Rise in injuries on 20 mph limit roads
Rise in injuries on 20 mph limit roads
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bad company

Original Poster:

21,920 posts

297 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
Is this because there are too many 20 zones or are they in the wrong places?

Could be both.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-ra...

Derek Smith

50,014 posts

279 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
I cannot see the logic of a rise in casualty rate of nigh on 30% being blamed on a lack of change in driver behaviour. If this were so, the casualty rate would stay the same.

Oddly enough, a lot of friends say they only drive into Brighton, with its massive 20mph area, when they have to so one would assume, if that is the norm, traffic density has reduced.

I picked my daughter from the RSCH hospital at Brighton yesterday to bring her home to recuperate from an op. There is no doubt in my mind that speeds had dropped considerably in the 20mph zone. So a rise in accident rates is either from a cause other than the speed limits or else it is caused by the speed limit drop.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

208 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
Lies, damn lies and statistics.

"The number of 20 mph limits increased rapidly in the last few years". It's taking the total injuries form am ever increasing amount of miles limited to 20mph. Of course it will increase.

Measure the injuries on the same stretches of 20 vs 30 then it becomes meaningful.

Oh and the death rate dropped, but that's a throw away comment buried in the text.

PurpleMoonlight

22,362 posts

188 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
The safer pedestrians perceive the roads to be to cross the less likely they are to actually pay attention before wandering off the pavement.

Dairymilk

104 posts

151 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
The accident may well have gone up and that is mostly due to the increased number of 20 limit areas.

What needs to be assessed in the severity of casualties resulting from those accidents. It is preferable to have more accidents and less injury that to have less accidents and more serious injuries.


Aretnap

1,983 posts

182 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
I've a great idea - get rid of 20mph limits entirely, and then there'll be no accidents in 20mph limits. Hmmm... maybe I should write for the Telegraph.

Hackney

7,440 posts

239 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
What an incredibly mixed up, pointless article.

There are loads more 20mph roads than there used to be
There are more accidents on 20mph roads
Therefore..... well, therefore nothing. Simple answer is do a like for like analysis.

Have accidents gone up / down / stayed the same on roads that are 20mph but were 30mph?
Have accidents gone up / down / stayed the same on roads that are 20mph and were 20mph before?

That's the only meaningful analysis.
What they've done reported is meaningless.

Mr Will

13,719 posts

237 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
Aretnap said:
I've a great idea - get rid of 20mph limits entirely, and then there'll be no accidents in 20mph limits. Hmmm... maybe I should write for the Telegraph.
I'm with you on this one - there were zero accidents on 100mph limit roads in the UK last year, so lets make that the limit instead...

bad company

Original Poster:

21,920 posts

297 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
I'm not totally against 20 limits in residential 'side roads'. Trouble is they keep being introduced on busy roads which causes a lot of frustration. Sawston in Cambs., near me is a good example. The main road through the town now has a 20 limit but the side streets are still 30.

Medic-one

3,143 posts

234 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
PurpleMoonlight said:
The safer pedestrians perceive the roads to be to cross the less likely they are to actually pay attention before wandering off the pavement.
True.

We've had this shared space with a 20 mp/h limit (and average speed camera's) installed on our seafront a few hours ago, and the amount of call outs to this area has definately increased.

Fortunately it's mainly for minor injuries, but people do tend to walk out in front of the cars more now they deem the road safer i believe.

Dave Hedgehog

16,371 posts

235 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
the answer is obvious reduce the limit to 10 mph

SK425

1,034 posts

180 months

Friday 4th July 2014
quotequote all
Medic-one said:
True.

We've had this shared space with a 20 mp/h limit (and average speed camera's) installed on our seafront a few hours ago, and the amount of call outs to this area has definately increased.

Fortunately it's mainly for minor injuries, but people do tend to walk out in front of the cars more now they deem the road safer i believe.
I like the principle of shared space, where priority is not determined by one's mode of transport, but I suspect there may be no way of getting to that point without going through a phase where collisions (albeit minor) increase while people get used to what sharing means.

PAULJ5555

3,554 posts

207 months

Friday 4th July 2014
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We need more education for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists.

This will reduce injurys.

Jasandjules

72,681 posts

260 months

Friday 4th July 2014
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Dave Hedgehog said:
the answer is obvious reduce the limit to 10 mph
0mph. Better safe than sorry. And cyclists to - 10mph.