Guidance for setting local speed limits
You can read the Department for Transport's guidance for setting local speed limits in full by following this link:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/speedmanagement/dftcircular106/dftcircular106.pdf
Speed Limit Review Guidance - Main Points
All highway authorities must conduct a review of speed limits on all A and B roads and implement any changes by 2011, in accordance with this guidance.
This may result in some speed limits being increased or reduced depending on the conditions and evidence.
The new guidance for the setting of local speed limits aims:
- to provide greater consistency of speed limits across the country
- to ensure speed limits are appropriate for the roads
- that speed limits reflect the needs of all road users, not just motorists
- to take account of the balance between quality of life for local communities, safety, accessibility and environmental objectives
- to improve respect for speed limits and in turn improve compliance with limits
- to help continue to reduce casualties and the number of speed-related collisions
Speed limits are just one element of speed management which includes engineering, landscaping, driver information and education. The guidance builds on the latest research including important developments in speed management policies and extended knowledge of the relationship between speed, collision risk and severity of injury, and of actual speeds being driven on rural roads.
Urban Speed Management
Lower speeds benefit all urban road users. The Dept for Transport encourages and supports 20 mph limits and zones in situations where there is a particular risk to vulnerable road users.
Roads suitable for 40 mph limit are generally higher quality suburban roads or those on the outskirts of urban areas where there is little development.
The majority of casualties occur on urban roads, including nearly 90% of pedestrian and cyclist casualties.
Efforts are to be made to use traffic calming in residential areas and promote the use of more suitable routes for through traffic.
20 mph zones
20 mph zones should be self-enforcing – so where vehicle speeds are considerably higher than this, they should be introduced in conjunction with traffic-calming measures, otherwise there will not be a high level of compliance.
The purpose is to create conditions in which drivers naturally drive at around 20 mph because of the general nature of the location or as a result of traffic-calming measures.
Research shows that accidents involving injury to children may be reduced by up to two-thirds by introducing 20 mph zones. The government will support the introduction of more 20 mph zones in urban and rural areas where it is warranted for road safety reasons
What traffic calming measures are available?
Road humps
Road narrowing
Gateways
Road markings
Rumble devices
There will be a consultation process before any traffic-calming measures are introduced.
Rural Speed Management
46% of serious road casualties occurred on rural roads in 2004, and more than half of road deaths.
It is Government policy that, where appropriate, a 30 mph speed limit should be the norm in villages.
The aim is to achieve balance between speeds, speed limits, road function and design, the different road users and other characteristics.
Local authorities should aim to avoid a costly and environmentally sensitive increase in the level of signs.
