Thanks Dixie, but it has turned up on the Express web site:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/8506/20+MPH+Britain
20 MPH BRITAIN
Friday June 1,2007
By Jo Macfarlane
BRITAIN’S towns and cities face the introduction of an “impractical” 20mph speed limit for all vehicles, it emerged last night.
The drastic new restrictions on urban driving could be imposed by all councils across the country in a matter of months.
Portsmouth today becomes the first city in Britain to introduce the tough new measures. And campaigners say it is only a matter of time before the 20mph limit is rolled out across the nation.
Experts claim the imposed go-slow will help to save lives and protect pedestrians and cyclists. But furious critics yesterday branded the move as an escalation in the bitter war against Britain’s motorists. It was even claimed that the new limit could increase the number of accidents.
Paul Smith, from campaign group Safe Speed, said: “It’s a knee-jerk reaction and an ill-founded one. If you get to the point where a speed limit feels unnatural, it affects a driver’s attention.
It could be quite marked and it could be quite dangerous – we just don’t know
The Government has given all local authorities the power to cut residential speed limits to 20mph, and Liberal Democrat-run Portsmouth City Council became the first to take up the offer.
The £475,000 scheme was launched in the south-east of the city today, with other residential roads to follow by the end of the year.
The new limit will eventually affect 187 miles of roads within the city.
Coun Alex Bentley, executive member for traffic and transportation, said: “This is a bold step for a council to take but it’s a vital safety measure and we make no apology for bringing it in.
“Portsmouth is a crowded city and on most of our residential streets it’s not safe to drive at more than 20mph.
“Twenty is plenty. A pedestrian hit by a car travelling at 20mph is likely to suffer slight injuries but at 30mph they are likely to be severely hurt. At 40mph or above they are likely to be killed. I’m sure this scheme will save lives.”
But even council officials admit the move is “controversial” and there has been huge opposition.
Hugh Bladon, from the Association of British Drivers, said: “The council has gone completely bananas.
“This is absolutely unenforceable, impossible and impractical and will bring all speed limits into disrepute.
“This war that is being waged against the nation’s motorists has got to stop.”
Coun Jason Fazackarley, Portsmouth’s Labour council spokesman on traffic and the environment, said he expected the decision to cause congestion problems, particularly at rush hour.
He added: “In principle, I agree with the concept for road safety reasons but I am sceptical about how it will work and I am cynical about how it can be enforced.
“We are the first authority to go this far so I suspect other cities will watch what happens with interest.”
Critics also point out that a 20mph limit is unnecessary in many urban centres where traffic already travels very slowly.
In Portsmouth the average speed on residential roads is only 24mph, while in London the average is just 10mph – the same speed as horse-drawn carriages a century ago.
But several road safety groups welcomed the 20mph limit. Dianne Ferreira, of road safety charity Brake, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic news. We’d like to see this rolled out across the country.
“Implementing this limit will save lives, and drivers will need to respect it for that reason.”
A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: “A reduction to 20mph could reduce the accident rate by 74 per cent.”
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