Survival rate on 20mph roads 17.5% higher, say motor safety groups

Motor safety experts say 20mph policies are anti-death, not anti-motorist

With road fatalities on the rise, the introduction of 20mph roads across the UK could save hundreds of lives a year.

Motoring safety experts at Road Angel have criticised Rishi Sunak’s plans to get rid of 20mph zones despite strong evidence it will improve road safety and decrease deaths.

Pedestrians have a much higher chance of survival if hit at 20mph with a 2.5% chance of death, compared to 20% when travelling at 30mph.

The Wales-wide introduction of 20mph speed limits in September has sparked debate across the rest of the UK, with the PM saying a blanket reduction “doesn’t make sense.”

The majority of Wales’ 30mph speed limits will be reduced to 20mph on 17 September 2023, making it the first UK nation to establish a default 20mph limit.

Scotland will also be following in Wales’s strides, with Transport Scotland’s national strategy stating that default 20mph limits will be rolled out to every road in built-up areas across Scotland by 2025.

The World Health Organisation and the UN General Assembly also support the transition to 20mph streets, calling on policymakers to act for low-speed streets worldwide, agreeing it is the right speed limit for people and traffic to mix safely.

It is hoped that introducing the default speed limit on residential roads and busy pedestrian roads will reduce collisions between vehicles and vulnerable road users, and make them safer for playing, walking and cycling.

In 2021, Spain rolled out a national 30km/h (18mph) speed limit on most urban streets after the percentage of vulnerable road traffic victims exceeded the percentage of people killed while in vehicles.

The change led to a 20 percent reduction in mortality rate, and there was a significant decrease in pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists killed.

The latest government figures show that for the year ending June 2022, 29,795 people were reported killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads,  an increase of more than 2,000 from the previous year.

There were 1,695 deaths on British roads last year, which was an 8.7% increase from the year previous.

Despite this, Ministers are considering restrictions on councils’ ability to impose 20mph speed limits as part of a new shift against so-called “anti-motorist” policies and traffic schemes.

Gary Digva, founder of Road Angel, said: “Reports that the government is planning to crack down on councils wanting to lower speed limit zones is extremely concerning.

“Road safety should be the top priority with the high rate of deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads.

“Spain saw a 20 percent mortality rate decrease after implementing the lower speed policies, so there is substantial evidence that this will work to make our roads safer, and potentially save hundreds of lives a year.

“Lowering the speed limit in areas where there are a lot of vulnerable road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians, makes sense as it reduces the risk of fatalities should there be a collision.

“Not only does lowering the speed limit reduce the force and impact of a vehicle, but it also dictates if a driver is able to stop in time to avoid a crash.

“It is disappointing to see that the PM deems life-saving policies as “anti-motorist” when they are in fact anti-death and could save hundreds of lives if introduced across the whole of Britain.”