Accident Statistics Show Need For Urgency On 20 mph Zones (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Accident Statistics Show Need For Urgency On 20 mph Zones

June 26, 2003 12:00 AM

Councillor Andrew Tear (Lib Dem, Harehills), at yesterday's meeting of Leeds City Council, raised the issue of the need to reduce traffic speeds across the city, particularly in residential areas, after new statistics showed an alarming rise in deaths and serious injuries over the last year. The figures, which were published as part of the Council's Annual Plan, showed that 'the number of road accident casualties who were killed or seriously injured per 1,000' rose from 60.4 in 2001/02 to 71.2 in 2002/03 (Best Value Indicator 99).

Cllr Tear said "Research has shown quite clearly that speed contributes to accidents, and the damage they can cause. The Council has had proposals to increase the number of 20mph zones across the City for a long time, indeed it even has a Public Service Agreement with central government to implement these zones. But, it is taking a ridiculously long time to put these into effect, even more worrying is the fact that costs for such zones are 100% higher than in other areas, such as Hull.

"20 mph zones contribute to reducing accidents, and they probably represent the best way to reverse this alarming increase in accidents - the Council needs to get on with the job and introduce more schemes across the City. It also needs to ensure that we don't just have a few 'flagship' schemes which use up all the budget put aside for this, more and simpler schemes would be a better use of Council funds."