather than introduce a blanket limit. Certain roads, like those around schools, would be prime candidates for such a scheme.

We know that death is likely if a child is hit at 40mph, while at 30mph the risk is less so. But at 20mph drivers will have even more time to react and it should only result in minor injuries.

People often talk about the rights of motorists but what about the right of our child pedestrians who shouldn't need to feel apprehensive about speeding cars?

It is about striking that balance between the interests of drivers and the safety of pedestrians.

According to research by the Department for Transport, for each one mile per hour the speed limit drops, the frequency of accidents goes down by five per cent.

This means lowering the speed limit from 30mph to 20mph could cut the number of incidents by almost half, reducing the number of accident victims in Sussex by hundreds.

We know that most people drive sensibly. In Hastings town centre, buses and cars rarely go above 20mph even though the limit is 30mph.

There is a raised pavement, so drivers are more aware of pedestrians and vice versa. It works very well and we will be looking at introducing similar measures elsewhere.

Despite that, you will still always get the idiots who want to drive faster. The limit needs to be in place so the police have the powers to enforce the law and those who flout limits should be punished severely.

At the end of the day, lower speed limits should lead to fewer accidents, which is what we are striving to achieve.

Against
Paul Biggs, spokesman for motorist lobby group the Association of British Drivers.

Latest figures show revenue from speeding fines in Sussex has rocketed by £600,000 while the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county's roads has risen by 100.

It proves that concentrating on speed is simply not working. Police should be looking at drink driving and the numbers of people driving illegally with no insurance.

Some 10,000 children a year get knocked down in Britain but fewer than one per cent of those are killed. That does not suggest to me that people are driving recklessly near schools.

Speed limits are there as the maximum speed in perfect conditions.

Often people will drive slower than the maximum, especially if near a school. But to impose a blanket 20mph limit is over the top.

Children are only outside the school at certain times of the day, and not at all during lengthy school holidays.

I would rather see someone driving at 30mph and concentrating than at 20mph and constantly watching the speedometer. Road conditions should dictate how fast people drive. It is as simple as that.

There has already been significant abuse of 20mph zones, as well as widespread abuse of the right to introduce 30mph, 40mph and 50mph limits on rural roads by local authorities.

Many places which require slow speeds are so obviously hazardous that almost all drivers drive at less than 20mph without the need for a limit. But 20mph limits have another problem if they are set unreasonably and rigidly enforced.

It is virtually impossible to drive a vehicle at 20mph when road conditions dictate a higher speed and still maintain a proper level of concentration and attentiveness on what is going on around.

Currently, 20mph limits are largely enforced by traffic calming measures, which means that even though drivers' attention is focused on them rather than on scanning for real hazards, at least the driver is concentrating on something outside the vehicle.

If 20mph limits are to be enforced by the normal methods, then the focus of concentration will be on the speedometer only - lunacy in an urban environment.

The other issue is how this will be enforced.

I don't think the average taxpayer would be happy to see road police out with speed guns, stopping people driving at 30mph.

This may well have the psychological effect of antagonising drivers who could drive faster out of frustration.

What do you think? Leave your comments below.