Sunday 20 October 2013

Local Authority Overview & Scrutiny

Within local authorities there is an Overview & Scrutiny functions which provides checks and balances on the various executive functions of the council. Leicestershire County Council describe the role as:





The Overview and Scrutiny role is designed to support the work of the Council by providing for members:-
  • to review and scrutinise decisions taken by the Executive;
  • to consider aspects of the performance of the Council;
  • to assist in research, policy review and development;
  • to provide a means of involving the community in the Council’s work;
  • to involve itself with external organisations operating in the County to ensure that the interests of local people are enhanced by collaborative working.
Note the points about policy review and community involvement. There is a clear case that the council has failed to adapt its policy on speed limits following the government guidance issued at the beginning of 2013 in Dft Circular 2013/01 . See previous blog here http://sgstreets.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/dft-setting-speed-limits-positive-news.html

There is evidence that other local authorities have formally revised their speed limit policies (or are in the process of doing so) and have consulted tyhe public on these policies. Here is an example in Hertfordshire .
We are raising the issue of speed limit policy with the Leicestershire County Council with the Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee which covers this function. We are joining forces with Woodhouse Eaves who also want to implement 20mph limits. Their local County Councillor has agreed to raise the issue on our behalf.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Stoke Golding Parish Council say No to 20mph limits

In the same month that saw high profile commitments to 20 mph in the City of London and our second city Birmingham, Stoke Golding Parish Council unanimously reject 20 mph limits.

In a newsletter to residents they stated:

"The Parish Council discussed again the issue of a 20MPH speed limit and confirms that in their unanimous opinion that whilst safe streets are a priority and desirable, it would be misleading/pointless to give their opinion on a 20MPH zone when the present austerity cuts at County render it undeliverable, coupled with a lack of enforcement by police”. This comes after protracted discussions with the Parish Council following a significant random survey of the village in late 2012. With 76% of respondents identifying speed as an issue and 67% supporting a village wide 20mph speed limit (only 22% opposed), we not unreasonably expected the Parish Council to support the majority view.

We had always anticipated problems with a Local Authority that is short of cash and which has failed to revise its speed limit strategy following new government guidance on speed limits issued earlier this year. We have looked at the historic accident data for Stoke Golding and the forecast savings from speed reductions should pay the modest amount for a 20 mph sign only scheme within a year. We also recognise that enforcement is a challenge which is why we are pleased that the Association of Chief Police Officers earlier this month updated its guidance on enforcement of speed limits. This sees the enforcement of 20 mph limits taken much more seriously with tougher penalties for those who wilfully offend.

The change to 20 mph limits where people live is a movement, and it will take time to normalise this behaviour. It is not anti motorist - it actually has minimal impact on journey times. It is about a more equitable sharing of the public space where people live, socialise and travel. Towns and cities are getting the message in a big way with local authorities covering more than 11 million residents having now committed to 20 mph limits. Over the last several months there have been significant announcements of widespread implementation in Birmingham, London (City and many boroughs), Oxford, Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester and Brighton, to name but a few. These will join pioneering cities such as Portsmouth, Bristol and Hull who are now reaping the benefits in terms of lower accidents rates and increased walking and cycling. One day people will look back and say "surely we didn't used to let cars travel at 30 mph were people live" in the same way that we now say "surely we didn't used to let people smoke in public places".

So nationally the picture is very upbeat and we are quite convinced that the implementation of 20 mph limits is no longer "IF" but "WHEN". 

We have talked to several other villages around the country and a 3 to 5 year campaign is not uncommon, but success has been achieved. We are therefore planning to join forces with other like minded groups in Leicestershire to try and influence county policy and consider how best to continue locally.

