SPEED limits in Scotland's residential areas could be reduced to 20mph under new plans.

The Department for Transport is this week expected to start consulting on new speed limit guidelines in England and Wales.

And the Scottish Government is expected to produce a major new road safety strategy later in the spring.

Stewart Stevenson, the Scottish Transport Minister, has gathered together the nation's top experts to find ways to cut casualties on the nation's roads.

Scotland has already announced it will consider speed-limiting devices which, when fitted to cars, could prevent almost a third of injury accidents on the roads, as part of the forthcoming Scottish Road Safety Strategy.

The 20mph move is designed to reduce road fatalities even further, building on the lowest figures for road deaths since records began more than 80 years ago.

In 2007, 2940 people died, down 7% on the previous year. Of those, 644 were pedestrians.

Research shows pedestrians hit by a vehicle at 20mph have a greater chance of survival. Only one in 40 dies at 20mph, against one in five at 30mph.

Four English councils - Portsmouth, Newcastle, Oxford and Leicester - have already decided to impose a blanket 20mph speed limit on all their residential roads and near schools.

A number of Scottish councils, including Glasgow and Lanarkshire, have already introduced 20mph signs around schools and some residential areas. However, these have green circles and are advisory signs.

Meanwhile, a campaign was launched today by Transport Scotland and the Deer Commission for Scotland to warn drivers of the deadly dangers of deer on roads.

Around three people a year are killed and numerous others seriously injured in approximately 10,000 accidents involving deer as they roam across rural and suburban roads.