20 reasons for 20mph

New mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees may review the 20mph speed limits we currently have in the city. 

If/when he does I hope he remembers these 20 reasons for 20mph:

1. The UK’s current default speed limit of 30mph in areas where people live was set in 1934 when there were 1.5 million motor vehicles. In 2012 the figure was a massive 34.5 million!

2. Road traffic in the UK is the single biggest cause of premature deaths for boys and the second biggest cause for girls age five -15. 

3. Every year in Bristol hundreds of people are killed or seriously injured on the roads (see here), the burden falling hardest on the poorest, with 24 of every 100 child pedestrian casualties being in the most deprived neighbourhoods compared to one in 100 in the least deprived. 

4. At 20mph a pedestrian knocked over stands a 90 per cent chance of surviving. At 40mph they stand a 90 per cent chance of dying. See www.20splenty.org

5. A 30mph limit is 60 per cent higher than the 18.5 mph (30 kph) limits that many Northern European cities and towns have for streets where people live. 

6. The vast majority of pedestrian deaths are on urban roads in the UK and we have a higher proportion of pedestrian deaths on the roads than any of our European neighbours.

7. In Hilden, Germany, the setting of their 18.5 mph (30 kph) limit in the early 90s was the foundation of them encouraging cycling and walking at much higher levels than we have.

8. Adults lead more sedentary lives in part because they spend more time in their cars. Children lead less active lives in part because we worry about the dangers posed by road traffic. 

9. The growth of physically inactive lifestyles in industrialised countries has led to what many are calling a major public health crisis. 

10. Preventable illnesses associated with inactivity and obesity include stroke, heart attack, certain cancers, diabetes, and depression.

11. Around 40 per cent of people in the UK report being bothered by noise from traffic, nearly double the figure from the 1970s. 

12. Children living near busy roads suffer significantly higher rates of asthma.

13. West of England Partnership figures show that more than 100,000 Bristolians live in areas where air quality is considered to be potentially damaging to health, so we need a culture shift away from motorised transport.

14. Cars travelling too fast in residential areas have helped to create social degradation. Neighbours across the road from each other don’t talk to each as often as they used to. because a gulf is created by cars speeding past. 

15. As far back as 1969, Professor David Appleyard found that community was eroded on San Francisco streets with busier traffic. A study by Kevin Leyden in 2003 found that people “living in walkable, mixed use neighbourhoods were more likely to know their neighbours, participate politically, trust others and be socially engaged, compared with those living in car-oriented suburbs”. 

16. Research on Bristol’s streets by Josh Hart at UWE showed that motor vehicle traffic is responsible for a considerable deterioration in residential community, measured by average number of social contacts, extent of perceived ‘home territory’, and reported street-based social activity. 

17. Several studies show that people whose homes had windows facing busy streets were more often depressed.

18. Residential roads and streets are public spaces for people not just motor vehicles –  and we need them to be safer, cleaner, healthier and more civil. 

19. Quality of life is better with a 20mph limit, with less noise, lower pollution, greater child mobility, more walking, more cycling and more talking encouraged, leading to better general wellbeing.

20. Research has shown that the vast majority of the public would like 20 mph on residential roads. The Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety found that 70% of drivers want it too. 

For more information, visit www.20splenty.org and www.bristol20mph.co.uk

Bristol has ‘congestion issues’, what can be done to help alleviate these? Post all your ideas here:

Glenn Vowles is an Open University tutor of environmental management and environmental science, long-time green blogger and green campaigner. Visit his blog at www.sustainablecitiessustainableworld.blogspot.co.uk