Association of British Drivers - attack on 20mph streets

Letter to the Kent Messenger in response to the one by the Association of British Drivers

Dear Editor,

Terry Hudson of the Association of British Drivers made some bizarre and misleading claims in last week's KM.

In claiming that 20mph speed limits are outdated he fails to say that the 30 mph speed limit was introduced in 1934 when there were less than 2 million cars on our roads - now there are 31 million. Moreover, the Department of Transport guidelines from 2009 now call for 20mph limits in residential areas and just two months ago the EU recommended the same. Current thinking is clearly against the 1930's 30mph limits.

Claiming that 20mph residential roads would create congestion and make journey times unreasonable is also wrong. As most residential roads are close to arterial roads that should remain at 30mph, the average increase in travel time is around 40 seconds. Congestion does not increase, the evidence suggests that it decreases.

Most importantly, 20mph areas have shown significant reductions in accidents. I find it astonishing that a road lobby group is arguing against a scheme that saves lives.

With 72% of people supporting 20mph residential streets, the weight of public opinion is on the side of the campaign - hardly 'social engineering by political parties'. Finally, the Green Party does not 'loathe' people who travel by car; we simply want safer streets, viable alternatives to travelling by car, less pollution and lower use of fossil fuels.

It is about time that Mr Hudson looked at the facts rather than making them up.

Stuart Jeffery
Maidstone Green Party

Green coverage in Maidstone

Front page of "Your Maidstone" today. Aside from the picture of Eric Pickles, both main front page stories show that Maidstone Greens are setting the political agenda in the town!

20mph outside schools

I spoke to the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board this evening urging them to back plans for a trial of 20mph zones by schools. Half an hour of debate but they did endorse the plan which is excellent news.

Coverage in Kent News here and possibly on Radio Kent on Monday:

Mr Jeffery said: “This is a small but good step in the right direction, one that is very welcome after years of hard campaigning.
“20mph areas have been shown to be very effective in reducing accidents and promoting cycling and walking. They have overwhelming public support - after all who wants cars travelling fast past schools or people’s homes?
“I hope that once these schemes have been shown to be effective, that they will be expanded across the borough and that Kent County Council will consider bringing Maidstone into the 21st century by giving all Maidstone’s residential streets 20mph limits, just as other county towns across the country now have. It is quite disgraceful that Maidstone is at least 5 years behind places such as Oxford, Norwich, Lancaster and Portsmouth.”

Keith Taylor, 20mph in Tunbridge Wells

Keith Taylor is out in Tunbridge Wells pushing the 20's Plenty message. This is from Kent News:

A campaign for a 20mph speed limit on residential roads in Tunbridge Wells is gathering momentum.
Keith Taylor, a Green MEP for the south east, is set to visit the town tomorrow to back the drive.
He said: "Introducing 20mph can make a real difference to a town like Tunbridge Wells; it can save children’s lives. In both Portsmouth and Oxford 20mph residential streets have reduced the speed of traffic without the need for other traffic calming measures.
"Last week in Europe I gained support from fellow MEPs who agree that 20mph zones should be recommended as best practice across the EU."

Child casualties on Kent's roads rise 50% in one year

Kent Greens have increased calls for 20mph limits following a shock 52% rise in child injuries on our roads announced by Kent Police this week[1].  Local Greens have also slammed comments by Kent Police that suggest the rise in casualties was "slight". Greens across Kent have been working with other campaigners to reduce the speed limits on all residential roads to 20mph and they recently welcomed a public health report which backed the need for 20mph limits in residential areas[2].

Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party: "These casualty figures are truly shocking. A rise of more than 50% in child casualties in Kent cannot be allowed to go unaddressed. Kent Police and Kent County Council have constantly knocked back calls to reduce the speed limit in residential areas but they cannot allow children to suffer for the want of safer driving limits.

"To rub salt into the wounds, Kent Police seem to think that a 52% increase in child casualties can be described as slight. A 52% rise in child casualties is not slight, it is appalling.

"This problem has gone on for far too long, it is time for action to be taken. Kent needs an immediate change to 20mph limits in all residential areas. As we know, residents overwhelmingly support this, the last government supported this and public health experts support this. There is no excuse not to implement 20mph limits."

