20's Plenty

Some of you may have seen the weekend papers which ran stories on this report from Queen's University Belfast. In fact the report in the Queen' s University website had exactly the headline shown above. It was a report that reviewed available previous research on 20mph zones and limits. It reviewed 9 20mph "Zone" reports and 2 20mph "limit" reports... . Its conclusion was :- "This review suggests 20 mph zones are effective in reducing collisions and casualties. However, it provides insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on the effect of 20 mph zones on pollution, inequalities or liveability. For 20 mph limits more rigorous evaluations are required in order to draw robust conclusions." Basically it was saying that the 2 reports used on 20mph were not thorough enough to draw "robust" conclusions. One of these reports was the Atkins report which we have also criticised for not being thorough enough to be meaningful. Much of our criticism of Atkins can be seen in a previous blog where we call-out the questions which still need to be answered. This is the email sent by our campaigner Rita Antonelli in Ashtead, Surrey to a local councillor. We think it shows an excellent example of the work done by our campaigners across the country.Thanks to Rita for allowing us to use her email. 20s Plenty for Us campaign for community-wide 20mph limits and separated, high quality infrastructure where higher vehicle speeds are justified. Infrastructure costs are due to letting drivers travel at speeds where interactions between cyclist and motor vehicles are unsafe. The cost of infrastructure is largely the cost of driving at speed and are not costs of cycling and walking. If your councils policy doesnt yet support wide area 20mph signed limits, then an update to align it with public health best practice is needed. How? Tactics include calling for a best practice update to the Cabinet Member for Transport, Leader, Director of Public Health, scrutiny or in manifestos.Read More