Top medical charities want 20mph limits on all urban roads to save lives

BY ROB EDWARDS

REDUCING speed limits to 20mph on residential roads across Scotland will cut air pollution and save lives, according to medical experts and environmentalists. Heart and lung charities have backed a new Sunday Herald campaign to introduce 20mph limits as the default in urban areas. Any move to improve air quality would benefit the health of hundreds of thousands of adults and children, they say.

Evidence suggests that slowing down cars from 30mph to 20mph can lead to less acceleration and deceleration, resulting in lower toxic exhaust emissions. Studies have also found that 20mph zones reduce congestion, and hence pollution. The Sunday Herald revealed in January that air pollution from vehicles breached legal safety limits on 14 streets in eight cities and towns during 2016. We have also reported that the lack of 20mph limits on thousands of streets around the country had made the dangers of death or serious injury from road accidents into a “postcode lottery”.

The Scottish Greens environment spokesman, Mark Ruskell MSP, is planning to bring a bill to the Scottish Parliament to cut the normal speed limit in residential areas from 30mph to 20mph. “Air pollution is causing poor health and early deaths,” he said. “Reducing speed in built-up areas has been shown to cut the pollution from diesel vehicles that can trigger heart attacks and gives many people difficulty breathing.”

Ruskell welcomed the backing of health experts. “A 20mph limit is a low-cost measure that not only reduces exhaust pollution but also makes streets more attractive for walking and cycling,” he argued.

“It’s not a silver bullet but a 20mph limit is a vital first step in making our communities safer and healthier.”

Environmentalists say that air pollution kills 2,500 people a year in Scotland. It is known to increase the risks of heart attacks and strokes, and to worsen lung diseases such as asthma.

According to the British Lung Foundation, Glasgow has the highest death rate from lung disease in Britain, 89 per cent above average.