15mph zones will increase pollution, say driving groups

PLANS to introduce 15mph zones on major city roads would be worse for the environment than higher speeds, motoring campaigners have said.

The City of London Corporation has announced draft proposals to reduce speed limits in the Square Mile as part of its first long-term strategy to improve road safety and cut pollution.

City officials said while 20mph zones had helped to curtail the number of deaths and serious injuries to cyclists in the Square Mile, record levels of workers on the streets meant the overall number of fatalities had not decreased.

The corporation, which governs the City of London, suggested an authority-wide 15mph restriction could help “eliminate” deaths on the streets by encouraging motorists to show safer behaviours behind the wheel.

The Department for Transport would have to approve any 15mph restriction, thought to be the first of its kind on city centre roads, which the corporation said it wants to adopt by 2022.

IAM RoadSmart and the AA, the motoring groups, claimed the move would not help save lives and could even worsen pollution levels with the constant stop-start of engines causing more harmful emissions to be released.

Rodney Kumar, the IAM RoadSmart spokesman, said: “IAM RoadSmart is against blanket reductions to 20mph, as is the case in many town centres, and we don’t see a proposed reduction to 15mph having the desired effect in terms of congestion, pollution or road safety.

An AA spokesman added: “If they implement a 15mph limit, what is there to gain? What happens with 20mph zones is they bring the vast majority of drivers below 30mph.

“The majority of drivers drive at 25mph in these areas and we would get the same with 15mph zones.

“London traffic moves no faster than a horse and cart anyway and it won’t help with pollution as you have more cars stopping and starting all the time.”