Councillors in Darlington have agreed to introduce 20mph limits on residential streets across the borough.
According to 20’s Plenty for Darlington, which has been campaigning for lower speeds in the borough, councillors have agreed the change but have not yet set an implementation schedule.
Councillor David Lyonette, cabinet member with transport portfolio and councillor Long, chair of place scrutiny, issued the following statement: “Darlington Borough Council agrees that 20mph is safer and preferable in residential roads and that in time, and as resources allow, the council will continue to implement wide area schemes across the borough, excluding distributor or arterial roads, as cost effectively as possible.”
Matthew Snedker, 20’s Plenty for Darlington campaign leader, said: “When this policy is fully implemented our children will grow up in a place where walking or cycling is seen as a safer and more pleasant option. 20mph limits encourage drivers to respect other people’s rights to share residential roads.”
Rod King, founder and director of 20’s Plenty for Us, said: “We congratulate Darlington Borough Council on recognising the extensive benefits of 20mph speed limits on roads where people live, work, shop and go to school.
“We urge it to take similar steps to many other local authorities in developing a planned implementation within a set timescale so that those benefits can be rolled out to all its residents.”
For more information contact Matthew Snedker on 01325 488313.
Any bandwagon Councils can jump onto, they will do so. I don’t know why roads were ever built as they are fast being decimated by those who lack any common sense. One can walk faster and drivers will not adhere to such unacceptable limits. Will the last driver please turn off the street lights before leaving the Country.
Reg Oliver Chesterfield
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I wonder whether Darlington have, like others, been mislead by Portsmouth’s results in their 20mph area.
Full details will shortly be available on my web site at http://www.fightbackwithfacts.com/portsmouths-20mph-area/
The results ignored traffic reduction as drivers avoided the area (and took their share of accidents somewhere else), emphasising reductions in total casualties while largely ignoring increases in serious injuries, comparing results to previous years instead of much better trends across the country at the same time and making claims on the basis of too little data to be statistically meaningful.
Far too often road safety decisions are being made on the basis of incompetent analysis of often flawed or inadequate data, and it has to stop.
Idris Francis Petersfield
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A speed limit of 20 mph will only cause more accidents as drivers, particularly professional and delivery drivers, will become frustrated by such a slow speed.
It would end up with them trying first of all some rat runs and when that doesn’t work then a greater danger particularly at junctions, affording less time to properly see what is approaching and setting off, or shall we say not stopping or overshooting, in order to fulfill their responsibility to their employer.
Will wait and see if the stats bear this out. It doesn’t say whether they will be employing any passive measures that would irritate drivers even more.
Bob Craven LANCS
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