Skip to main content

IAM RoadSmart ‘unconvinced about value of Edinburgh 20mph scheme’

IAM RoadSmart says it is unconvinced of value of the decision by City of Edinburgh Council to impose a 20mph speed limit on the vast majority of the capital’s streets as of 31 July. The multi-million pound scheme is the first of its kind in Scotland and will affect more than 80 per cent of the city’s roads. IAM RoadSmart, the UK’s independent road safety charity stated that the proposals amounted to a city-wide limit that didn’t address specific problematic roads. Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart policy a
July 29, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
IAM RoadSmart says it is unconvinced of value of the decision by City of Edinburgh Council to impose a 20mph speed limit on the vast majority of the capital’s streets as of 31 July.

The multi-million pound scheme is the first of its kind in Scotland and will affect more than 80 per cent of the city’s roads.

IAM RoadSmart, the UK’s independent road safety charity stated that the proposals amounted to a city-wide limit that didn’t address specific problematic roads.

Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart policy and research director, said: “It’s a blanket approach. On some streets, 20mph is a speed that you might aspire to rather than need to limit yourself to. But there are others where it looks and feels safer to go over 20, and that’s potentially confusing because drivers take their cue from the environment.

“If you look at the evidence, what seems to work is measures like speed bumps and narrower roads. Covering whole areas in one 20mph limit and putting up some signs is a cheap way to do it. We’d rather see investment made in dealing with the streets where there will be the most benefit.”

Related Content

  • VMS can counter small screens’ big problems
    June 9, 2015
    Lacroix Trafic’s Steve Collins believes the improving trends in road safety could go into reverse unless authorities make full use of the latest LED technology to meet drivers’ information needs. Road authorities and vehicles manufacturers could and should be far more active in countering some of the transportation industry’s major problems, according to Steve Collins export sales director at Lacroix Trafic.
  • Mega trends will challenge transport technology
    June 5, 2015
    Jon Masters investigates some of the longer term trends that will shape transportation over the next 20 years. Business analysts and investors have already placed their bets on a future of technological smart mobility services. In December last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Uber, the on-demand taxi and lift share smartphone app and start-up business, had been valued at $41.2 billion which, as the Journal reported, is an incredible vote of confidence for a company only five years old.
  • Polarised imaging gives enforcement clarity
    February 6, 2020
    Polarised imaging advances have finally allowed ITS technology to catch up with previously unenforceable international bans on smoking in cars, says Sony’s Stephane Clauss
  • CES 2021 | Connecting cities
    March 1, 2021
    Covid-19 forced the Las Vegas Convention Center to close its doors for CES 2021, but the trade show’s online debut suggests the pandemic is helping cities