 

Monday 14 October 2013

ACPO Reviews guidance on speed limit enforcement

The Association of Chief Police Officerts (ACPO) has revised its speed enforcement policy guidelines to reflect a tougher approach to enforcing 20 mph limits

The new guidance recommends that at speeds between 24-31mph a driver should be offered the option of attending a speed awareness course or a fixed penalty notice fine. At speeds of 35mph plus a summons will be issued.
Chief Constable Suzette Davenport, ACPO national policing lead on roads policing, said: “Speeding remains an issue of high concern, particularly in residential areas or near facilities for young or vulnerable people."

This is welcome news. In the past the ACPO have been criticised for their failure to enforce 20 mph speed limits. I am still concerned about the frequent statements of "self enforcing". Yes in an ideal world roads would be designed so that vehicles can only travel at a safe speed, but unfortunately  many of our roads are just not like that. At the end of the day the motorist has to accept that a limit is a limit and must be obeyed.

I hope this is part of a movement to take speed limits seriously in the UK. Currently limits are not observed by a significant number of motorists and that is because they are not enforced. I recently had a visitor from Australia staying with us and whilst out they observed "don't a lot of people speed in England". I have driven in Australia and almost everyone obeys the speed limit. Why?, because it is enforced and because it is regarded as socially unacceptable.

Thursday 4 July 2013

72% of Britain support 20 mph limits

The 2012 British Social Attitudes Survey results have just been published. The results show 72% in favour of 20 mph limits with just 11% against. Women favour 20 mph speed limits more at 76% then men at 68%. The full report can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/209890/bsa-2012.pdf.
Page 21 also shows peoples attitudes to speed bumps and closing residential streets.

Now you see it, now you don't



now you see it
now you don't
Station Road in Stoke Golding is within the Conservation Area established in 2004. The view down Station Road past the old factory is noted as a "view to be protected". Unfortunately this view is has been spoilt by a rather ugly chicane. I don't think its the chicane that the problem rather its the signage which is rather over the top and shouts "highway" rather than "street". I would like to see a design which is more in keeping with the character of the conservation area. Maybe a nice planter perhaps with some reflectors. I have airbrushed out the signage on the second photo - doesn't it look better?

A review of the conservation area is ongoing. I have discussed the chicane with the council conservation area Barry Whirrity who has taken some photos and says he will talk with Highways.

Saturday 22 June 2013

Barwell SUE update

The Barwell SUE has been granted outline planning permission which included access and highway arrangements. Part of the submission was a late analysis by Highways which predicted data flows through the village using their LLITM model.

Unfortunately their report did not contain readable traffic flow volumes so I subsequently asked for this information which they supplied in tabular form. I superimposed this data onto a local map (see below) together with the actual flows (in green) that we recorded when we audited traffic in the village in February 2013. There are two sets of predicted data flows from the LLITM model
"with mitigation" this means the (yet unspecified) changes to the main road network. i.e. the Rouges Lane, A47 and A5 junctions
"unmitigated" this means without changes to the main highway network




Highways conclusion is that there will be very little additional traffic along the rural network, hence they see no need to consider local rural mitigation. We have to first convince them that the model is wrong and / or convince them that there are not viable solutions to the Rogues Lane and A47 junctions.

There has subsequently been a meeting of the joint parish councils to discuss the issue of Barwell SUE traffic. At this meeting Ivan Ould (County Councillor) was tasked to talk to Highways. Ivan is currently trying to set up this meeting.

Saturday 1 June 2013

Stoke Golding Traffic Audit - Feb 2013

A very long time in posting, but way back in February the residents of Stoke Golding carried out an audit of traffic during the morning rush hour. The object of the exercise was to form a baseline of traffic flow volumes in and out of the village. It was felt this baseline would be useful in identifying changes in traffic patterns over time with the planned Barwell Sustainable extension very much in mind. The full report is here 

The diagram below is a useful summary showing the peak hourly traffic flows

As expected most of the traffic is entering along Hinckley Road with a peak flow of 220 vehicles per hour. 

In total there were 714 movements out and 466 movements in across the 2 hour monitoring period. This suggests there are just 248 local vehicles leaving the village which seems much lower than expected for 750 houses.

