LANCASHIRE County Council this week decided to complete its programme of 20 mph limits in all residential areas in response to our ‘Slower Speeds, Safer Children’ campaign. Today two of Britain’s leading transport academics and Lancashire Police’s Head of Road Policing explain why cutting car speeds in narrow streets is so vital and why Blackburn with Darwen borough should follow suit.

PROFESSORS David Begg and Stephen Stradling have no doubt that 20 mph limits in residential areas save children from death and life-wrecking injuries.

Chief Inspector Debbie Howard explains that just ten miles an hour can be the difference between a youngster’s life and death.

As the Lancashire Telegraph continues to campaign for a blanket 20 mph limit on Blackburn with Darwen’s residential roads, Prof Begg said the borough must act.

The former chairman of the Labour government’s Commission for Integrated Transport, ex-Transport Convenor on Edinburgh City Council and visiting professor in Sustainable Transport at Plymouth University said: “The first responsibility of any politician is the safety of their citizens, particularly children.

“If I was a councillor, I could not sleep easily at night with Blackburn with Darwen’s horrific casualty figures for child deaths and injuries in road accidents.

“They must act to end this carnage on the borough’s roads.

“People cannot drive safely in the sort of criss-cross network of Victorian terrace streets you find in Blackburn with Darwen at more than 20 mph. If 16 young people a year were abducted from the streets of the borough every year there would be outrage. It should be the same with these figures for children injured in road accidents.

“There is no reason to drive at more than 20 mph in residential areas. It’s a no brainer.

“If a child is hit at 30 mph it is five times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than at 20 mph.

“This is a great campaign. I hope it succeeds.

“Local newspapers can make the political weather. Councillors who are afraid of upsetting the motoring lobby can see that the public is more bothered about their children’s safety.

“Then suddenly they decide to do something about it.”

Prof Stradling, Manchester-based Emeritus Professor of Transport Psychology at Edinburgh Napier University, said: “These child casualty figures for Blackburn with Darwen are very worrying and what is alarming is they are not coming down.

“Something needs to be done.

“Bringing in 20 mph zones across all residential streets is part of that. We need to change the way people think about driving in the narrow Victorian terraced streets where families live and children play.

“When they are double-parked there is little a driver at 30 mph can do if a child runs out in front of them. Above 20 mph drivers just can’t stop or slow down.

“I believe that bringing in a 20 mph limit across all residential streets in a place like Blackburn with Darwen as part of a wider programme of changing the way people drive and think about driving would make a big difference to the numbers of children killed and injured as it has elsewhere in the country.

“I fully support this campaign and it could make a big difference.”

Ch Insp Howard said: “Thankfully most drivers respect the speed limit, particularly in residential areas where there are children out playing. We are keen to encourage all drivers to drive slower.

“The faster a vehicle is travelling, the more likely the injuries will be more serious.

“A child being hit at 30mph or 20mph can be the difference between life and death. Many drivers, who keep to safe speeds, welcome the official backing that the new limits give them.

“We will continue to concentrate our efforts on education whilst prioritising enforcement on areas with high collision rates.”

Aims of the campaign

THE Lancashire Telegraph’s 20 Is Plenty campaign aims to change the attitude to driving in East Lancashire by persuading Blackburn with Darwen Council to:

  • Take a strategic decision to introduce 20mph speed limit zones in all residential areas and near schools over five years, supported by signs and appropriate physical traffic management measures
  • Announce a programme to roll out the 20mph zones within five years starting with a pilot this summer
  • Pledge to improve road safety education for schoolchildren, especially primary pupils
  • Commit with Lancashire Police and county council to make speed
  • awareness courses available to all motorists convicted of breaking 20mph limits
  • Educate motorists of the dangers of driving above 20mph in residential areas,  changing driver psychology and empowering safe drivers