04 Jun 20 mph zones are ‘too slow’ says motoring lawyer Nick Freeman
PROMINENT lawyer Nick Freeman has called for 20 mph zones to be restricted to high-risk areas such as roads outside schools rather than becoming the norm in towns.
He told GB News: “To me, it’s counterintuitive, it’s generally too slow, because what happens is you’re so obsessed with trying to keep it to 20 miles an hour, that you’re looking at the speedometer all the time.
“As drivers, what we need to be doing is concentrating on our speed but other things as well, what other cars are doing, who’s around us, except there’s a whole combination of things that we need to be looking at.
‘I drove on Edgware Road last night, having come off the motorway, and the car kept going up to 21 and 22 and I had to keep putting my foot on the brake to keep under 20, obviously cognizant of the fact that if you go more than 10% plus one you’re going to be prosecuted. And that’s what’s happening.”
In a discussion with Arlene Foster, he said: “I’m not suggesting we should never have 20 mile an hour speed limits, I think there’s a time and a place for them. The time is obviously school run and school time and certain places.
“But by and large, it’s too slow. In London, they’ve got 50 miles at the moment which are subject to 20 mile an hour speed limits, they want in 2024 for that to be 137 miles. And you have to ask yourself, what is it achieving?
“The statistics actually show that it has very little impact on safety. And my view is when some proper research is done, obviously you’re not going to hurt someone as much as 20 miles an hour, but you’re probably going to have more accidents because you’re not concentrating on what you should be concentrating on.”
He added: “I’d like to see it being targeted, be selective at the right times, but not just a blanket let everyone go 20 miles an hour, because it’s counterintuitive and it causes anger for drivers, drivers who are sitting on empty roads in the early hours of the morning being restricted to 20 miles an hour.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. The majority, over 40%, say we break it because we don’t understand it. It doesn’t make sense. So surely we need to collaborate.
“Most motorists, the majority are sensible, they are law-abiding, we just need to have something that works for all of us.”