Thursday 30 May 2013

4th Annual 20 mph Conference report John Morrison

Journalist John Morrison, a cycling campaigner from Kent, gives a personal view of the 4th annual   20 mph conference, which took place in Coventry on 23 May
 We journalists like reporting events, not processes.  One day things are black, the next day they’re white.  When something decisive happens, we know how to write the before-and-after story.
 Reporting a process, such as the gradual spread of 20 mph speed limits on urban streets over the last five years, is more difficult.  It’s an under-the-radar story that isn’t black and white – more like fifty shades of grey, with the sexy bits left out.  Social behaviour and expectations change imperceptibly, and then reach a tipping point at which the prevailing norms change.  Drink-driving and smoking are examples of behaviour which used to be acceptable 50 years ago, but are now taboo.  The opposite has happened for same-sex relationships. Finally the law catches up, and everyone wonders why it all took so long.
 The annual conference on 20 mph limits, which I attended for the first time in 2012, gives an opportunity to take a snapshot of a process which is largely unnoticed by the national media.  Permitted rather than actively led by central government, local authorities are moving at their own pace to lower the standard 30 mph limit which has applied for decades on most urban streets.  A year ago, the headline figure was that 8 million people in the UK lived in local authorities committed to 20 mph limits; now the figure is 12 million.
 The change is happening much faster in cities and unitary authorities than in the rural shires.  Lancashire is the only county to take the plunge so far, but the pace seems to be quickening.  Rod King of 20’s Plenty for Us, points to a new circular on speed limits issued in January 2013 from the Department for Transport, which encouraged the switch.  ‘This is a very clear push from the DfT,’ he says. ‘They have recognised that this is about the wider benefits, not just road safety.’
 Reducing casualties remains the key justification, but public health, which since April 2013 is the responsibility of local authorities rather than the NHS, is now emerging as a central driver for change. The spiralling costs of our national obesity epidemic can best be reduced by getting people to walk and cycle more.  Bristol reported rises of more than 20% in walking and cycling after making the change.  The economic case for 20 mph limits used to be based solely on statistics for casualty and crash reduction, but now the health benefits loom larger.  As a cycling campaigner, I have always been convinced that high traffic speeds are the biggest single obstacle to getting more people on to their bikes.

