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Is speed cut needed?
• ANOTHER week, another 20mph zone!
As a trader paying £600 a year to park my van in the Quadrant zone, I have just received a consultation pack from Islington Council asking whether I agree with its proposal to install a 20mph speed limit with road humps in the roads behind my shop.
The Lib Dem council seems determined to impose this speed limit on every road in the borough (besides main arterial routes), whether needed or not and whether a road’s accident record justifies it or not.
But who cares? The council is not paying the bill, with Transport for London throwing the money at it. I doubt if there have been any accidents to speak of in this latest group of roads.
The consultation pack, printed at great expense, is no more than a glossy sales brochure for the 20mph campaign, this time enclosing a booklet entitled “20mph zones: Speed humps save lives”. But if no lives were being lost without the humps being there, how can they save lives?
There is no balance in the wording. Under the heading “Disadvantages” it merely says “Minor disturbance to emergency vehicles” and “Minimal noise and vibration from heavy vehicles”. What about “Highly unpleasant for motorists to drive over”, “Can affect the health of back sufferers” or “Can damage a car’s suspension”?
If 20mph saves lives, why has a 30mph limit been considered a safe speed since the 1920s, all the more so with modern cars 100 times more safe to drive than cars were 30 or 40 years ago?
Danny Michelson
La Fromagerie
Highbury Park, N5
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