Speeding has become ‘socially acceptable’ – TfL

Transport for London has launched a ‘powerful’ new campaign to help tackle unsafe speed across the Capital.

The campaign, ‘Watch Your Speed’, is designed to generate understanding among drivers of the wider impact of speeding – including on their passengers.

It includes a TV advert, which illustrates how speeding is perceived through the perspective of friends and family members.

The campaign supports TfL’s wider work on reducing speed-related collisions across the Capital, including new 20mph speed limits to be introduced in central London early next year.

It has been launched on the back of a survey which suggests almost 30% of car passengers would feel uncomfortable asking a friend or family member to slow down.

The research, carried out by YouGov, also shows nearly two thirds (61%) of car passengers have felt uncomfortable with speed when driven by a friend or family member.

Stuart Reid, TfL’s director of Vision Zero, said: “People are seriously injured or die on our roads each day. It seems that driving at an unsafe speed has now sadly become socially acceptable and many people simply don’t think of it as a risk.

“Nobody gets behind the wheel intending to kill or harm someone but all too often, the way people choose to drive results in death or serious injury.

“This has devastating consequences for the victim, the driver and their families. I would urge drivers to slow down and also encourage people who feel uncomfortable with the speed they’re being driven at to speak up.”

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