Humps are over
20 mph limits used to involve ‘zones’ with expensive traffic calming, but the last government eased the rules, opening the door to making the change over much wider areas, with just a minimum of signage.  The costs have fallen sharply, and local authorities find it cheaper than they expected.   Campaigner Anna Semlyen, a councillor in York and a health economist, says Lancashire spent £6 million rather than the budgeted £9 million.  ‘York is spending £3 a head. In Middlesbrough it was £1.80 a head – a bargain.’
 Lower limits are proving popular with businesses, which need more footfall to compete with online retailers.  There are also claims that house prices rise by 10% on streets where 20 mph limits replace 30 mph limits, even if the actual traffic speeds fall by a smaller amount.  Satisfaction among residents seems to be high, with lower noise levels and pollution.  Local politicians, at least in cities, now see the way the wind is blowing.
One useful aspect of the annual 20 mph conference, organised by transport training specialists PTRC, is that it gives a platform not just to supporters of lower limits but also to independent academics and even to those who disagree.  The 20’s Plenty for Us movement is clearly influential, but this is a forum for local authority officers and engineers to find out what’s going on, not a campaigning rally. 
 20’s Plenty for Us steers a carefully neutral political course, and defines itself not as a Westminster-focused lobby group but as a national voluntary organisation supporting communities who want lower traffic speeds.  This low-key approach seems to be paying dividends in opening doors to local authorities of all political colours.
 Rod King’s current scenario is that a foreign tourist could arrive at St Pancras and travel by rail to Oxford, Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, York, and Cambridge, then back to London, and find 20 mph limits in each historic city.  The dots on the map, once few and far between, are spreading.
 It would be wrong to imagine that all the obstacles to 20 mph limits have miraculously vanished.  Emma Sheridan of (Green-led) Brighton and Hove city council told the conference that support for the lower limits introduced in April 2013 was 55% with 45% against, with taxi drivers particularly opposed.  ‘It has been highly political, but we have cross-party support.’   Brighton has been bolder than other cities by exempting only a few A and B roads from the 20 mph limits.  Local police have ‘not been very supportive’, in her words.  Emotions seem to be running higher than elsewhere.
 Police now ready to enforce 20 mph
At last year’s conference, a representative of the chief police officers’ club ACPO got a frosty reception when he explained why police were reluctant to enforce 20 mph limits.  That attitude has now softened;   ACPO now says that where drivers are regularly and wilfully breaking the law ‘we would expect that officers will enforce the limit and prosecute offenders.’
Rod King’s view is that while every police force faces budget cuts, ‘There is a gradual realisation in the police that it’s not going to go away.  This is the way our roads are headed, and there are heads coming out of the sand.’  However, the expectation is that the pressure for lower traffic speeds has to come from community involvement. Occasional enforcement by police is necessary, but is only a part of the mix. ‘This is about everybody playing their part.’  The 20’s Plenty for Us movement now has 197 local campaigns, 70 more than a year ago, with local councillors leading the way.  The shift in mood has parallels in other EU countries, where 30 kph default limits have won support in the European Parliament and are the subject of an international petition to force the European Commission to act.
 The Coventry conference heard research reports, some of them highly technical, which appeared to undermine some of the most frequent objections to 20 mph limits.  According to Duncan Kay of research consultancy Ricardo-AEA, claims by motoring organisations that lower limits will lead to higher emissions and fuel consumption should be treated with caution.  In fact the opposite may be true, and in the long run a modal shift towards walking and cycling will undoubtedly cut pollution.
Catherine Purcell of the University of South Wales reported on research into how poorly children and old people judge vehicle speeds.  The ability to tell how fast an approaching car is coming appears to be strongly age-related – which implies that lecturing primary school pupils on road safety won’t necessarily protect them. ‘It’s not enough to get children to pay attention – it is a matter of maturity in perception.’
 Blackburn’s director of public health Dominic Harrison highlighted ‘very powerful guidance’ from NICE (now the Health Development Agency) on the need to involve health professionals in tackling transport and traffic issues, especially the high level of child casualties and the low level of physical activity in deprived areas.
 Tipping point approaching?
At some point in the next few years, the proverbial tipping point in the process is likely to arrive.  Rod King’s estimate is that with public opinion firmly in favour of 20 mph limits (75% support them, according to the British Social Attitudes survey), the government will sooner or later have to adjust its benevolent but essentially laissez-faire policy of letting each local authority do its own thing.
 ‘We are in a transition from a situation where the norm in our towns and cities was 30 mph, with some special places where we would slow down.  We are in transition towards 20 mph being the norm. Already in some of our iconic cities, the 30 mph streets constitute less than 10% of the total.
 ‘How can we have a national limit of 30 mph with any credibility when so many of our cities have rejected it out of hand as only being suitable for a small minority of their roads?  20 mph is no longer the exception but the norm in so many places.’
 He argues for a change in the DfT signage regulations – not to make 20 mph compulsory everywhere, but to make it cheaper to introduce.  Instead of the current situation where repeater signs are required on all 20 mph roads, 20’s Plenty for Us wants the rule changed to require such signs on 30 mph roads instead. ‘This would still allow local discretion, you can still have the whole of your town at 30 mph, but you pay for the repeater signs.’ 
 The DfT has announced a review into road signage.  My guess is that at some point in the next five years it will have to climb off the fence and clarify what the national policy really is, to avoid a confusing postcode lottery of varying limits on urban streets.  That will be the moment when the process turns into an event.  In journalistic terms, it will be a story.

