Road safety charity calls for 20mph speed limit
Road safety charity Brake has called on the government to lower the speed limit to 20mph in residential areas as part of its new Road Safety Strategy.
It has written to Transport Minister Lillian Greenwood urging her to set a default speed limit of 20mph in all built-up areas, especially in roads around schools.
This comes after latest figures revealed that 6,069 children aged 4–11 were harmed on UK roads in 2023. The data found that 1,077 of these injuries were serious, with 28 children losing their lives on UK roads.
Meanwhile, a Brake survey found that 80% of parents and carers would back a speed limit of 20mph on roads near their homes and children’s schools, with 85% wanting the government to do more to improve road safety.
The survey also found that although 55% would like their children to walk or cycle to school more often, 40% say the roads are too busy, 28% said the traffic moves too fast, and 14% said there weren’t enough safe road crossings.
Speed limit
Luca Straker, campaigns manager at Brake, said: “We all want children to be able to travel to and from school safely. But, sadly, every day, more than 16 primary schoolchildren are harmed on our roads.
“We know that excess speed is a factor in about a quarter of fatal crashes – and the physics is pretty straightforward: the faster a vehicle is travelling, the harder it hits and the greater the impact. We have good evidence to show that by lowering the speed limits on our roads, we reduce the risk of people being harmed.
“Our research also shows us that people want 20mph speed limits around their homes and their children’s schools. Slow traffic means safer journeys for children. We must do everything we can to keep our children safe.”
