Councils are starting to scrap 20mph limits as the schemes face a backlash amid revelations drivers are facing a record number of fines for offences in the zones. The Mail has more.
Local authorities in Highland and Flintshire have reverted some roads to 30mph in recent months with 300 applications to the latter to restore more to the higher level.
More than 216,000 fines for travelling between 20mph and 30mph were handed out by forces across the UK in 2023 – quadruple the number issued compared to 2018.
Enforcement varied greatly across the U.K., with two forces – Avon and Somerset and the Metropolitan Police – issuing 97% of the 700,000 tickets since 2018.
As public opposition to 20mph zones continues to grow, leading road traffic lawyer Mr. Loophole told MailOnline that they “actually make our roads more dangerous” as he called for a “dynamic” 20mph limit in certain areas at certain times of day.
Meanwhile driving instructors in a part of North Wales that has had the 20mph limits for two years said they have had very little effect on slowing down motorists.
And MailOnline readers have got in touch this week to reveal how they have been fined for breaking the 20mph speed limit by as little as 2mph in some cases.
The aggressive approach to enforcement in some areas in recent months has seen motorists in Britain face a record number of fines for 20mph offences last year.
But six forces with 20mph limits have not issued a single fine for 20mph offences – Lancashire, West Mercia, Cleveland, Humberside, Warwickshire and Lincolnshire.
Last September, Wales became the first nation to impose 20mph as the default on all restricted roads in a hugely controversial move.
But by November, Flintshire Council returned ten of its roads back to 30mph – including the A549 Mold Road, A549 Chester Road and A541 Denbigh Road.
The authority added at the time that the public would get the chance to suggest other routes that should be reverted.
And last week the council’s transport manager Anthony Stanford confirmed it had received 300 applications to change roads back to 30mph – a number which he said “continues to grow”.
Worth reading in full.
Meanwhile, south London residents have slammed a controversial new Low Traffic Neighbourhood which is causing such terrible congestion it is filling the air with fumes and causing buses to take nearly an hour to travel less than three miles. From the Mail.
The Streatham Wells LTN has caused “chaos” since it was first introduced last October, with residents, local business owners, and motorists branding it a “nightmare”.
LTNS were first introduced by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in the hopes of reducing pollution, but local residents say the latest LTN has actually made the problem worse.
A local shop owner claimed she can now “taste the fumes” as she walks down Streatham High Road, and parents say their children are always late for school because of the congestion.
The traffic is so bad at peak times that buses are being diverted around and even through the zone and ambulances get stuck in the gridlock.
The road, part of the A23, is the main route from south London into Surrey.
Harriet De Wolff, 57, who owns a gift shop called ‘The Indigo Tree’ on Streatham High Road, said: “It is an absolute nightmare.
“It’s definitely not good for pollution. It’s made it worse.
“I can taste the fumes in my mouth as I walk down Streatham High Road. That didn’t use to be the case, but now, all the cars and buses stopped in traffic – it’s causing more and more pollution.
“People who live on this street will never be able to open their windows again.”
Also worth reading in full.
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