Friday 3 May 2013

WHO endorses area wide lower speed limits

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) new Pedestrian Safety report endorses area-wide lower speed limits.  It is top level, conclusive proof that signed 20mph limits are effective. 
The WHO’s Pedestrian Safety: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners[i] has been published. This good practice guide has been in preparation and under review for a couple of years.  WHO’s extensive 114 page report summarises published research on the science of road safety for those on foot. It uses case studies from around the globe.  A distinguished peer review group have carefully studied the evidence including a case study of Lancashire’s 20mph limits.
The report says
“One of the most effective ways to improve pedestrian safety is to reduce the speed of vehicles” (pg 75) and in particular, reducing speed limits. 

Specifically listed as a proven intervention is to
“Implement area-wide lower speed limit programmes, for example, 30 km/h” (20mph) - pg 64

Rod King, Founder and Campaign Director of 20’s Plenty for Us said:-
“World Health Organisation endorsement of wide area 20mph limits is fantastic news.  WHO use stringent review processes. Their reports are the ultimate evidence of any intervention’s effectiveness.  We know for certain that slower speeds save lives and prevent injuries which is why more and more communities are demanding 20mph speed limits where they live, work, shop and play.”
Professor John Whitelegg, one of the expert reviewers said
WHO backing is really helpful to those wanting safer streets with 20mph limits.  Residents can point to this report and demand that their Councillors protect them from harm through slower limits”.

Thursday 18 April 2013

Stoke Golding casualty figures and cost


The government only records accident data where there are personal injuries. There are several sites that map this government accident data. You might like to try this one http://www.crashmap.co.uk/. This shows 14 minor and 1 severe injury over a 7 year period in Stoke Golding.  This is purely based on reported accidents involving injury. However the majority of slight injuries go unreported. The DfT say the true road toll for all casualties is 3.5 times recorded incidents. This adjustment is from comparing police and hospital data with the National Travel Survey’s collision involvement questionnaire. 

From my own experience there have been 4 accidents over the last 5 or 6 years just on the stretch of Station Road between Crown Hill Close and Higham Lane. Only one of these (thankfully it was not more) resulted in a recorded personal injury and is shown on the crashmap dataset. 

I have been looking into the costs associated with these injuries. Unfortunately the DfT appraisal tool does not contain a model specifically for 20 mph schemes in villages (just towns). However it does quote an average cost associated with injuries. These costs say a serious injury costs £206,791 and a slight injury £21,556. So this gives a total cost of injuries in Stoke Golding of £508,000 over 7 years (around £72,000 pa). A fatality (heaven forbid) costs £1,820,760 by the way.

If we were to reduce accidents by 50-60% which other schemes (town based I admit) have achieved there would be a financial saving of £36,000 pa. Assuming the implementation cost of 20 mph limits turned out to be £15,000, the scheme would pay back in under 6 months!! Conservatively I would hope to achieve a 20% reduction in accidents giving a payback of around a year. The DfT's own figures show that a 1 mph reduction in speed achieves a 5% decrease in casualties, so a 20% decrease only represents an average speed reduction of 4 mph which is very achievable. This is a fantastic cost benefit case before your even start thinking about the costs associated with the "hidden" accidents.

The benefits of course are not all about tangible costs. For me it is also very much about quality of life. Reduced traffic speeds lead to increased walking and cycling with consequential improvements in health and reductions in traffic volumes. The Stoke Golding survey very clearly showed that the vulnerable in particular live in fear of speeding traffic. This causes loss of freedoms and can also result in loss of cohesion in the community. I have seen articles which state that a 20 mph speed limit can make people more likely to maintain a friendly relationship with neighbours and local people.

