Default speed limit in built-up areas of England should be 20mph, Government advisers say
Neil Lancefield, Press Association Transport Correspondent
Roads in built-up areas in England should have a default speed limit of 20mph, Government advisers have claimed.
Reducing the limit from 30mph would save money, the independent Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts) said.
Schemes to cut speed limits to 20mph have become increasingly common in the UK and other parts of Europe in recent years as part of efforts to reduce crashes and injuries.
Jamie Hassall, executive director at Pacts, told the Commons Transport Select Committee that requiring local authorities to implement 20mph zones is “expensive” as it involves more signage and paperwork.
He said: “A much cheaper way is to mandate (the roads) as 20mph, and let the local authority, if they want to move (the speed limit) up, give them that ability to do so because that’s where it’s more expensive.
“Rather than making (lowering speed limits) the expensive option.”
He added: “Having guidance that allows people to change the current (default) limit is more expensive and it’s going to take a lot more time.
“A national approach that covers the majority and allows local decisions to increase (speed limits), I would say is a more sensible way forward.”
Wales has 20mph as the default speed limit in built-up areas, while the Scottish Government committed to implementing the limit on “those roads where it is appropriate to do so”.
Some 62 out of 153 local authorities in England have “adopted a policy similar to Scotland”, according to charity Living Streets.
Reducing speed limits from 30mph to 20mph has been one of Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan’s key transport policies, with more than half of the capital’s roads now at the lower level.
Widespread 20mph speed limits have been blamed by location technology company TomTom for London being the world’s “slowest capital city to drive in”.
In April, the Conservative Party launched a Plan for Drivers which included a pledge to “end blanket 20mph schemes”.
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Well shock horror. According to the English Tories in Wales that should destroy England’s economy
Oh no, they’re taking people’s rights away from them. This is a globalist communist pact that is trying to give England to people who aren’t English. This will cost working people a fortune and kill so many people; it’s extremism in its purest form, and we shouldn’t be listening to orders that come from the Davos class to install a blanket speed limit on every road in England….. Etc, etc, etc. I can’t remember all of the misinformation that people were spouting when it was announced that some roads would be dropped to 20mph if the council and community felt… Read more »
Apart from the fact that Bristol implemented the 20 zones in 2010, and Birmingham and London soon after.
Weird how the gammons didn’t throw tantrums then either.