TfL claims 20mph speed limit has cut accidents and fatalities in London

Mark Bursa

The introduction of 20mph speed limits in parts of London may be unpopular with motorists, but new data shows that the move has had a positive impact on road safety, Transport for London claims.

At sites monitored on the TfL road network (TLRN), collisions involving a vulnerable road user (pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist) have decreased by 36%, while collisions resulting in death or serious injury have decreased by 25% since speed limits were lowered. People hit by a vehicle at 20mph are around five times less likely to be killed than at 30mph, according to independent research.

The number of collisions has reduced by 25% from 406 to 304,while collisions resulting in death or serious injury fell 25% from 94 to 71, the data reveals.

Collisions involving vulnerable road users have decreased by 36% from 453 to 290, while collisions involving pedestrians dropped by 63% from 124 to 46.

TfL is also planning to beef up enforcement, with the Met Police working to increase its capacity issue 1 million speeding tickets by 2024. In 2021/22, the Met issued 476,685 speeding offences, an increase of 72% on the previous year.

Will Norman, London walking & cycling commissioner, said: “Sadly more than 4,000 people are killed and seriously injured on London’s roads every year. Lowering speeds is one of the most important things we can do to reduce road danger.”

In March 2020, TfL introduced a 20mph speed limit on all of its roads within the central London Congestion Charging zone as part of its Vision Zero commitment to eliminate death and serious injury on the capital’s roads by 2041. Currently more than half of London’s roads have a 20mph speed limit, of which almost 110km is on TfL’s network.

TfL is now working to lower speeds on 220km of its roads by 2024 in inner and outer London and plans to introduce a new 20mph speed limit on more than 28km of roads in Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Haringey in March.

Since the 20mph speed limits were introduced across London, average speed has fallen between 1.7 and 5mph across most sites surveyed. Analysis of journey times, traffic flows and speeds suggest that the 20mph speed limit has not increased congestion and TfL will be undertaking further quantitative analysis to assess the impact on smoothing traffic flows.

East Lothian’s new CO2-based licensing rules will hit 30% of local taxi fleet

Mark Bursa

New restrictions on the type of vehicles used by taxi and private hire operators in East Lothian will make 30% of vehicles illegal.

East Lothian Council’s licensing sub-committee today has approved new vehicle licensing rules, including precise specifications of the number of seats and restrictions based on CO2 emissions rather than compliance with Euro emissions standards.

Council officers said the move would “encourage a better public perception of the taxi trade” and reduce the number of “sub-standard” taxi owners in the area. But some committee members questioned the plan, which has to be implemented by April 2025,

Cllr Colin McGinn, committee convenor, questioned whether the changes would be cost-prohibitive for some firms in the two-year time scale.

But Alan Kelley, transport compliance officer, said taxi firms that had worked through the pandemic and were turning out “good and clean” taxis would be willing to make changes.

He said: “What this would do is reduce the number of substandard taxi owners that we have out there, the guys that just turn out on a Friday or Saturday night. It is not their bread and butter, it is just a hobby that they have because they have a vehicle that is suitable.”

Under the new rules, all wheelchair-accessible taxis would have to have side door access rather than rear access doors.

Private hire cars will have to have a minimum of four separate doors, exactly four passenger seats if they are saloon vehicles, or exactly eight passenger seats for MPVs.

Saloon cars will only be licensed if they have a maximum CO2 emission level of 150g/km for diesel vehicles and 165g/km for petrol vehicles, while eight-seaters must not exceed 225g/km for either diesel or petrol.

Council transport officer Andrew McLellan suggested that some smaller companies could be given some leeway if they were struggling to meet the rules, though he acknowledged the need “to have a line in the sand”.

The committee approved the new restrictions, with Cllr John McMillan said: “I think we are giving a heads-up and there is sufficient time to tackle this.”