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Backlash against 20mph ‘slowdown’ zones

03 Jan 2013 at 13:16

Proposals to increase the number of 20mph zones in the UK have sparked fears of a backlash from drivers. Motoring organisations have claimed the slow speeds will frustrate those behind the wheel and could even cause driving standards to drop.

The reported backlash neatly demonstrates the positives and negatives of reducing speed limits – and why road safety is not quite as black and white as some legislators would like it to be.

Slower speeds of course mean fewer repercussions in a crash. If a pedestrian is hit at 20mph they have a 15% greater chance of survival than in a collision at 30mph, according to RoadDriver – a signatory to the European Commission’s Road Safety Charter.

But while this is true, IF a collision occurs at 20mph, some motoring groups have hit out at the plans, claiming they’ll have a detrimental affect on road safety.

According to Alliance of British Drivers spokesman and former traffic police officer Keith Peat, widening the spread of these ‘slowdown zones’ will be counter productive and create more accidents:

“What you’ll get is drivers driving to the speedometer. It’s safer that drivers drive to what they’re seeing outside the car and not to what their speed needle is saying.”

Focusing on driving at 20mph – where minute movements of the accelerator can see you exceed the limit easily – could tear your concentration away from the road.

It’s important to focus on everything around you, especially in built-up urban areas where slowdown zones are most widely implemented.

Pedestrians stepping out from behind cars, areas around schools and passengers exiting vehicles into the road all pose potential hazards that require your awareness to avoid. It’s argued that fixing your gaze on the speedometer could see more incidents – such as the above – occur in 20mph areas.

There’s also an environmental cost. According to the Highways Agency’s figures, at 30mph average CO2 emissions for vehicles (including 10% Heavy Goods Vehicles) stands at 188g/km, whereas at 20mph this rises to 221g/km. This is usually due to motorists driving in a lower gear than they normally would.

As CO2 output is linked to fuel consumption, it could thus hurt your motoring outgoings by driving at a slower speed.

There’s no denying a collision at 20mph is less damaging to humans and your vehicle than a crash at 30, but the argument is the number of incidents will increase. If we keep awareness levels behind the wheel high, can it be as effective as reducing the speed limit?