Notes:

1.   http://www.kent.police.uk/news/latest_news/road_casualties_initiative.html  From Kent Police: 2009/10 child casualties = 49; 1st Apr 2010 to 5th Jan 2011 = 57 (i.e. over 280 days) - projecting this to a full year gives 57 x 365/280 = 74. This equates to a 52% rise.
2. http://kentgreenparty.blogspot.com/2011/01/kent-green-party-welcomes-nhs-report.html

20mph in Maidstone with Keith Taylor

Last month's visit by Keith generated a lot of interest. Keith wass interviewed by John Warnett on Radio Kent and was put up against Nick Chard, KCC cabinet member for roads. The campaign was mentioned on the BBC South East TV news.

It also ran in the Kent Messenger along with a superb photo taken by budding journalist Poppy!

Keith Taylor in Maidstone

Spend a hectic afternoon with Keith Taylor MEP in and around Maidstone yesterday.

We visited the Oaken Wood campaigners and Keith was very impressed with what they have achieved. It looks like Kent Wildlife Trust has objected to Gallagher's plans now and there is to be a public meeting in December.

We moved on to Fant Farm where 380 houses would be built under the current strategy that the council has. Keith and I signed a letter to Cllr Chris Garland asking him to redo the Strategic Housing Land Area Assessment. Also noted is a four fold increase in the social housing waiting list, so we shouldn't be reducing plans for housing too much, but perhaps refocussing them.

We moved on to Harrietsham to hear from the chair of the parish council about how the noise from the M20 is affecting residents there. The M20 runs right past the village and its surface is concrete rather than tarmac. The road noise a quarter of a mile from the motorway in the school car park meant we had to shout to be heard.

Finally we met with Janetta Sams who has been leading a campaign in Lenham (collecting 1000 signatures on a petition and presenting to the Maidstone Joint Transportation Board) to get 20mph limits around schools. Kent Police are blocking the proposal saying they won't endorse 20mph limits without traffic calming. Keith is writing to the Cheif Constable to ask them to reconsider.

20mph Maidstone launch photos

Photos of the 20mph Maidstone campaign launch on Saturday.

Campaign to make Maidstone's streets safer

Good coverage of the launch of our 20mph Maidstone campaign so far. Broadcasts going out on KMFM and Radio Kent, and it is on the Kent Online website.

The launch is this on Saturday 25th April outside County Hall at 10am where we will be handing out leaflets and getting signatures on a petition.

I was unsurprised but still saddened by some of the comments on the KM website. The way some people react to anything that threatens their desire to drive quickly is predictable, but it was good to get a couple of positive comments too.

One day the petrol heads will wake up and smell the diesel??? Well at least I hope that they can see that there are other ways to enjoy life rather than endangering others.

If you are around on Saturday, please join us. The Farmers' Market will be there to.

20mph Maidstone

GREEN DAY OF ACTION FOR A 20 MPH SPEED LIMIT IN MAIDSTONE

Maidstone Greens will be launching a "20mph Maidstone" campaign on the Day of Green Action in Maidstone on 25th April. The campaign is for all residential roads to have a 20mph speed limit. The campaign has the backing of the national "20's Plenty For Us" campaign and follows successes in places like Norwich, Portsmouth and Oxford. The launch will be outside County Hall at 10am and will feature Kent's two Green Euro candidates, Hazel and Steve Dawe, and Maidstone's Green general election candidate, Stuart Jeffery, and many of the County Council candidates plus some large 20mph signs.

Stuart Jeffery, Green Party general election candidate for Maidstone says:

"The vast majority of people want cars travelling past their homes to go slower and the public backing for 20mph speed limits is overwhelming. Hard evidence shows that cars travelling at 20mph are much safer than those going at 30mph, yet most residential streets in Maidstone allow cars to travel too quickly. This, coupled with the continued rise in deaths on Maidstone's roads over the past few years, shows the real need to sort out this unacceptable problem - yet little action is being taken by local government.

