City drops ‘less safe’ 20mph zones

ONE of Britain’s biggest councils is halting the roll-out of 20mph zones after finding they made almost no difference to drivers’ speeds.

Manchester City Council researchers showed a dip of just 0.7mph where new limits had been introduced.

Meanwhile, accident rates had fallen faster in areas outside the zones. On some roads with 20mph limits, average speeds had even risen by around 4mph. The authority yesterday froze its project to create 20mph zones on all minor residential roads, pending a further review, although schemes already under way will be completed. Last night, Howard Cox, founder of the Fair Fuel UK campaign, said: ‘Common sense prevails at last! Drivers have told local authorities for decades that expensive ill-thought out pinch points, 20mph zones and speed bumps don’t work.’

The AA cited a 2015 Department of Transport study of 20mph zones, which found 47 per cent of motorists were driving at least 25 mph. President Edmund King said: ‘It has long been recognised by government that speed limits should reflect the nature of the road and be “evidence-led and selfexplaining”. For many drivers, 20mph speed limits, particularly on main roads, are not.’

Manchester Council first announced plans to introduce the new limit on all minor residential roads to cut accidents in 2012 – at a cost of £1.7million. The measures were first phased in across central, south and east Manchester at a cost of £1million, with the rest of the city due to follow.

But while pedestrian casualties across the whole city dropped around a third from 2012-14 to 2014-16, in three areas where 20mph zones were introduced, casualty figures dropped by as little as 14 per cent.