The benefits of 20mph speed limits are numerous, but how best to enforce them given how few motorists appear to have the driving skill or inclination to keep to them?
Traffic engineers in Canada are forgoing the traditional approach of camera enforcement and fines and experimenting with offering a carrot rather than the stick. A new design of traffic light changes from red to green only when approaching traffic keeps to the 20mph limit.
The system is known as EARL, or ‘Educational Awareness Reward Light’ (or FRED in FRench ‘feu de ralentissement éducatif’) and its prototype has been installed for a 3-month trial period near a school in Brossard, Canada.
Initial results sound promising. Before the lights were installed, the road had an average vehicle speed of 25 mph, but since its introduction that has dropped to 18 mph.
Local mayor, Doreen Assaad, told StreetsblogMASS: “Fines might be effective, but it’s effective after-the-fact. The beauty of FRED is we reward good behavior, and it’s immediate. It doesn’t record any private information, it just detects that the vehicle is coming and measures its speed. So it’s a carrot instead of a stick.”
Twenty is plenty
Here at the ETA, we’re proud to have helped coin the phrase ‘Twenty’s plenty’ and thrilled that over the years it evolved into 20’s Plenty for Us, a campaign group we continue to support.
Given the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, there is no justification for 30 mph as the national speed limit. According to 20’s Plenty for Us, “The 30mph limit that was plucked out of the air in 1934 as being better than no limit, is no longer fit for purpose. It is unjust, unjustifiable and needs to be consigned to history.“
The introduction of 20mph speed limits in areas of London has contributed towards a 50 per cent reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured on the roads (see British Medical Journal) – these zones not only reduce casualty figures, they improve quality of life by transforming streets into areas where people are happy to cycle and children are able to play.
The ethical choice
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.
James Edward
We saw a lot of these traffic lights in Italy in 2016, it’s a shame they’re not more widely implemented.
Doug M
A great idea. We could do with these in the UK.
I live in an outer London suburb, and I’m happy to keep to 20 mph on minor roads. My current car has cruise control, and I just stick it on the speed limit and relax! However, I still find it painful when diving in the Boroughs such as Ealing that have a 20 speed limit on major routes.
Alan
So what happens when car #1 going North to South approaches at the right speed, and car #2 going East to West also at right speed meet at the intersection? Can’t both get the green light.
Kris
Not the case in London, though
david
I saw this in Germany decades ago and I believe something like it is in Portugal. I read somewhere that there they have lights that make you wait if you are speeding.