Overview
We want your views on our proposals to make the streets we manage in central London 20mph by 2020 and the associated measures.
Last year, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), we published the Vision Zero Action Plan. The Action Plan sets out our ambition to eliminate death and serious injury from London’s transport network by 2041.
It details our plans to reduce road danger, including proposals to implement a 20mph speed limit on the roads we operate and manage in central London.
We’ve been working to determine the most effective way of implementing the new speed limits and are now ready to share our plans with you.
We’ve provided more information about our proposals on this page and would like your feedback before we progress this important safety programme.
Why we are lowering speed limits
Figures from 2016, 2017 and 2018 (provisional) suggest 128 people were killed in speed-related collisions on London’s streets. A further 2,256 people were reported as seriously injured in collisions where speed was recorded as a contributory factor. It is unacceptable that so many Londoners are being killed and seriously injured in speed-related collisions on our roads and we need to do more to prevent these from happening.
This is why we’re lowering speed limits across London.
Collision data from around the world is very clear. It shows that the faster a vehicle is travelling:
- The more likely a collision will occur because the driver has less time to react, stop or avoid the collision
- The more severe an injury resulting from the collision will be
We’re introducing lower speed limits on our roads in two phases:
- Phase 1: Roads we operate and manage within central London will have a speed limit of 20mph by 2020
- Phase 2: Speed limits will be lowered on a further 140 kilometres of our road network in inner and outer London, including on the inner ring road, high-risk roads and roads in town centres. This might mean speed limits will be lowered along some roads from 50mph to 40mph, or from 40mph to 30mph, in addition to introducing areas of 20mph where appropriate
The Transport for London Road Network (the TLRN or London’s ‘red routes’) forms a network of major roads. They make up five per cent of London’s roads but carry up to 30 per cent of traffic. Many roads operated by London’s boroughs, and by us, already have speed limits of 20mph.
This consultation focuses on Phase 1.
Why speed limits are being lowered to 20mph
20mph is a safer speed limit than 30mph for roads where space is shared by motor vehicles and people walking, cycling or riding a motorbike. This is because a person walking who is hit by a vehicle travelling at 30mph is up to five times more likely to be killed than if they were hit at 20mph.
