Bristol gets 20mph speed limits on roads.Reduction in accident frequency and severity*, lower air pollution**, quieter and safer places... 20mph is a great idea! But lets have all residential areas covered, especially around schools, lets also lower speeds on other roads - and lets make sure that 20mph is enforced properly! I hope Bristol City Council goes well beyond tinkering with this green idea.
*At 20mph a pedestrian you knock over stands a 90% chance of surviving. At 40mph they stand a 90% chance of dying. http://www.greenflag.com/help/saferdriving_speed.html
**Most energy is used in accelerating and braking, which happens more frequently in cities . Driving in any particular gear consumes more energy per mile the faster you travel. Driving steadily at 20 mph is more efficient and thus cheaper and cleaner. http://drivingefficiency.org/driving_gently.pdf
Hull, which had 112 zones covering 1,340 hectares of the city all the way back in 2002, 20 mph zones have achieved reductions in injury accidents of:
ReplyDelete— Total accidents -56 per cent
— Killed & seriously injured accidents -90 per cent
— Accidents involving child casualties -64 per cent
— All pedestrian accidents -54 per cent
— Child pedestrian accidents -74 per cent.
This was part of the evidence given to the House of Commons Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee in 2002.
Hull's zones have been estimated by the Institute for Public Policy Research to have saved 200 serious injuries and over a 1,000 minor injuries between 1994 and 2002. The cost of £4m to set up the scheme has saved well over £40m in injury costs.