Greens push council to roll out 20mph zones
Greens have called on West Dunbartonshire Council to roll out 20mph zones to all residential streets after Scottish Green MSPs published Freedom of Information requests which show a "postcode lottery" of road safety across Scotland.
Councils were asked how many 20mph zones they have. The results show a huge variation, with Clackmannanshire saying all residential streets are 20mph and Edinburgh saying the majority of its streets are 20mph with a further 810 zones planned. By contrast, West Dunbartonshire has only 41 streets in 20mph zones and no plans to introduce any new 20mph zones.
West of Scotland Green MSP Ross Greer said:
"Children and the elderly are being put at risk by our failure to deliver safe speed limits where people live. This postcode lottery of uncompleted patchworks of part time 20 mph zones across our towns is not enough to deliver safe communities.
"I believe we need to change the law so that 20 rather than 30 mph is the default speed limit in residential areas, and it’s Green MSPs’ intention to bring forward a member’s bill in the Scottish Parliament in the coming months to do just that.
“With lower speed limits, you hugely increase the chance of surviving after being hit by a car. By making 20 rather than 30 the default, we can make built-up streets safer.
"People in communities across West Dunbartonshire support reducing speed limits but this has proven a real struggle, despite the obvious benefits to safety and public health. The pace of change is too slow, so new legislation is needed to make it easier for Councils to reduce speed limits consistently."