SPEED HUMPS are set to be banished from 20mph zones, the Government announced today, but plans for a blanket 20mph speed limit in many residential areas were also unveiled, in a move to reduce pedestrian and cyclist deaths.
Road Safety Minister Paul Clark announced 20mph zones must no longer be accompanied by speed humps or other 'traffic calming' measures, however a new-style wireless speed camera network was in the pipeline.
As reported on Visordown last week, a new government initiative is planning to install wireless cameras capable of communicating with each other to monitor a vehicle's speed. Anything moving at an average of four miles per hour above the 20mph limit will result in an automatic 3 penalty points and a £60 fine.
Safety statistics have shown one in 40 pedestrians struck by a car at 20mph dies compared to one in five at 30mph.
Mr Clark said: "The number of people killed and seriously injured on Britain's roads has fallen by 40 per cent since the mid-1990s and Britain now has the joint safest roads in the world."
But despite the optimism Mr Clark went on to say:
"Too many pedestrians and cyclists - including many children - are still being killed or hurt on the roads around their homes and schools.
"We have seen that 20mph zones with traffic calming measures can make a real difference to the safety of local roads."'
