James May says 20mph limits are fast enough

JAMES MAY, the former host, has backed more 20mph zones because it is “plenty fast enough”.

The presenter, nicknamed Captain Slow, said the lower speed limit “makes perfect sense”. Directives could this year make 20mph the default on new or redesigned urban streets.

The Department for Transport is writing the guidance, with a draft entitled Manual for Streets, seen by The Sunday Times, that states: “The default should be to work to a design speed limit of 20mph in urban environments.”

It added that “for residential streets, a maximum design speed of 20mph should be an objective, with significantly lower speeds usually desirable”.

This would be a marked shift given 30mph is currently the national limit on single and dual carriageways with street lights, unless signed otherwise.

May, who now presents The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime, said he would “hate to say I’m very right-on” but that motorists would be “absolutely delighted” to travel constantly at 20mph in cities.

“I would agree that a blanket 20mph would probably be a little bit knuckleheaded, but in a lot of urban places, city centre, towns and villages, actually 20mph makes perfect sense,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“I live in Hammersmith, in west London, which is an area where people seem particularly fond of just running out into the street without looking, which is their prerogative because they’re people not machines, but 20mph is plenty fast enough and 30 does feel too fast.”

The guidance would not create a new, lower national default speed limit but local councils would be empowered to set the limits in their area.

Wales and Scotland are lowering their limits to 20mph in many areas, while Cornwall is rolling out a 20mphonly limit in residential areas by 2026.