In 1994 Suffolk County Council undertook to introduce a 30mph speed limit into every village or community in the county. This work was completed by November 1996. There are no criteria for this initiative but there is a presumption in favour of restricting all of the village roads where people live to 30mph. Instead of setting a speed limit which reflects the 85% speed of passing traffic, much more account is taken of the needs and wishes of villagers and those who live in rural communities. About 400 new 30mph speed limits were introduced, progressively and on an area basis. In the majority of cases there was no speed limit in force previously. It is hoped that those who benefit from the new, lower speed limits will support the new, lower speed limits will support the initiative by, in turn, driving more slowly in other people's communities. The whole approach is consistent with the Government's "Speed Kills, Kill Your Speed" campaign and fits into the rest of Suffolk's anti-speeding strategy. By the summer of 1996, at least 10 of 13 areas were implemented - about 300 new speed limits. Within each area a sample of sites is being monitored for speed changes, including up to 12 months after implementation.
Abstract