§ The Earl of Listowelasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their best estimate of how many children's lives are saved by street calming each year and how many are protected from injury. [HL4705]
§ Lord WhittyIn a 1996 report on a before and after study of traffic calming measures in selected 20 mph zone schemes that had been commissioned by my department, the Transport Research Laboratory said it had found that child pedestrian and child cyclist accidents had fallen by 70 and 48 per cent respectively overall. Local authorities have carried out many 20 mph schemes since then and have not required my82WA department's prior approval to the speed limit since the powers were delegated last year. No national estimate has been made of the number of child deaths and injuries that have been saved as a result of such schemes but my department is convinced of their value. It therefore plans to allocate over £3 million for local authorities to spend on 20 mph zone schemes in the current financial year, in addition to their existing programmes of measures to help reduce child road casualties.