Monday 11 March 2013

Association Chief Police Offices clarifies position on 20 mph enforcement

This is verbatim a letter that was sent to the APPCG co-chairs from the ACPO ‘Lead on Roads Policing’, Suzette Davenport, Chief Constable, Gloucestershire Constabulary on 6th March 2013.
 Julian Huppert MP and Ian Austin MP
Co-chairs
All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group
House of Commons, London SW1A 1AA
Dear Mr Huppert and Mr Austin
Clarification of the ACPO position on 20 miles per hour speed limits
I write further to the recent All‐Party Parliamentary Cycling group evidence session on ‘Get Britain Cycling’. ACC Mark Milsom represented the ACPO roads policing portfolio to address the group’s questions from a policing perspective.
Following a very specific line of questioning on the subject, we believe the police service position on the issue 20 mph speed limits requires further clarification. For accuracy, we would be grateful if you would reflect this correspondence in written evidence for your eventual report.
We can clearly state that it is incorrect to say that police officers are not enforcing 20mph speed limits.
20mph zones are predominantly introduced in residential areas where road safety has been raised as an issue by those who live locally. The approach of neighbourhood policing teams in every community is built around ensuring that local crime and disorder issues and concerns are identified, so that a police force delivers an appropriate policing response. This applies to enforcement of 20mph zones as to any other area of policing.
Police and Crime Commissioners are now responsible for setting strategic policing priorities for each police force and in areas where 20mph zones are a local concern, may include enforcement within local policing plans.
In most cases, 20 mph limits will follow Department of Transport guidance and include ‘road calming’ features such as speed bumps or traffic islands designed to slow traffic. Wherever possible, we agree with the Department of Transport that 20mph zones should be ‘self‐enforcing’ through the use of such features. The guidance states:
“Successful 20 mph zones and 20 mph speed limits are generally self‐enforcing, i.e. the existing conditions of the road together with measures such as traffic calming or signing, publicity and information as part of the scheme, lead to a mean traffic speed compliant with the speed limit.
To achieve compliance there should be no expectation on the police to provide additional enforcement beyond their routine activity, unless this has been explicitly agreed.”
ACPO speed enforcement guidelines (attached to this letter) include thresholds for enforcement across all speed limits, intended to underpin a consistent policing approach. Within that framework local police forces will take a responsible and proportionate approach to enforcement of 20mph limits based on their assessment of risk to individuals, property and the seriousness of any breach. Where drivers are regularly and wilfully breaking the law we would expect that officers will enforce the limit and prosecute offenders.
I trust that this sets out our position clearly. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.
Yours faithfully
Suzette Davenport
Chief Constable, Gloucestershire Constabulary
ACPO Lead for ROADS POLICING

Monday 21 January 2013

DfT Setting Speed Limits - Positive news for rural speed limits

The government has published its latest guidance on setting speed limits. This is contained in DfT Department for Transport circular 01/2013 . This guidance is effective immediately.

Launching the guidance, Stephen Hammond in a written statement to the house said that the new guidance “incorporates recent changes that create more flexibility for authorities to implement 20mph limits and zones.”
The guidance recognises the benefits of 20 mph limits quoting a 5% reduction in accident rates for each 1 mph reduction in average speed. This accords well with a study from Hull which saw a 64% reduction in accident rates measured over the 3 years since implementation.

The new guidance encourages 20 mph limits in a number of ways :-
·         It identifies as priority for action that “Traffic authorities are asked to keep their speed limits under review with changing circumstances, and to consider the introduction of more 20 mph limits and zones, over time, in urban areas and built-up village streets that are primarily residential, to ensure greater safety for pedestrians and cyclists, using the criteria in Section 6.” (para 12)
·         It recognises the importance of the “composition of road users (including existing and potential levels of vulnerable road users)” as a key factor that needs to be taken into account. (para 30)
·         It recognises that “Fear of traffic can affect peoples’ quality of life and the needs of vulnerable road users must be fully taken into account in order to further encourage these modes of travel and improve their safety. Speed management strategies should seek to protect local community life.” (para 32). This para is particularly significant for Stoke Golding.
The guidance comes with an appraisal tool for measuring the benefits of 20 mph implementations in different circumstances. I understand the tool considers both accident and quality of life factors. I will be trying to get my head around this shortly. However I suspect we will not have all the data to run the model ourselves.

The circular also contains guidance on setting speed limits on rural roads which has significance for roads like Wykin Lane and Stoke Road. 

