Safer streets for Brighton and Hove - a 20 mph campaign for our city
The Green Party is calling for a 20mph speed limit in built-up areas to be implemented urgently to improve road safety.
The current default speed limit for residential areas is 30mph. But according to a recent RAC Report on Motoring, half of drivers admit to regularly "driving significantly above" the current 30mph limit.
And figures from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents state that if you are struck by a passing car in your street at 35 mph there is a 50% chance you will be killed. This survival rate vastly increases to 97% at a traffic speed of 20mph.
The issue is one that strikes right to the heart of Sussex, with the most up to date figures showing 6018 people killed and seriously injured in the county last year.
Brighton and Hove Green Party want to see legislation change at a UK level, but believe that a demonstration of 20mph's viability and popularity must come from practical examples at a local level.
The campaign will focus on two key issues. First, getting Brighton and Hove's Tory council to listen to the city's residents and implement 20mph speed limits on all streets throughout the city where people live, work, play or go to school. And second, calling on the Labour government to reduce the standard speed limit on 'restricted roads' in all built-up areas of the UK from 30mph to 20mph.
