Posted on 2013-12-04 | 06:33

Roger has written to Birmingham City Council to express his support for the Council’s introduction of 20mph speed limits on the city’s roads in order to improve safety and reduce accidents.

Roger said: “I am really pleased that the Council is considering lowering the speed limit for residential streets in Birmingham. There have already been too many road deaths in the city, and each one is totally unnecessary and a tragedy for the family involved. I hope that the Council does decide to implement the 20mph limit and make Birmingham’s streets safer.”

The Government have recommended that local authorities lower the speed limit in city areas where people live and children play. This has been shown to lead to fewer accidents and fewer fatalities. Pedestrians are much less likely to be seriously hurt in car accidents when the vehicle is travelling at a lower speed. A person hit by a car travelling at 30mph has a 50% chance of being killed, but at 20mph this is reduced to 10%.

"I hope that the Council does decide to implement the 20mph limit and make Birmingham’s streets safer."

Roger first campaigned to reduce Birmingham’s speed limit some years ago. He pushed for the introduction of a 20mph limit on the streets around schools but was told that individual schools needed to make a case for the introduction of limits in their areas. He commented: “It is good news that the Council is now considering applying lower speed limits to the streets around all Birmingham’s schools. I urge councilors to introduce the limits as soon as possible to help keep children safe.”

Under the Council’s proposals, the 20mph speed limit would be introduced mainly on residential roads, which account for about nine out of ten of Birmingham’s roads. Some A and B roads would keep speed limits of 30mph or 40mph, but special consideration would be given to accident hotspots such as busy shopping streets, and to the roads around schools and hospitals.