So this looks like great news for rural communities. Lets see how Leicestershire County Council respond.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Update from Parish Council Meeting


Barwell SUE
We presented the results of the traffic survey (see previous post) to the Parish Council at the January meeting and we discussed how we could move forward towards implementing a 20 mph limit. 

The Parish Councils view was that the best route forward was to combine the 20 mph "requirement" with a consideration of the impacts of the Barwell SustainableUrban Extension (SUE) development. The Barwell SUE proposals will see 2,500 homes built on the south western edge of Barwell - huge development. Because employment opportunities will not be developed until the final phase, there will be 2,500 households needing to go "somewhere" to work. The concern is that many of them will be heading our way using Stoke Golding as a "rat run". The Parish Council is planning to partner with the neighbouring parishes of Higham, Peckleton and Sutton Cheney to address this issue. The parish councils are now looking at the possibility of engaging a traffic consultant to help better understand the impacts and to propose how these impacts can be mitigated and managed. The Streets4All group will contribute to the terms of reference for this study and will be involved in the study and follow on work.

The Streets4All group agreed this is a sensible way forward based on the following considerations:
a) it is difficult to treat 20 mph limits in isolation of the Barwell SUE because of its major potential impact;
b) this is probably the best opportunity to find a source of funding for implementing change.
So this is not going to be quick (but it never was). But rest assured that we have heard loud and clear what the village has said and we will continue to work to make the streets of Stoke Golding safer and more liveable.

Wednesday 2 January 2013

European Citizen´s Initiative "30kmh – making streets liveable!"

There is an EU wide "petition" to make 30kph (20mph) the default speed limit where people live.

If 1 million signatures can be collected in the next 12 months then the European Commission is bound to formally consider the proposal. You can find more details here  http://en.30kmh.eu/ 

The link for the petition (or more correctly the European Citizen's Initiative) is here https://30kmh.eu/oct-web-public/?lang=en 
It only takes a minute or two to complete and remember each voter in the household can sign.

20 mph in the press

The Independent has been talking about 20 mph limits. Their editorial from a couple of days ago is below and a more in depth article here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-20mph-revolution-millions-of-drivers-face-lower-speed-limits-as-new-laws-sweep-the-country-8434292.html 
Note their own survey found greater than 60% support which accords with our own survey here in Stoke Golding

Editorial: The Logic of 20 mph

That more than a third of local authorities have either already instituted a 20mph speed limit on some residential roads, or have plans to do so, can only be applauded. And with public support for more stringent restrictions in built-up areas now running at more than 60 per cent, as reported by this newspaper this week, it can only be hoped that 20mph will soon become the new normal.The most compelling argument is, of course, the question of safety. Not only do drivers travelling at slower speeds have more time to react. The damage inflicted by hitting a pedestrian at 20mph, as opposed to 30mph, is also markedly reduced. Indeed, the human skull's ability to withstand impact drops sharply beyond 20mph, perhaps because that is our own top speed.Statistics on accidents point the same way. More than half of deaths and injuries occur in 30mph zones, so the effect of a blanket 20mph limit in residential areas would be far from marginal. It might also help shift Britain from the top spot in the European league for pedestrian fatalities. Indeed, with the most recent figures showing sharp rises in accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists (up by 5 per cent and 9 per cent respectively), it is difficult to argue convincingly in defence of the status quo.
Safety is, however, not the only consideration here. There are also broader environmental benefits. Motorists' reservations might be shaken, for example, when they consider that traffic is more likely to keep flowing if cars maintain a steady (albeit more leisurely) pace, rather than moving faster but braking more often. Pollution – both noise and particulate – also noticeably decrease at slower speeds.There is a downside, of course: journeys may take slightly longer. But it is a matter of less than a minute, on the average urban journey, when congestion, traffic lights and so on are taken into account. Set against the trauma of broken bodies and ruined lives, a few seconds longer in the car is surely a price worth paying?