A Wensleydale parish council has backed a campaign to reduce the speed limited in built-up areas to 20mph.
Councillors in Bellerby last night passed a motion of support for the road safety campaign called 20s Plenty for Us.
The council said it had become the fourth in Richmondshire to pass such a motion and the 40th in North Yorkshire.
The council said in a statement: “The aim of the campaign is to reduce speed limits in built up areas to 20mph thus reducing the risk of death or serious injury to our most vulnerable road users.
“We will now lobby North Yorkshire County Council to address the issues we have raised and North Yorkshire Police to enforce speed limits.
“Fatal road traffic accidents account for 38 deaths per year on average and hundreds of injuries.”
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It would be nice if the police would enforce the 30 limit through the villages instead of victimising drivers on open roads eg. Bedale bypass, service road, and numerous A roads in the area. I suppose there can’t be enough speeders to make it worthwhile, more income from and open road eh?
The rather manic goal of reducing road deaths in a country with the lowest rate for its density of population in the world is illogical. There are indeed countries with lower death rates than the UK – Kiribati, Micronesia and Monaco. All three are characterized by having almost no cars! Some of the Micronesian islands lack a single vehicle. Truly safe. Monaco is dominated by chauffeured vehicles. Way to go! (Those who think anything Scandinavian is better than anything British will bring up Sweden, which is usually neck and neck with the UK every year on low road deaths. However, it has over 10 times lower population density. So, in a very real sense, Sweden is ten times more dangerous. The real goal of many activists is to remove all cars, and well-meaning people go along with this agenda-driven nonsense. Should the developed country with the LEAST road death problem really be prioritising this? Drug deaths, for instance, are 3 times higher than road deaths – and some want to legalise (typically the same people who want to ban cars)! Suicides are higher than THAT, but many want to encourage more – through ‘assisted’ deaths. Late diagnosed deaths from cancer are yet higher.
I think if the police would enforce the 30 MPH and 40 MPH speed limits it would be a start ,as I think some drivers would just ignore a 20 MPH speed limit as they do with the 30 MPH limits.
I am assuming that there ust be a real problem with serious injuries and fatalities through the Dales villages if this is to be prioritised. No? Just an excuse to raise revenue from camera vans? Probably. I find that people obey the laws they respect and understand. If there is no pressing need to change behaviour (due to a high number of casualties for example)then the change is just a waste of money. It also forces people to drive in lower gears which adds to pollution and noise. 20mph is acceptable in residential estates but not on major through-routes. And what about the shoals of cyclists tearing about at well above 20mph – a frequent occurrence in summer months? Just as dangerous. After the difficulties of the last 2 years you’d think councillors had other priorities right now. I for one do not support this proposal and agree with Mike Sweeting’s view on where the priorities should lie.
Are the councilors the same people who collect money in buckets on a bank Holiday Monday?