There was an article on the Speedcam Anywhere app in the Road CC website and a few comments where readers had not understood how it works. I posted the following as an explanation and thought it might be useful.

A new app has been developed that enables any member of the public with a smartphone to gather video evidence of speeding for submission to police for processing and enforcement. This paves the way for wider enforcement and allows police and authorities to align with community demands for speed limit compliance.

We feel that this guest blog is particularly relevant to the update to the Highway Code. It explains the changes and also how default 20mph limits are complementary to these changes. Thanks to Carl Waring of Mooneerams for their perspective.

After a decade without revision, a statutory instrument laid before Parliament last December finally paved the way for a raft of new rules to be introduced into the Highway Code on January 29^th. 

The Department for Transport (DfT) believes that the changes to the Code will Improve safety for vulnerable road users by giving them priority in potentially dangerous situations on or near the highway.

This document provides a critique of the draft Speed Management Strategy as published for public consultation by the Highways and Transport Committee of Cheshire East Council at the meeting on 16^th Nov 2021. Members of the public may comment until 31^st Jan 2022 on the Cheshire East website here.

We advise rejection of the Strategy on several counts.

Wide-area 20mph schemes are already common in urban authorities and “20mph as a norm” is government policy in Wales[1] and Scotland[2]. Now, the desire for 20mph speed limits is sweeping across rural communities throughout the UK. County authorities are starting to answer a call to action from town and parish councils who are giving voice to local residents’ aspirations for 20’s Plenty.

[1] https://www.20splenty.org/welsh_20mph_report

[2] https://www.20splenty.org/scotgov_says_20splenty

What are communities wanting?

Communities across the world are asking for 20mph (30km/h) as a norm in cities, towns and villages.

Local people understand how higher vehicle speeds blight communities and inhibit their ability to walk, cycle and use public transport; they know that lower speeds save lives and reduce pollution; and they appreciate that 20mph can be the cornerstone of building inclusive communities.  In successive UK government surveys, 70% said that 20mph was the right speed limit for residential streets.

With the Welsh government already committed to a national default 20mph limit for urban and village roads, the Scottish Government has announced that it plans[1] for 20mph to become the norm in built-up areas. This aligns with global best practice[2] that 20mph or 30km/h is the maximum permissible speed on roads used by pedestrians and cyclists unless a higher limit is evidentially safe. It is a key component of Scotland’s response to the Climate Emergency and helps to support Active Travel.

Setting 20mph/30kmh limits fits with global goals for health, sustainability and the climate. Though at first glance speeds seem to be about roads, actually they are about people and the world we want to live in. Broad and lasting benefits accrue to people and planet from normalising 20mph/30kmh. Climate, safety, active travel, place-making, the economy and quality of life are all helped.  Lower speed limits have wins now and for future generations.

So many cities, towns and counties have rejected their national default limits of 30mph or 50km/h and set lower limits for most roads. It is not because their roads are abnormal, but because the national limit is seen as no longer meeting the community needs. But that can and is being changed at national level.

Now that 20mph or 30km/h limit is accepted as the urban best practice norm, we examine the case for setting the limit at national level.  This provides so many benefits in terms of value for money, consistency, messaging and results.

• Hear how Spain becomes first country to set its national urban 30km/h default in May 2021
• Hear how Wales is planning a national 20mph default for 2023
• Hear the benefits from national implementation over city by city
• Hear the WHO global view on 30km/h urban limits
• Hear the campaigner view on a 20mph national urban limit
• Hear the medical and public health case for lower speeds

The webinar will be chaired by Deborah Sims, Senior Vice President, Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation

Speakers already confirmed are :-

• Álvaro Gómez Méndez, Head of the National Road Safety Observatory, DGT, Spain
• Nhan Tran, Head of Safety and Mobility, WHO
• Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Wales
• Scarlett McNally, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Eastbourne DGH[1]
• Richard Thorold, Trustee, Louis Thorold Foundation
• Rod King MBE, Founder and Campaign Director, 20’s Plenty for Us

After short presentations there will be a panel discussion answering questions from attendees.

Whether you are a campaigner, politician, transport engineer, road safety professional, public health professional or NGO you will find this webinar a ground-breaking one by discussing the UNGRSW call at a national level. It also shows the way forward to using 30km/h and 20mph limits as the foundation for the future liveability of our urban and village spaces, and for the UN's 2nd Decade of Action on Road Safety - 2021 to 2030.

The webinar is free and you can register here.

[1] Scarlett is also lead author for ‘Exercise the miracle cure’ and represents the Royal College of Surgeons of England on the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change

The UN are calling for 20mph or 30km/h speed limits to become the norm in places where people on foot or on bicycle mix with motor vehicles. It is the key focus of the 6th UN Global Road Safety Week running from 17th-23rd May.

This is backed by science and the call from communities to set speed limits that are compatible with liveable communities.

Local governments in towns, cities and villages around the world are rejecting nationally set 30mph or 50km/h speed limits as no longer “fit for purpose” in meeting the needs of citizens and society. 20mph or 30km/h is now seen as the maximum safe speed limit where motor vehicles mix with pedestrians and cyclists unless there are adequate segregated and crossing provisions. 

National governments should set 20mph or 30km/h as their national default urban/village speed limit.

Many people ask what to do if the average speed on a road is 25mph or above. Can you set a 20mph limit? Lets consider what I call "The 25mph Conundrum".

Setting speed limits based on what drivers think is the right speed is a flawed approach. This is considered in a recent report from NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials). It concludes that "Relying on a percentile-based system focused on current driver behavior, rather than a defined safety target to set speed limits, significantly limits cities’ ability to reduce traffic deaths.

So lets go through the logic of solving this conundrum for UK situations.

I have been having a discussion on LinkedIn with some engineers on the choice of building "self-explaining" roads rather than wide-area speed limits after posting this infographic.  My response was rather too long for the usual character limit on LinkedIn, hence it initiated this blog.

Here we have some pictures used by campaigners. You can right click on any of the images to download them.

Use this photo for your Valentine day Tweets, Facebook and social media posts

Campaigners in Chester making and using 20mph signs to remind drivers to keep to the speed limit

An Irish child calls for 30km/h limits in UN Global Road Safety Week 2017

Aldersgate Street, London

Our banner being used outside a school in Buntingford

Blackfriars Bridge, London - a main arterial road into the city.

A driver shows support for a 30km/h limit

A council banner used to support engagement with drivers in London Borough of Camden

The squeezed cyclist

Enforcement in 20mph areas.

Creative campaigners during Halloween

Children gain most from 20mph limits making their roads better places to be

Campaigners for a 30km/h limit in Argentina

Community event in the Isle of Wight

Another lamp post banner in Lambeth

See the world through the "eyes of a child" and 30mph becomes scary.

Another arterial road with a 20mph limit.

20's Plenty for cyclists

Do you like Quality Streets?

A 30mph urban limit is no longer "fit for purpose" in our towns and villages.

A bike isn't just for Christmas - its the key to children's independent mobility

20's Plenty across the world - This picture from Seattle

Each year thousands of residents use their waste bins to say that 20's Plenty 

London Mayor, Sadiq Khan made 20's Plenty one of his pledges before election.

Life is simply better at 20. 

Intelligent Speed Assistance - What it is and how it will affect compliance on speed limits

A briefing by Rod King for the Welsh Government 20mph Task and Finish Group - 30^th December 2019