20mph again

20mph zones are spreading fast, according to another email received from the pressure group, 20 is Plenty for Us. Everyone wants safer streets, but are blanket 20mph zones the answer? I don’t think so. For one thing, they open up fresh avenues of enforcement, extending state control over our daily lives and actions. And they express a misreading of human psychology. Our streets will only be genuinely safe when we are taught to drive according to social context, not coerced into driving by numbers. The transformation of a dangerous junction in Poynton, Cheshire, shows that intelligent design, not speed limits, produces the desired results: gentle speeds, civilised interaction, deference to vulnerable road-users. Link to video, Poynton Regenerated, here (or search Poynton in YouTube).