Warwickshire speed limit review - one year on
New figures show that a review of the county’s speed limits has improved road safety.
Warwickshire County Council’s Road Safety Unit conducted a review of A and B roads as part of a Government recommended Speed Limit Review in May 2009, and lowered the speed limit on many roads. One year on and the team have recorded a significant drop in the number of casualties on these routes.
Where speed limits were lowered, monitoring figures show a 22 per cent reduction in crashes resulting in personal injury and a 35 per cent reduction in the number of those resulting in death or serious injury on roads.
These results demonstrate an overall reduction in both speed of vehicles and road traffic crashes involving injuries. It has also been noted that the average recorded speed has gone down for 85 per cent of roads where the speed limit was changed.
Councillor Hobbs Portfolio Holder said: “We are still in the early days of implementation, however this monitoring shows that the review has had a very positive effect on vehicle speeds and it has made our roads safer.”
Jo Edwards, Principal Engineer added: “As one of the leading authorities to undertake this review we are very pleased to see that drivers are reducing their speed. According to the Department for Transport each 1mph reduction in average speed reduces accident frequency by 5 per cent, so the new limits imposed by the review can make a big difference in term of safety.”
Feedback from residents about the review has been mostly positive and a survey of Warwickshire County Councils ‘Citizen Panel’, indicated that 66% of supported the introduction of lower speeds to improve safety.
For the full monitoring results please visit: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/speedlimitreview