One of the biggest cities in the UK has approved the widespread use of 20mph speed limits on a huge selection of roads which will begin rolling out later this year.
Aberdeen City Council approved the traffic order earlier this week which will see streets in the north part of the city restricted to 20mph.
The move hopes to help Scotland’s plans to have the best road safety in the world by 2030 and have no one seriously injured or killed on roads by 2050.
The Scottish Government aims to expand 20mph speed limits across the country this year with Aberdeen already taking the first step.
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More than 480 roads have been targeted for 20mph speed limits
ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL
CouncillorIan Yuill said: “Lower speeds will make Aberdeen’s streets safer for all. Pedestrians in particular areamong the most vulnerable on our streets and a reduced vehicle speeds mean fewer serious injuries to pedestrians.”
Meanwhile, Councillor Miranda Radley explained that improving road safety is a national goal with Aberdeen “playing its part” by introducing 20mph speed limits in residential areas.
She added: “If a motorist hits someone at 30mph, they are seven times more likely to die than if the incident took place at 20mph.”
The council has already identified 489 streets in the northern part of the city which can be turned to 20mph.
Before the move was officially agreed by the council, a public consultation was active between September 23 and October 14, 2024. During this time, 13 objections were raised.
One resident objected to the speed changes due to viewing 20mph as more dangerous than 30mph “as some drivers often become frustrated when stuck behind a driver travelling at the mandatory speed limit when within a 20mph speed limit zone”.
Instead, the driver suggested 20mph speed limits should be restricted to certain places near schools and hospitals, and should only operate during a specific period of the day.
Another person shared their objections and highlighted the failure of the scheme in Wales claiming it will be the same if Scotland tries to rollout lower speed limits.
In response, the council explained the Scottish Government’s action in putting together a special task force that considered what was done elsewhere and what the criteria would be for assessing roads in Scotland.
The council stated: “Thereby devising a different execution method from Wales. We explained that having cul-de-sacs and road humps on the carriageways in the area means speeding may not be an issue in their area, however, the proposed roads meet the requirements for 20mph speed limit, and the new speed limit will therefore formalise the driving speed in their area.”
Officers also responded to the claim that reducing speed limits would have an impact on traffic, and would be inconvenient for motorists.
They stated: “Various speed surveys we conducted in different residential areas with 30mph speed limit shows that, the average driving speed is around 25mph, therefore, reducing speed on residential roads to 20mph will have minimal impact on travel time whilst improving road safety citywide.
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Residents warn the nationwide rollout of 20mph will fail in the same way it did in Wales
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“As you may be aware, driving speed is also a function of factors, such as, the environmental feel of the road, road conditions, road layout, individual drivers etc.”
