Its good to see this recent communication from the Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, Bill Longmore, after a meeting with the Chief Constable, David Shaw. The following statement was agreed by both :-

“The same criteria should be applied to 20mph as any other lawfully imposed speed limit. The force’s position is that if there is an evidence basis to merit a road having a 20mph speed limit we would expect local authorities to consider implementing that limit. We will then work with partners to enforce those limits applying the same approach we use on other speed limits.”  

The full PCC response is shown below :-

Police & Crime Commissioner Bill Longmore says “the police will do their part”, if the use of 20mph zones is extended across West Mercia.

The Commissioner ran a public consultation on the subject in recent months, attracting some impassioned arguments from all sides of the debate. A number of people made the case for new 20mph zones in their local area, and the majority of respondents were generally in favour of 20mph limits.

In response to the consultation, PCC Bill Longmore said: “I am very grateful to all the people that took the time to take part in the consultation. I have read all the responses that came in with great interest. It’s clearly an issue that some people feel very strongly about”.

“It’s important to be clear - neither myself, nor the police have any authority to actually introduce 20mph limits. However, community safety and safety on the roads are naturaly subjects that are linked to policing, and this is a subject many people have mentioned to me on my travels around West Mercia, so I wanted to formally see how people felt about the issue.”

“What was clear, is that there are specific areas within our force area where people passionately believe that a change in speed restrictions would make their community a better, safer place.”

“My message and commitment to them now, is that if a successful case is made and local authorities introduce 20mph zones, then the police will do their part, and work to enforce that limit. I discussed the subject with Chief Constable David Shaw, and we agreed on the following:

“The same criteria should be applied to 20mph as any other lawfully imposed speed limit. The force’s position is that if there is an evidence basis to merit a road having a 20mph speed limit we would expect local authorities to consider implementing that limit. We will then work with partners to enforce those limits applying the same approach we use on other speed limits.” 

The PCC continued: “It’s important to stress that although the police will enforce speed limits as normal, the best types of 20mph areas are those where the limit is almost self-enforcing. Road layouts that are engineered and designed to keep drivers to lower speeds are much safer. Places that accompany a 20mph limit with things like road humps, chicanes or kerb extensions will have much more success, although I appreciate there are significant costs involved in those sorts of things”.

“I know our local authorities share our values and commitment to road and community safety, and have all supported 20mph zones in different parts of West Mercia. From what I have seen, people in some communities really do want to see them extended, so I would urge them to get the necessary evidence, and I am sure our local councils will listen. Myself and the police will do everything possible to help the public and our partners to achieve the best solutions for our communities.”