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Speeding? At 23mph?
• ISLINGTON Council is now pressing ahead with its proposal for a borough-wide 20mph speed limit, having been forced to fulfil its promise to the one Green councillor in return for her desperately needed vote. Up to now, roads that already have a 20mph scheme have the hated road humps to go with them. We’ve been told they must be self-enforcing as the police don’t have the resources to carry out enforcement.
However, the council proposes to roll it out everywhere else without building hundreds more road humps because it obviously doesn’t have money for that. It says the police will now be enforcing it and prosecuting drivers.
Is this just a bluff by the council, because I can’t believe the police, with all their recent cutbacks, will suddenly find the manpower to install speed traps in Islington’s residential roads?
And if it’s true, do we really want to see squads of police with radar guns catching and prosecuting drivers for doing 23mph in the roads where we live?
This half-baked idea takes its cue from central government, which gave the green light to councils, allowing them to install 20mph limits. For the past 75 years, 30mph has been an acceptable speed limit in built-up areas. Today, even with modern cars having brakes, steering and other features 100 times safer than they were 75 years ago, we are told 30mph is dangerous.
Yes, have the lower limit near schools and other sensitive locations, but everywhere else it’s not necessary and does not make roads any safer. The council’s extravagant claim that, where installed, the 20mph limit has cut accidents by half, is very hard to believe. Even the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says that speed is only responsible for five per cent of accidents.
Danny Michelson
La Fromagerie
Highbury Park, N5
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