Councillors set local road speed limits whereas MPs set them nationally. Please write urgently to your Councillors calling for 20’s Plenty for the NHS.  Health services face their greatest ever challenge from this pandemic.  Every crash victim fewer frees up capacity for Covid-19.  Empower local politicians. Example letter below. Circulate it to your elists and social media.

Search “Councillors” on your council site.  Email your local Councillor, Council leader, Cabinet member for Transport,  the Cabinet e.g. lead for Health and Social Care - all Councillors ideally. Some Council’s provide a downloadable contact mailing list. Copy it, turn the text into a table to get quick elists. Ask [email protected] for help if needed. You don't have to copy this template but maybe use it as an example. Please personalise it as you wish.

Anna Semlyen, 20’s Plenty for Us National Campaign Manager said

“Every time you call for 20mph limits it helps politicians feel empowered to do it!  Our letters offer them a public mandate for change.  Writing to amplify and spread agreement with the medics call for 20’s Plenty for the NHS will make a difference. Copy the above and add your local story and flavour. Get writing and emailing!”

See also http://www.20splenty.org/lower_the_baseline, http://www.20splenty.org/covid-19_and_lower_speeds

https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/03/24/can-we-improve-the-nhss-ability-to-tackle-covid-19-through-emergency-public-health-interventions/ Press release from Shropshire Greens at https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/health/coronavirus-covid19/2020/04/01/green-party-calls-for-lowering-of-speed-limits-during-pandemic/

https://lowerthebaseline.org/

Your address and date

Dear Councillor

Medics know that the NHS may be overwhelmed by Covid-19 for months.  To help, they are calling on the Government for an emergency measure to reduce the National road speed limit to 20mph. In lockdown, traffic is right down, but speeding is up on the clearer roads. London police, for example, are reporting some very high speeds and that speed related collisions do not appear to be falling. In Manchester there is a huge rise in speeding too.

Councillors can help the NHS by supporting the 20’s Plenty for the NHS campaign asking drivers go at a maximum speed of 20mph on urban roads.  (Say if petitions have been submitted on this).  20mph is coming anyway. It’s accepted as national and global best practice in the Stockholm Declaration signed by the UK in February.  Councillors have powers to limit local road speeds. I’m asking that *your Council name* take the lead on protecting *your place* people!  Locally in *your place* I’m calling on the Council please, as soon as possible, to

• Request drivers go no more than 20mph with press releases, emails to all council staff, on media and twitter, radio etc  
• Loudly call on our MP to support lowering the baseline load on the NHS with 20mph limits.
• Call for a National 20mph limit from the Government as an emergency measure
• Other ways to ask drivers to slow down as you decide are practical, but do it now!

Every single one less road casualty this year helps other sick people by not blocking hospital beds needed by Covid or other people who are unwell. The Isle of Man have already reduced road speeds to a maximum of 40mph. Speeds were reduced in the oil crisis to a maximum limit of 50mph.

I’m calling on *your council name* to step up and act now.  Pre lockdown there were 100 road casualty admissions a day to England’s hospitals - 35,000 a year and 100,000 casualties pa on 30mph roads.  Even with less road traffic moving about, thousands of people would be prevented from needing ambulance and hospital care if the speed were 20mph in built up areas. Benefits are factored up because each crash avoided trauma frees up medical resources for other ill patients. The costs are tiny and benefits are huge. 

See http://www.20splenty.org/lower_baseline and http://www.20splenty.org/nhs_faqs

I look forward to your positive response.  Do you personally support a 20mph emergency limit?

Yours faithfully

Your name (20’s Plenty for *your place* and perhaps job title especially if it is emergency services related)