COVID 19 - Call to reduce speed limits
In UK the main focus has been to prevent its acute healthcare services from becoming overwhelmed by covid-19. Measures are designed to both “flattening the epidemic curve” and scale up intensive care capacity. It remains to be seen whether these measures will be sufficient. However, there is a third major approach with potential benefits: “reducing the baseline” demand for NHS acute services through the rapid introduction of public health policies.
It suggests a number of additional measures to reduce the burden of non-covid-19-related disease on the NHS.
One of these is an immediate reduction in motor vehicle speed limits. In England alone there are around
35 000 non-fatal admissions to hospital every year related to road traffic accidents; more than one in 10 of these are serious and likely to require intensive support, including anaesthesia and surgery. Evidence from around the world shows that lowering speed limits can lead to major reductions in injuries. In Canada, for example, lowering the speed limit from 40km/h to 30km/h was associated with a 28% decrease in pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions and a 67% decrease in major and fatal injuries.
This measure would be particularly important in supporting those who follow government advice and avoid non-essential use of public transport in order to maintain social distancing. We therefore suggest that the government urgently explore an emergency reduction of all national speed limits to 50mph, and to 20mph in urban areas. These policies are already supported by the Road Safety Management Capacity review, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. We expect that the public would support this proposal for a limited time period if it was communicated appropriately in relation to the current NHS emergency.
Related news, events and information
Streets for Life Progress across Eastern Europe and Central Asia,
8 September 2021 – Support for low-speed 'Streets for Life' is significant across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, with more than...
Speed and Crash Risk - New report from ITF
8 April 2018 – The International Transport Forum (ITF) report, 'Speed and Crash Risk', again highlights that with higher...
Speed Limit Review announced by Government
4 March 2011 – Traffic Technology Today and other media report that, as part of an overall review of speed limits, the UK's...
Global Road Safety: Focus on facts says award-winning experts
20 November 2017 – Speed is in the headlights of a team of 10 of the UK's leading road safety professionals whose expertise is...
20mph limits 'more effective with traffic calming'
29 May 2023 – New research has confirmed that 20mph limits backed by physical measures have substantially greater speed and...
Road Casualties GB
24 June 2021 – Provisionsl data reports that there were 1,472 fatalities in reported road accidents in 2020, a decrease of 16%...
Government to allow wider use of 20 mph schemes without speed humps
17 December 2009 – New proposals to allow councils to put in place 20 mph schemes over groups of streets without the need for...
Road safety in jeopardy as council switch off street lights
21 October 2008 – Road safety is at risk and crime levels could rise as an increasing number of local authorities switch off...
Quarterly Casualty Estimates published
11 February 2013 – The Quarterly Provisional Estimates published recently by UK DfT, provides in-year estimates of personal injury...