'Ridiculous': Backlash as road safety campaigners call for 10 mph speed limit on city roads
16 May 2025, 09:06
The Road Safety Foundation is facing a backlash from motorists over calls for the speed limits on some city roads to be cut to 10mph.
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The Foundation has reported the further speed cuts would prevent deaths and reduce serious road injuries, with proposals highlighting 10mph zones surrounding schools and hospitals.
10mph is equivalent to a slow cyclist, or a fast jogger.
The proposed limit would affect roads surrounding schools, hospitals and roads in the vicinity of major social, sports and cultural events.
The report says that a 20 mph speed should be set on other roads with junctions, and where motors regularly mix with cyclists and pedestrians - even with segmented cycle paths.
Read More: Shocking moment man on e-scooter overtakes cars on A3 dual carriageway in London
It also says that roads where there is no interaction with cyclists or pedestrians could maintain a 30mph limit.
There are also proposals to cut the speed limit on single-carriage and country roads to 20 mph.
The move, if enacted, could potentially triple journey times for people moving between towns and cities. The current speed limit on A and B, single-carriage roads is 60 mph.
“We are not saying that all speeds or speed limits should be set to these speeds,” says Dr Suzy Charman of the Foundation.
“Rather, that infrastructure needs to be improved, or speeds reduced to ensure travel speeds are better aligned with human tolerances to crash forces.”
The proposals are part of a policy dubbed “vision zero”: the belief that no road death should be considered “an acceptable by-product of mobility”.
The Alliance of British Drivers has not responded well to the proposal however, dubbing it “ridiculous”.
“If you ban all motorised transport, you might reduce deaths and injury a bit,” says Hugh Bladon of the Alliance.
“We should remember that more people were being killed and injured in the days before motorised transport, by horses and their carriages.”
While horse and carriage accidents were a significant concern on pre-motor roads, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact amount of accidents for a modern day comparison.There is precedent for policies of this ilk, with Wales setting a default speed limit of 20 mph in 2022.
However, the policy proved deeply unpopular, with YouGov reporting opposition from two-thirds of the population.
