Safe Speed Forums

Viewing another post on this forum, I came across this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19226144

11 August 2012 Last updated at 18:17

Casualties on 20mph roads up by quarter in 2011

Motoring organisations have questioned the safety success of 20mph zones

The number of people injured or killed on Britain's roads in 20mph zones rose by 24% in 2011, it has emerged.

Councils were given powers to designate the zones to improve safety in 2009.

Some 2,262 people were road casualties in the zones last year - 1,966 of them minor injuries - according to the Department for Transport figures.

But this is only a fraction of the number of casualties on 30mph roads where more than 125,000 were reported in 2011, a drop of 1% on 2010.

Safety campaigners have suggested lower speed limits make crashes less likely and less severe when they do happen but the figures have triggered a debate on how useful the restrictions are.

Local transport minister Norman Baker said: "It's vital that speed limits are suitable for local conditions and councils are best placed to determine what these limits are, based on local knowledge and the views of the community," he said.

'Jury out'

Neil Greig, director of policy at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said evidence on 20mph areas "now seems very mixed and contradictory".

"The IAM has always expressed concern that such areas were being seen as a magic bullet to stop all accidents when this had never been clearly proven...

"In our view the main benefits of 20mph zones are health and environmental improvements. The jury is still out on their wider road safety success."

Figures released in July show that in 2010-11, 1,901 people were killed on Britain's roads. That is 51 more than the year before and the first rise since 2003.

According to the figures, there were seven deaths in 20mph zones last year, a 17% rise on 2010 while there were 636 deaths in 30mph zones, up 13%.

There were 289 serious injuries in 20mph zones last year, a 39% rise year-on-year.

However, the Department for Transport could not give figures for how many 20mph zones existed in 2011 compared with 2010, which could put the rise in casualties in more context.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said the increase in 20mph casualties was "worrying" but represented small numbers compared with accidents on 30mph roads where 13,168 people were seriously injured in 2010.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the society, said: "Road deaths and serious injuries on Britain's roads as a whole increased in 2011 after consistently falling for many years.

"We need to understand why and to ensure that sufficient resources are devoted to road safety to make sure that one year's increase does not turn into a long term trend."

Update 17 August 2012: This story has been amended to clarify that there are no official figures showing if the number of 20mph zones has increased significantly.


I don't know what to say about 20mph speed limits. I'm

Note the get out clause at the bottom of the article.

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

Perhaps if said minister stopped preaching and treated drivers as responsible persons, who know a bit more about driving than the elderly council officer with her wicker basket bike ,and listened to the advice of the local police rather than the chairperson of the WRI and drivers educated in a non patronising manner, then we might see some compaderie on UK roads. OH-and if we saw Police persons on foot tackling the jaywalking menace on the 20 roads ,then we might see safety return to our roads without mandatory 20 limits.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

We've been through this.

If one year you have zero roads that are 20mph and the next year 100 the number of incidents in 20mph areas will most likely go up infinity percent.

And, ar the same time you have 100 30 mph roads and the next year zero 30mph roads, incidents in 30mph roads will go down infinity percent.

It's not hard.

"Jaywalking menace"? You mean people say crossing the road to get to their cars for instance? Or to visit a neighbour?

So did the mileage of 20 mph roads increase by 20% or more between 2010 and 2011?


There's plenty of evidence that, as speeds reduce, so does perceived risk, and pedestrians take less care. It seems like human nature to me.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Do you know, I think this is the only statistically viable post that Weepej has ever posted.

However, my personal take is that motorists are so brainwashed into thinking that 20 mph is totally safe, even if you hit a pedestrian, that the brain switches off. Making an incident infinitely more likely.

We are constantly told that hit a child at 30 and there is a large percentage chance they will die, hit them at 20 and there is a large percentage chance they will live. We are losing the perspective that if we don't hit that child then that child stands a 100% chance of survival!

Motorists AND pedestrians.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

There was a letter in the local paper recently from someone who had hit a pony in the New Forest at night and was affronted when they were handed the bill for the incident. They felt it wasn't their fault as they had set their cruise control at 35mph (the blanket limit is 40mph) and the horse "came out of nowhere at full gallop".

So, the incessant concentration on speed made this driver think that if the limit is 40mph and you are doing 35mph then you must be safe. Try looking where you are going instead.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Totally agreed Malcolm!

Whatever happened to 'look at the road ahead' ....

Portsmouth's 20mph zone now has the highest percentage of accidents per volume of traffic in the entire UK now - says it all.

It creates a false sense of security. It creates boredom = lack of attention.
Full circle and back to lack of attention and frustration is the prime cause of accidents.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.