New Directions in Speed Management
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New Directions in Speed Management – A Review of Policy New Directions in Speed Management A Review of Policy March 2000 Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions: London Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Eland House Bressenden Place London SW1E 5DU Telephone 020 7944 3000 Internet service http://www.detr.gov.uk © Crown Copyright 2000 Copyright in the typographical arrangement and design vests in the Crown. Extracts of this publication may be made for non-commercial in-house use, subject to the source being acknowledged. Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to The Copyright Unit, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, St Clements House, 1-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ. Further copies of this report are available from: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions PO Box 236 Wetherby West Yorkshire LS23 7NB Tel: 0870 1226 236 Fax: 0870 1226 237 Published by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Printed in the UK, March 2000 on paper comprising 75% post-consumer waste and 25% ECF pulp. Product code 99ARSE0518E. CONTENTS FOREWORD 5 CHAPTER ONE Introduction 7 Origins of the Review 7 Policy background 7 The Review and Report 9 CHAPTER TWO Findings 10 The effects of speed on road safety 10 Vehicle speeds and the environment 13 The effect on quality of life 15 Health 15 The economy 16 What people say and what they do 16 Deciding what speeds are right 17 Current measures for influencing vehicle speeds 18 CHAPTER THREE Analysis 21 The effects of vehicle speeds 21 Urban speed management 22 Rural areas 24 Motorways and dual carriageways 26 Achieving appropriate vehicle speeds 27 CHAPTER FOUR Recommendations 31 Overview 31 Action plan 31 CHAPTER FIVE References 36 TECHNICAL ANNEX Foreword Foreword We have examined how we could develop best practice in engineering, enforcement, education and publicity to achieve a workable and cost- effective approach. REVIEW OF SPEED POLICY The review has taken us a long way forward. We believe that a national framework for As the Head of the Road Safety and Environment determining appropriate vehicle speeds is needed, Directorate, I am very pleased to enclose the report but we also have to deepen our understanding of of the Review of Speed Policy. the affects of speed on the environment and the trade offs with the economy. In its White Paper on the Future of Transport, the Government said that in the interests of achieving Our aim should be for appropriate speeds on all our road safety targets it would develop a speed roads. Speed limits to manage vehicle speeds will policy that would take account of the contribution need to be rational, consistent, readily understood of reduced speeds to environmental and social and appropriate for the circumstances. Such limits objectives as well as to road safety. should help gain both compliance and even lower speeds where conditions dictate. Together these You launched the review in October 1998. Since will make an important contribution to the then I have had responsibility for ensuring that the reduction in death and injury on our roads. review reaches a successful conclusion. I believe the recommendations in the report To this end, we have consulted representatives of provide a sound framework for the future and environmental interests, motorists, local I commend it to you and your ministerial authorities, the police, academics and many others colleagues. to reach an informed view of the issues. Yours sincerely, Our road safety record is one of the best in the world but we can do better, particularly for the most vulnerable road users and especially children. Vehicles speed is perhaps the most important John Plowman contributor to road casualties so we need to tackle Road Safety and Environment this issue if we are to achieve our targets. We have looked closely at the precise nature of the problem on the different road types to establish whether change was required in the speed limit, the actual speeds driven, or both. 5 Introduction CHAPTER 1 Introduction Origins of the Review Policy background 1. When the Government published the 4. The wider policy background is important. White Paper A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone it decided to set in hand a review of speed management. There was a widespread ROAD SAFETY STRATEGY view that people were driving cars and other motor vehicles too fast. Many people thought 5. We had already announced proposals for a speed limits should be lowered and that lower road safety strategy for the next decade with limits would automatically improve safety and casualty reduction targets. The strategy will include bring environmental benefits. Others thought that the Government’s response to the principal limits were not observed because they were too conclusions of this speed review. Ministers low. So this review was: particularly want these policies to address child road safety. “to develop a speed policy that takes account of the contribution of reduced speeds to environmental and social objectives as well CLIMATE CHANGE as to road safety.” 6. The UK has taken on challenging targets for 2. Policies were to be practical and cost effective reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Under the because damaging the economy would not meet Kyoto Protocol, it has a legally binding target to wider social objectives. reduce emissions of a basket of greenhouse gasses to 12.5% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. It also 3. We have consulted many people with has a domestic goal to reduce emissions of carbon valuable views and advice about speed issues. We dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas, by have met groups of representatives of 20% below 1990 levels by 2010. Changes to speed environmental interests, motorists, local authorities policy could have positive or negative effects on and the police. We issued a discussion document in our ability to meet climate change targets. August and held a conference on 15 September last year attended by 300 people. While we were undertaking the review, the Scottish Executive and AIR POLLUTION the National Assembly for Wales were created and their staff have taken part. Although national 7. Road transport is one of the major sources speed limits are a Great Britain responsibility, local of local air pollution. It also accounts for two-thirds ones are very much a matter for the Executive and of all emissions of four of the eight pollutants for the Assembly in Scotland and Wales. which the national air quality strategy sets reduction targets. One suggestion for improving air quality in urban areas is to introduce suitable traffic management schemes. We need to consider what is suitable. 7 New Directions in Speed Management – A Review of Policy HEALTH commuters and other motorists of being able to reach their destinations reasonably quickly. 8. The White Paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation sets targets for reducing deaths and serious 15. Reliable journey times are also important for injuries from all accidents. There is also reference lorry and bus movements because they are a to reducing road casualties in the Scottish White foundation of many modern industries, and are Paper Towards a Healthier Scotland. taken into account when investment is planned. 9. Cutting traffic speeds could also help achieve 16. Reducing speeds in congested conditions can other health objectives. Reducing coronary heart be helpful, of course, but unnecessary suppression of disease and stroke is another priority in Our speed could be damaging. Healthier Nation. The Department of Health recommends people take more exercise, such as more walking and cycling “in a safe environment.” GENUINE CAR DEPENDENCE 10. An improvement in air quality would reduce 17. Speed management policy may particularly respiratory disease and lessen its effects. affect people who rely on car transport in the absence of any realistic alternative. Motor vehicles 11. Targeted measures to moderate vehicle speeds are essential to many people, especially those with can encourage more cycling and walking by making mobility impairments or who live in rural areas. them safer and more attractive. Surveys show Their needs must be recognised. clearly that fears of traffic danger, and speed in particular, lead more parents to take their children to school by car (see for example Hillman et al OBJECTIVES 1991). This is turn contributes to the peak hour traffic levels. 18. These are the objectives that speed management policy sets out to meet. Clearly some of these are not compatible. Speed policy involves REGENERATION difficult decisions on trade-offs between benefits and disadvantages and must resolve conflicts 12. Thriving town centres are the focus of urban between objectives to strike the right balance. life. People want well-planned, attractive town centres where they can live and work and enjoy 19. This document does not contain all the final shopping and the local culture. Speed management answers. We expected to find areas where the can contribute to a safer, more pleasant available information was not good enough for us environment and to a wider choice of transport. to be confident about every detail, and we have Traffic calming measures that are sympathetic to found some. We need better tools for judging cost their surroundings can, for instance, encourage effectiveness of some measures. walking and cycling. Traffic management can be engineered to improve reliability for bus journeys. 20. There will be more work – and more consultation – to develop policies in detail. We 13. Speed management in rural areas can help need to be aware of future changes, for example in prevent communities being cut in two by frequent vehicle performance, which might provide better fast traffic through villages. ways of achieving objectives. But we do know enough to set the directions in which policy might go and to recommend action now where the review THE ECONOMY reveals flaws in what we are doing.