Campaigners’ naked ambition for 20mph urban limit

01 April 2009

Pedestrians’ association Living Streets is calling for a blanket 20mph restriction on all urban highways other than main arterial routes as part of a policy of ‘naked streets’, which would see a revolution in highway design.

A new policy briefing urges adoption of the European naked streets concept, commonly known as shared space, which starts from the assumption that excessive road regulation makes drivers less considerate to pedestrians and cyclists.

nce ‘prescriptions’ such as traffic lights, road signs, markings and guard rails are removed, it increases drivers’ awareness of risk and makes them more considerate.

The idea is gaining acceptance in Europe and in the UK, Kensington High Street’s redesign has incorporated many of the ideas.

However, Living Streets distances itself from the shared surfaces approach on the grounds it can leave vulnerable users such as blind and visually impaired people uneasy, and urges more research in the area.

A key recommendation in the briefing is a default urban speed limit of 20mph throughout Great Britain, with exceptions for important arterial roads only. This, says Living Streets, would greatly reduce casualties and reinforce the idea that streets were for people, not just traffic, and provide an easier starting point for new naked street schemes.

‘Traffic moving at more civilized speeds can be integrated more easily with other road-users,’ it says.

It claims opposition to naked streets in the UK is a cultural thing, and our civil liability framework disproportionately favours the motorist in collisions with pedestrians.

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