"The proportion of children walking to school has declined dramatically over the past 20 years and parents' most quoted reason for not letting them walk is road safety. With half of all fatal and serious accidents happening on 30mph roads, evidence that reducing speeds to 20mph reduces accidents by 60% and with fatal road accidents in Maidstone tripling between 2005 and 2007, the need for a 20mph Maidstone has never been greater."

"We will be collecting signatures petitioning local government to follow the leads of more progressive councils around the country and we will be handing our stickers for people to display in their cars and windows showing their support. We are also urging people to sign our petition online at www.20mphmaidstone.org.uk


* More than half of road deaths and serious injuries occur on roads with 30 mph limits (Ref: RoSPA)
* Britain has the third highest rate of pedestrian road fatalities out of 10 Western European countries surveyed by the AA (Ref: The AA)
* The proportion of children (aged 5-10) walking to school has fallen by 27% in the last 20 years (Ref: DfT 67% in 1985 to 49% in 2005)
* British parents consistently cite traffic danger as the main reason why their children are not allowed to cycle or walk to school (Ref: National Travel Survey)
* Lowering urban and residential speed limits to 20 mph has been found to decrease accidents by 60% (Ref: Transport Research Laboratory)
* Fatal accidents on Maidstone's roads: 2005 - 3; 2006 - 5; 2007 - 9 (Kent County Council)

Carfull Maidstone

From Kent News (aka Kent on Sunday): "Maidstone Green Party has handed in a 347-strong signature petition to the council calling for road safety improvements."

Ian's letter was also in the KM as the star letter yesterday and the KM also showed a picture of me handing the petition to the Kent County Council Chair, Peter Lake. Last week I was on KMFM talking about this petition.

Thanks to everyone who supported it and those who came door knocking.

Let's hope the councillors listen!

Road safety petition handed to KCC

This morning I handed the fruits of this Autumn's door knocking to the Chair of Kent County Council, Peter Lake. The petition call for action by KCC to reduce the speed and volume of traffic along four roads in Fant Ward. These roads have no restrictions other than the usual 30mph speed limit, yet are used as a cut through to avoid the Tonbridge Road which is constantly subject to road works. They are Bower Place, Upper Fant Road, Gatland Lane and Glebe Lane.

We knocked on every door of these roads and collected about 350 signatures. As part of the petition we took a poll of ideas that residents would back, from road humps to cameras to a 20mph limit. Everyone wanted something slightly different by there was a great deal of consensus for a 20mph limit. Of course it is not a panacea but it would send a strong message that these roads are residential.

This was all on the back of a bad accident last month in the smallest and narrowest of the roads, Bower Place. The need for action is long standing with a variety of campaigns over the past 20 years. KCC announced in the Autumn that it would be putting some traffic calming in at one end of Gatland Lane, which is very welcome however the rest of the route needs to be addressed. Let us hope that the petition works...

LibDems join the road safety campaign in Fant

The papers have reported that the LibDems staged a protest on Gatland Lane against the speed of traffic at the junction with Fant Lane. While it is good to have cross party support for our campaign it seems, perhaps, that they are a little twitched by the diligent work we have been doing knocking on every door along the Fant rat run to collect our petition signatures.

It is also frustrating that they have represented the ward at both county and borough level for many years and the road safety problem still remains. The Lib Dems have had plenty of time to tackle this issue and have failed to do so; it's time to give others a chance.

When we were canvassing earlier this year, almost every person on the rat run from Bower Place to Glebe Lane wanted action taken to reduce the speed and volume of traffic. I have witnessed countless cars speeding down all four roads.

We need to recognise that these roads are where people live and should be driven along slowly and not used as cut throughs. We need a blanket 20mph limit across Maidstone and especially in Fant.

20mph outside schools spurned by KCC

Kent County Council lack imagination and political will. There should be a blanket 20mph speed limit across all urban areas, not just outside schools.

The fact that no children were killed outside schools during the last 10 years is good to hear, but reinforces the need for a blanket urban speed limit of 20mph.

29 children still died while being pedestrians in the last 10 years, this is 29 too many. Urban speeds need to fall dramatically, there is no need to do 30mph in town.