Great Wilbraham to get 20mph zone after only one objection

Great Wilbraham will get a new 20mph zone after only one response was received to a consultation by Cambridgeshire County Council.

The individual objected, asking there was data to back up the claim that reducing speed limits would make specific roads safer.

The objector said: “There is no data showing how many incidents there were on that road due to cars going more than 20mph.

“Saying that 20mph is safer, it is not enough to take a decision to apply this restriction to random roads without showing the data to back it up for that specific road.”

The council, which has a programme of 20mph limits across the county, said lower speeds cut the risk of fatalities and encouraged people to walk and cycle more.

County council officers said it was “extremely difficult” to find data that would specifically identify someone travelling at over 20mph as being the factor of an accident.

Incident data is normally only collected when there is an injury.

However, officers said the risk of a pedestrian fatality was three-times higher when a vehicle was travelling around 30mph to 40mph.

They said: “This is the predominant reason why 20mph speed limits are gaining popularity, not only in the UK, but in other parts of the world too.

“Additionally, slower speeds are less intimidating towards those who walk or cycle along the highway network, activities that we need to encourage more of if we are to reduce the number of harmful emissions and traffic levels in the county.”

The 20mph zone in Great Wilbraham was approved, with a decision notice stating that data was not required to reduce speed limits on roads.

It noted that the village had features such as “significant bends”, narrow paths, a school and nursery, factors that meant the village would “benefit from slower overall traffic speeds”.