Blanket Speed Restrictions Deemed Ineffective

According to the RAC, it is far too soon to make negative conclusions from a small scale study into the effectiveness of 20mph limits. Findings from a report by Bath and North East Somerset Council have aroused criticism this week, since it rolled out 13 reduced speed zones last year.

However, an RAC road safety spokesman pointed out that only when best practice studies have been conducted on a greater scale, in a wide variety of environments, can the correct measures for combatting road accidents be properly assessed.

The south west council’s report shows that over the past year, the number of reported incidents had reduced in three of the 13 areas where speed limits were reduced from 30mph to 20mph.

While an additional three areas saw no impact on figures, there was an increase in serious or fatal incidents as a result of speeding across the remaining seven.

Critics were quick to jump on the less-than-resounding impact of the £871,000 scheme, while the RAC highlighted that blanket 20mph zones will regrettably never be the solution to speeding in urban areas.

Safe driving from Britannia!