20's Plenty for Leicester

We are campaigning for 20 mph speed limits on all residential roads in Leicester. A member of our group explains why in this YouTube video. It is no coincidence that Britain has the highest percentage of pedestrian road fatalities in Europe and one of the lowest rates of children walking or cycling to school. 20 mph speed limits are safer for all road users; when they were introduced in Portsmouth there was a 22% reduction in casualties. Many cities in Europe have 30 kph (about 18 mph) speed limits on residential roads and much higher numbers of cyclists and pedestrians. In order to make cycling and walking more attractive, for both health and environmental reasons, it will be necessary to make our roads safer and less intimidating. Encouraging people to choose active transport options and reduce fuel use will improve air quality, which is an acknowledged problem in Leicester. If Leicester is serious about 'planning for people not cars', we have to make our streets calmer, safer and quieter.

Leicester's children want to be able to use the streets safely, see their message to the Youth Bike Summit. There is evidence to suggest that children are unable to judge the speed of vehicles travelling over 20 mph, which explains why they are always over-represented in casualty figures.

We collected nearly 500 signatures in a petition for 20 mph speed limits and presented it to the City Council in January 2012. We then encouraged people to write to their councillors to ask for 20 mph speed limits on residential streets in their area - this map shows a smiley face sticker for everyone that visited us at a stall and sent a letter. We delivered these letters to Rory Palmer, the Deputy Mayor, during Road Safety week in November 2012 and it was reported in the Leicester Mercury. Rory Palmer explained that he was sympathetic to the campaign but that the City Council does not currently have the funds to roll out 20 mph speed limits across the city. However, in areas where they have run a consultation about this so far, there has been overwhelming public support. We hope that the letters will demonstrate to all the Councillors that city residents want lower speed limits on every residential street.