Glasgow and Edinburgh both back new 20mph speed limit
ABID to make 20mph speed limits the norm on roads in residential urban areas across Scotland has been backed by two SNP local government chiefs.
The leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, and the leader of Edinburgh City Council, Adam McVey, have both come out in favour of reducing the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph. They say this would help them introduce traffic-calming and create a culture of “pedestrian priority”.
Eighty per cent of responses to a public consultation have also supported a 20mph Members’ Bill being put forward by the Scottish Green MSP, Mark Ruskell. They included 200 organisations, such as local authorities, community coun- cils, parent groups and health charities. The consultation on Ruskell’s Bill, which is being backed by the Sunday Herald, has now closed. According to the Scottish Greens, 2,200 individual and groups responded, with eight out of every 10 in favour of default 20mph limits.
Ruskell said he would now work with the Scottish Parliament’s bills unit to progress his proposal, and seek support from across the political spectrum. His aim was “to reduce deaths and injuries and improve air quality”.
He is heartened by the backing for his Bill to make local streets safer. “People are at risk of being killed or injured because of the inappropriate, 100-year-old, 30mph speed limit in our busiest streets,” he argued. “Many communities are being choked with poor air quality. The Scottish Government has the power to reduce speed limits but it has so far chosen not to, despite the clear evidence from health experts about the benefits of 20mph.”
Glasgow City Council has implemented over 200km of 20mph zones in residential areas, with a further 155km planned. “We want to change the relationship between pedestrians, cyclists and motorised vehicles on our city streets and roads,” said Aitken.
“A national default position of 20mph zones for residential areas would make the extension of traffic-calming measures, particularly around schools and very much with the elderly and vulnerable in mind, both easier and more cost-efficient.”
Edinburgh City Council is rolling out plans to make 80 per cent of the capital’s streets subject to a 20mph speed limit. This was “helping to change the relationship between road users and make our whole urban environment more pedestrian and cycle friendly”, said leader McVey.
Katharine Brough, the travel plan manager for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde argued that a 20mph limit would be a “positive measure” for air quality. She said that “20mph limits save lives and make safer streets, encouraging people to walk and cycle”. Ruskell’s Bill has also been supported by the campaign group 20’s Plenty for Us. It pointed out that more than 80 per cent of the 129,837 casualties on built-up roads across the UK in 2016 were in 30mph zones.
According to the group, 588 were killed and a further 12,849 seriously injured on 30mph roads in the UK last year. Depending upon age, the chances of surviving a 20mph crash are seven to 10 times greater than surviving a 30mph crash, it claimed. The founder of 20’s Plenty for US, Rod King, pointed out that 30mph limits were being replaced by 20mph limits around the world.
“The 30mph limit is no longer fit for purpose,” he said.
“It is unjust, unjustifiable and needs to be consigned to history. A routinely enforced 20mph limit should be the new urban norm with higher speeds only allowed on those roads that protect pedestrians and cyclists.”
People are at risk of being killed or injured because of the inappropriate, 100-year-old, 30mph speed limit