Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Green Party call for 20mph streets
‘All of Wales should have a 20mph speed limit’ Oct 28 2008 by Steffan Rhys, Western Mail
ALL of Wales’ residential areas should have 20mph speed limits, it was claimed yesterday.
The Wales Green Party also said speed limits on town and city arterial roads should be reduced to just 30mph, as it claimed that new accident figures show England has cut accidents involving children far more than Wales.
New analysis of road casualty figures from the Department of Transport showed a 49% reduction in children killed or seriously injured in Wales between 1994 and 2007. However, this is compared to a much bigger reduction of 68% in England.
The Green Party analysis of the pedestrian casualties also shows they are much higher for areas with high levels of deprivation, many of which are urban areas with low levels of car ownership.
The UK wide statistics, analysed by deprivation score, show that the number of pedestrians killed or injured on the roads rises from 21 casualties per 100,000 people in the least deprived areas to 70 casualties per 100,000 people in the most deprived areas, more than a threefold increase for the poorest neighbourhoods.
Green Party supporters, Green councillors and campaign groups around Wales and the UK are now campaigning for 20 mph to become the default speed limit on residential roads in urban areas to reduce the number of deaths and injuries.
Wales Green Party european candidate, Cardiff- based Jake Griffiths, said Cardiff was an ideal candidate for 20mph zones followed by other towns and cities across Wales.
Swansea has pioneered the use of 20mph zones in Wales with dozens of roads outside schools having the 20mph limit but there are no blanket limits in Wales at the moment.
Mr Griffiths said: “Places in England and countries like Holland are showing that these zones work and people accept the limits, with police not having to have much intervention.”
A new survey by the Cardiff Green Party taking in the views of 300 residents in Canton, found 80% support for the introduction of 20mph speed limits in all residential areas.
Mr Griffiths, an environmental consultant, said : “The figures show that this is a social justice issue as well as a safety and environmental issue and that Wales is improving at a slower rate than England or Scotland.
“It is shocking that the number of pedestrians killed or injured is so much higher for the most deprived areas.
“The Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones is currently consulting on guidance on the implementation of slower speeds and could really make a difference by encouraging the introduction of 20mph in all residential areas – we urge him to take this opportunity.
“With a default 20mph speed limit, fewer road humps are needed than with limited ‘home zones’, and it is easier to communicate the message that 20mph is the appropriate speed on residential roads where children and people of all ages need to be able to walk about safely.
“Lower speed limits don’t just create safer streets for everyone, they also mean better air quality and lower carbon emissions as they encourage more people to walk and cycle.”
However, the RAC Foundation has called for caution over 20mph blanket zones.
Research development manager, Elizabeth Dainton, said recently that more research was needed before 20mph zones were comprehensively rolled out across the country. She said policy development should not speed ahead of understanding, local considerations and public acceptance.
The RAC Foundation’s paper she presented at a recent conference found that 95% of all pedestrian casualties and 92% of cyclist casualties were killed or injured on built up roads with speed limits under 40mph.
She said: “Speed is not the only factor which leads to these accidents as driver behaviour, which includes speed, is a factor in 26% of all accidents, whereas failing to look is the biggest cause of collisions [at 68%]. I therefore argue that driver training and education are as important as reducing speed when it comes to improving UK casualty figures.”
20’s Plenty For Us
20’s Plenty
For Us welcomes Transport Committee support for increased use of 20 mph limits
The full report with submissions from all parties may be downloaded from http://www.p
ublications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtran.htm
The latest Road Safety Report from the House of Commons Transport Committee calls for “Ending the scandal of Complacency” associated with road casualties.
It notes that whilst UK had a good international record up to the year 2000 this has been tarnished by lack of progress in death on our roads since then. Road accidents are the largest single cause of death for people between the ages of 5 and 35.
Key points that 20’s Plenty for Us noted in the report were :-
· It both recognised the demand from communities for safer stre
ets and the role that 20 mph for urban and residential streets plays in delivering that safety. Para 60.· It recognises the need to differentiate between casualty reduction and danger reduction. Other countries have gone much further than the UK in adapting their urban areas for safer walking and cycling. Para 87.· It notes that local traffic authorities have been successful at treating accident black spots, but as there are consequently fewer treatable sites there is the need to move toward improving the safety of our infrastructure in a broader and more systematic manner. Para 57.· It calls for a new vision for road safety in Britain, and recognises how casualty reduction, danger reduction, sustainable transport, economic efficiency, climate change, social inclusion and physical health should all be integrated. Para 136.
· It points out the initiative of towns like Portsmouth who have recently set all residential streets to a speed limit of 20 mph at minimal cost. Para 58.
Rod King, Founder of 20’s Plenty For Us said :- “This report reinforces much that has been recognised by road danger reduction campaigners. There is too much complacency in the UK regarding road deaths. We still have the view that they are inevitable, yet other countries are proving far more effective at ensuring that their chil
dren live longer, have more independent mobility and quality of life.
At 20 mph our streets become community public spaces where all road users can bene
fit from equitably interacting and sharing the road.
Most people support 20 mph f
or residential streets and we
now need local authorities to respond to that demand and changing culture to provide a safe environment for their chil
dren and adults to walk and
cycle as well as drive.”
For more information about 20’
s Plenty For Us, including info
rmation on the “Streets Ahead” conference exploring how we can create safer streets for
walking and cycling see www.20splentyforus.org.uk and www.streets-ahead.org
Local Authorities now committed to 20 mph for residential streets with po
pulations:-
Leicester 292,600 Portsmouth 197,000 Oxford 151,000 Norwich 132,200
20’s Plenty For Us campaigns for a 20mph default speed limits in residential streets without physical calming.
mail rodk@20splentyforus.org.uk Website www.20splentyforus.org.uk Conference www.streets-ahead.org
20's Plenty For Us www.20splentyforus.org.uk
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
way road traffic injuries are recorded is "flawed".
The transport select committee also said that the current drink-drive limit should be lowered, roadside breath test devices should be approved and there should be tougher penalties for alcohol-related offences.
In addition the committee also repeated its call for restrictions on young drivers carrying teenage passengers between 11pm and 5am and added that there should be more 20mph speed limits.
The death toll on the roads should be seen as "the major public health problem of our age", said the committee's chairman, Louise Ellman.
Calling for a review of the gathering of road casualty statistics, the report said: "There is a significant body of evidence that the current methods for recording road traffic injuries are flawed."
MPs also said that there should be new road death reduction targets separate from those set for serious and slight injuries. Ellman said: "The number of deaths and injuries on our roads far outweighs the deaths and injuries in other transport modes or in other work-related accidents.
"We need to start seeing this not only as a collection of individual tragedies but also as the major public health problem of our age. The deaths of 3,000 people and injuries to a quarter of a million are a staggering annual toll to pay for mobility."
Although 2007 saw a seven per cent fall in road user deaths, the committee pointed out that overall progress since 2000 has been disappointing.
Little progress has been made in reducing deaths among car users and there has been a significant rise in motorcyclist deaths, which rose by 26 per cent between 1994-1998 and 2007.
The report said: "It is imperative that the Home Office gives much higher priority to enforcement of drink-drive and drug-drive offences.
"This should include the type approval of roadside evidential breath-testing devices and development of equipment to assist the police to identify and prosecute drug-impaired drivers."
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
poor transport threatens growth
An underfunded transport network is threatening Wales' ability to sustain economic growth, a report says.
The Institution of Civil Engineers Wales (ICE) report said the transport network was deteriorating and more money would have to be found.
Keith Jones, the director of ICE Wales, said the current levels of transport investment were "inadequate to meet the needs of modern Wales".