23 February 2011 - Keith Taylor, the Green MEP for Sussex and the South East visited Chichester yesterday to back local road safety campaigners’ call for a 20 mph limit across all roads in the city.
Keith is the Green MEP responsible for road safety in the European Parliament and is backing Chichester residents’ call for the 20mph area to be extended outside the city centre. Keith met Sarah Sharp from the ‘20’s Plenty’ campaign and Anita van Rossum and Matt Damper from Transition Chichester, a community-led group which is part of the thriving international Transition movement which seeks to promote a lower carbon lifestyle.
Keith is supporting an extension of the city centre 20mph limit, with a default speed limit of 20mph throughout the city, except on main arterial roads. In Portsmouth this limit has been enforced successfully with no additional speed bumps. Chichester City Council has adopted 20’s Plenty as City Council policy, as has Worthing Borough Council, but the required approval for 20mph has not yet been given by West Sussex County Council.
20mph limits can seriously reduce the impact of an accident on a child. In Portsmouth where 20mph is standard, there has been a 22% reduction in casualties. There have been 6 fatal road accidents in Chichester in the last 5 years and 548 reported injuries.
A recent NHS report in the North West found that over four-fifths of child casualties occur on roads that have a speed limit of 30 mph. Statistical modelling shows that up to 140 killed or seriously injured child casualties could be saved each year if 20 mph speed limits had been applied in these areas (2).
Following yesterday’s meeting Keith has vowed to write to West Sussex County Council to urge them to build on the work which has already been done in Chichester and Worthing to introduce 20mph areas.
Keith Taylor said: “Introducing 20mph can make a real difference to a city like Chichester; 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. The facts are clear, a pedestrian hit by a car travelling at 20mph is likely to suffer slight injuries, but at 30mph they are likely to be severely hurt. At 40mph or above they are likely to be killed.
“Having met with campaigners in Chichester I’m going to write to West Sussex County Council to ask them to introduce this policy which would help improve the safety and wellbeing of Chichester residents.”
Sarah Sharp, a Chichester resident and 20’s Plenty campaigner said: “It is very encouraging for 20’s Plenty supporters in Chichester to be meeting with our MEP, and we are very grateful that Keith will be writing to West Sussex County Council to help get this policy adopted. At the moment many people in Chichester use their cars to travel because the roads are too dangerous for cycling or walking.
“Our road space is not shared fairly between cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Only when we share the roads more fairly will we be able to really promote walking and cycling with all the benefits for our own health and the environment. Keith’s support is a great boost in the run up to our Public Meeting on 20’s Plenty which we will be holding on Wednesday 16th March in the Assembly Rooms.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. For the full report: http://www.nwph.net/nwpho/Publications/Forms/rta.html
2. Details of Oxford’s 20mph limits: http://bit.ly/epItjJ
