Why twenty is plenty for Sussex roads

Next, I had to leap out of the way as a souped-up sports car, propelled by a laughing youth, roared down there at high speed.

The atmosphere could have been described as fast and furious. He was fast. I was furious at the threat he posed, not just to me but to anyone else who might have been in the way.

Marmion Road is close to two primary schools attended by 900 children. It also contains a popular park, Hove YMCA, a drill hall, dozens of houses and a well used nursery school.

Although I don’t drive, I’m not bad at estimating speed and I reckon this car was going at 40mph.

That may not sound fast but it is far too fast in roads full of parked cars where the driver also had to avoid oncoming traffic by nipping into the few available spaces.

There was some skill displayed by the man, who was showing off to his mates, and no one was injured.

But it would have been better demonstrated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed rather than in a residential road.

Deaths

It happened on the day research was released in the British Medical Journal showing that 20mph zones in various cities, including London, have cut deaths by up to a half and lessened injury rates.

The benefits have been particularly marked in accidents involving young children.

They apply mainly to pedestrians but injury rates for cyclists have declined as well.

They have also spread to areas bordering the 20mph zones, where accident rates fell by an average of 8%.

Brighton was once well ahead of the rest of Britain, introducing such zones, complete with traffic calming, in the 1970s, mainly in side streets off Elm Grove.

But nothing much happened for years after that apart from a few safety zones, which were established rather sporadically around schools.

Now there is talk of much more widespread traffic calming in the city, and it could happen now the opposition parties have proven they can defeat the Tory administration when they combine.

Tories tend to dislike measures affecting motorists, whom they feel are having a tough enough time through high taxation and other restrictions. The other parties feel cars are too dominant.

The speed limit in built-up areas of Britain has been 30mph since the early days of motoring and many motorists cannot see the reason for change.

They argue that modern cars are able to stop quicker than cars in the past and that drivers are better trained.

Both beliefs are true but there is one overriding statistic that will not go away.

According to the Department for Transport, one pedestrian in 40 dies when hit by a car at 20mph, compared with one in five at 30mph.

Imagine the cut in road deaths and injuries which could be made in Brighton and Hove by enforcing 20mph zones in all streets.

Anyone who doubts whether it could work should go to cities such as York and Portsmouth, where these zones have been applied widely.

Some campaigners want to apply a 20mph limit to the whole of Brighton and Hove, including main roads. However, I do not agree.

Roads such as Kingsway, Lewes Road and Marine Parade are part of the national traffic network and the current 30mph limit works well.

Anything slower would also affect buses, which provide such a good service in the city, with fewaccidents.

It would be far better to have a 20mph limit enforced only in residential areas where it would be widely respected.

I can remember when there was a national speed limit of 20mph which applied to heavy lorries.

It was often ignored and was eventually abolished.

The only road users disappointed at its demise were the cyclists who used to ride behind these lorries to cut out the effects of strong headwinds.

Britain’s road accident record is one of the best in the world. The death toll is half that of France, a country with much more space and a comparable population.

The death rate of 3,000 people a year is also less than a third of the total during the Second World War when there were far fewer vehicles about. But it could be reduced further, mainly by cutting speed.

Most motorists drive too fast, not only in towns but also in the countryside. Because cars are so smooth and efficient now, drivers often do not realise the devastating effect of speed until it is too late.

Before the breathalyser was introduced more than 40 years ago, many people drove while drunk and often caused crashes.

Contempt

Today, drivers over the limit are regarded rightly as criminals. I believe we ought to regard people who drive fast with equal contempt and treat them severely when they are found guilty.

Many motorists regard speed cameras as an infringement of their right to drive like Mr Toad.

I regard the speed camera as a great invention of our time and one which has saved countless lives.

Reducing the speed limit to 55mph on motorways and dual carriageways and 50mph on other roads outside towns would be unpopular among many drivers but it would save many of their lives, along with those of their passengers and some of the people they skid into at speed.

It would also save a lot in fuel, a factor to be considered at a time when climate change and the Copenhagen summit are greatly in the news.

National speed limits are a matter for debate at Westminster. Local speed limits can be decided at town and county hall level.

Brighton and Hove is easily the biggest urban centre in Sussex but there are many other places, such as Worthing, Eastbourne, Crawley, Horsham and Hastings, where speed restrictions could be applied in residential areas.

How pleasant it would be to walk down these streets and feel fairly safe instead of constantly having to watch out for fast cars.

A motto which I have seen displayed in 20mph zones in the Isle of Wight and elsewhere is Twenty’s Plenty.

There will always be the occasional boy racer like the one who made me jump the other day, But if society’s attitude changes towards speeding, even his friends will regard him as a hooligan rather than a hero.