Campaigners have called for the UK to radically cut its speed limits with some roads reduced to just 10mph. The Road Safety Foundation (RSF) has suggested a major reduction in urban speed limits with the introduction of a new cap. Under the suggestion, roads built near schools, hospitals and busy residential areas would be slashed from 20mph or 30mph to just 10mph.
The RSF has also suggested that single-seed limits on single carriageways and country roads should be updated. It believes that cars should be going a whopping 40mph slower, down from the current limit of 60mph to just 20mph. Dr Suzy Charman, Executive Director of the RSF, suggested that speed needed to be cut until infrastructure catches up.
Speaking to The Times, De Suzy said: “We have a clear idea of the speeds [that] would be required to prevent most road deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads.
“We are not saying that all speeds or speed limits should be set to these speeds, rather that infrastructure needs to be improved or speeds reduced to ensure travelled speeds are better aligned with human tolerances to crash forces.”
However, the RSF conceded that areas would remain untouched by their radical suggestions.
30mph would still be permitted on some roads with no interaction between vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists.
Meanwhile, they said that higher speed limits could continue on dual carriageways and motorways.
But, this would only be on the basis that roads were found to have adequate roadside infrastructure and full segregation away from pedestrians and cyclists.
The Road Safety Foundation stressed the proposals would help achieve their ‘Vision Zero’ goal of completely eliminating all deaths and serious injuries behind the wheel.
It would not be the first time that UK speed limits have been updated with Wales already trying out mandatory 20mph roads.
However, Hugh Bladon, a spokesperson for the Alliance of British Drivers, said the suggestion was ”so ridiculous it is simply laughable”.
He explained: “If you ban all motorised transport you might reduce deaths and injury a bit, but we should remember that more people were being killed and injured in the days before motorised transport, by horses and their carriages.”