Call for 20 mph speed limit for British towns

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2007

LONDON (AFP) — The speed limit for built-up areas in Britain should be reduced to 20 miles per hour, to help halve the number of road deaths, the parliamentary body advising the government on road safety reported Tuesday.

Twenty mph should be made the default speed limit in built-up areas and more 20 mph zones created, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety said.

At the moment, around 3,200 people die are injured on Britain's roads every year, down from more than 7,000 deaths a year in the 1960s thanks to measures such as seatbelts, improved car design and the breathalyser test.

Today's study also called for early approval of a new generation of speed cameras that measure a driver's speed over a certain distance.

It also argued for...