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Forcing drivers to go much slower can actually lead to more deaths and injuries on roads, a UK report suggests.
According to an official UK report, which the Daily Mail has revealed, road safety is not improved by reducing the speed limit to 20mph (about 32km/h) in residential streets. This comes after British towns were planning to introduce this speed limit across the country.
The Department for Transport report looked at Portsmouth, where the speed limit has already been introduced and showed that the number of people killed or seriously injured had actually increased. The previous speed limit was 30mph (about 48km/h).
The average number of people killed or seriously injured annually in Portsmouth actually rose from 18.7 to 19.9 after the speed limit scheme was implemented in 2007.
However analysts are suggesting that if there were speed cameras and speed humps to enforce the speed limit, this would encourage drivers to reduce their average speed a lot more effectively than relying on motorists to simply obey the law, which is the case in Portsmouth.
Transport minister Norman Baker has also put his full weight behind 20mph limits across the country. The Daily Mail reported him to have said, “For a child being hit at 30mph and 20mph is the difference between life and death.
“But this is also about making our town centres more attractive places to live and work, and reducing carbon emissions by encouraging people to cycle or walk.”
Cameras
However the Daily Mail also reported that speed cameras can also affect accident rates and can be what Roderick Bluh, leader of the Tory council, has called “revenue raisers”.
Apparently when speed cameras were not on, the number of accidents was reduced quite dramatically.
In Swindon, there were 14 minor and two serious accidents when cameras were switched off. However the year before, when the cameras were working, there were 15 minor, five serious and one fatal accident.
According to an official UK report, which the Daily Mail has revealed, road safety is not improved by reducing the speed limit to 20mph (about 32km/h) in residential streets. This comes after British towns were planning to introduce this speed limit across the country.
The Department for Transport report looked at Portsmouth, where the speed limit has already been introduced and showed that the number of people killed or seriously injured had actually increased. The previous speed limit was 30mph (about 48km/h).
The average number of people killed or seriously injured annually in Portsmouth actually rose from 18.7 to 19.9 after the speed limit scheme was implemented in 2007.
However analysts are suggesting that if there were speed cameras and speed humps to enforce the speed limit, this would encourage drivers to reduce their average speed a lot more effectively than relying on motorists to simply obey the law, which is the case in Portsmouth.
Transport minister Norman Baker has also put his full weight behind 20mph limits across the country. The Daily Mail reported him to have said, “For a child being hit at 30mph and 20mph is the difference between life and death.
“But this is also about making our town centres more attractive places to live and work, and reducing carbon emissions by encouraging people to cycle or walk.”
Cameras
However the Daily Mail also reported that speed cameras can also affect accident rates and can be what Roderick Bluh, leader of the Tory council, has called “revenue raisers”.
Apparently when speed cameras were not on, the number of accidents was reduced quite dramatically.
In Swindon, there were 14 minor and two serious accidents when cameras were switched off. However the year before, when the cameras were working, there were 15 minor, five serious and one fatal accident.
