Earlier this month it was announced that Darlington and Middlesbrough Councils are applying for Government cycling grants which could see more 20mph speed limits introduced.

STUART ARNOLD examines how this growing trend is being received in another areas around the country.

YORK

By the end of next year much of the city will be covered by a blanket 20mph speed limit, although this won’t be applied to major roads and outlying villages.

York City Council says this will reduce accident numbers and make the city more pleasant for walkers and cyclists. 20mph speed limits are already in place outside schools.

The move has been backed by campaign group 20s Plenty For Us, which says it will also cut pollution and congestion.

But it hasn’t won unanimous support from the public in York. An online poll run by The Northern Echo’s sister newspaper The Press found that 68 per cent of readers were against a city-wide 20mph limit.

Former council leader Steve Galloway has said such an approach will be expensive and says his party the Liberal Democrats favours a policy of having the most appropriate speed based on the individual characteristics of a road.

Another critic of the York plans, Mike Natt, a former accident investigator with North Yorkshire Police, says pedestrians sticking to the Green Cross Code would have more benefits than a blanket 20mph limit.

COVENTRY

Last June the whole of Coventry city centre became a 20mph zone. Council planners say the zone is the first of its kind to involve changing the environment to bring speeds down, rather than relying on traditional speed bumps.

Features such as widened pavements, narrowed carriageways and new zebra crossings were installed.

In some so-called “shared areas” there are now junctions where pedestrians and vehicles share the right of way.

A 12-month study, published in February this year, found that in these shared areas accident casualties had been dramatically reduced and average speeds had also reduced.

Opponents, including some groups representing disabled road users, have, however, branded the spaces “confusing” and “dangerous”.

The difference between 20mph zone and 20mph limits is that 20mph zones are accompanied by traffic calming measures and speed limit signs, while limit roads just have signs.

BRIGHTON

Three 20mph zones are being introduced over the next three years at a cost of £1.5m.

Brighton and Hove City Council says the purpose of them is not to prosecute people who drive too fast, but encourage drivers to go more slowly in a bid to reduce accidents.

Police have agreed, saying the zones should be “self-enforcing”. The council’s Labour group leader Gill Mitchell has been quoted as saying this approach effectively undermines the entire scheme.

And drivers by their own actions seem to concur. A survey last month found that almost 96 per cent of motorists were ignoring the new limits.

The council decided to introduce the 20mph zones after carrying out a public consultation in the city, which found 55 per cent of people were in favour of them.

NEWCASTLE

Newcastle City Council has introduced mandatory 20mph speed limits in all residential neighbourhood streets, following Portsmouth which was the first to do so in 2007.

The speed limits were introduced over a three year period in six phases with the final scheme put in place in 2011.

The council, which spent an estimated £1.4m, claims the feedback it has received has been positive and there has been a 16 per cent reduction in accidents in the affected streets.

However no analysis for the whole of the scheme has been completed.

Residents’ groups in the city have hailed the positive impact of the changes, although there have been some complaints that 20mph signs are too small for drivers to see them.

WHAT DOES THE GOVERNMENT SAY OVER 20MPH SPEED LIMITS?

The Department for Transport (DfT) revised its guidance in January this year on setting local speed limits.

It says traffic authorities should keep speed limits under review, but also consider the introduction of more 20mph speed limits and zones over time in urban areas and built up village streets that are primarily residential in order to ensure greater safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

The DfT says speed limits should be seen by drivers as the “maximum, rather than target speed”.

A spokesman for the department says ultimately the introduction of 20mph speed limits and zones is a matter for local councils and other traffic authorities, but it is important they consider in a balanced way the full impact of any such move.

Figures published by the DfT last year showed deaths and injuries on 20mph limit roads in built up areas actually rose by 24 per cent in 2011, compared to the previous year.

This compared to a one per cent drop in casualties on 30mph limit roads in built-up areas.

However the overall number of casualties on 30mph limit roads – more than 125,000 – dwarfed the 2,262 figure recorded on 20mph limit roads.

WHAT ABOUT MOTORING AND OTHER GROUPS?

The AA says lower speed limits can be useful where they serve a specific purpose, such as around a school, but it does not support blanket speed limits.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists says the “jury is out” on 20mph zones and claims evidence in their favour is mixed and contradictory.

Claire Armstrong, of the Safe Speed campaign group, says lowering the speed limit only creates a false sense of safety with drivers watching their speed instead of the road.

In response to such criticism, Rod King, the founder of 20’s Plenty, which is campaigning for 20mph to be the default speed limit on residential roads in the UK, says it is not just about road safety, but making places better places to live.