A call has been made to introduce more 20mph speed limits after fatal and serious injuries on the roads in Reading.
There have been eight fatal crashes in Reading Borough from 2018 to 2023, according to Crash Map UK.
The website also shows that there has been approximately 150 serious crashes during that period as well.
Rob White (Green, Park), from the main opposition on Reading Borough Council, has made a call for more areas to become 20mph, in a similar fashion to Wales, where limits were introduced in 2023.
There are existing 20mph speed limits in Newtown, areas of West Reading and Southcote.
Councillor White made the request at a meeting of the council’s traffic management sub-committee.
He said: “The number of people being killed and seriously injured on Reading’s roads is too high. Reading has some 20 mph speed limits, but much of Reading is faster.
“It would help motorists and improve road safety if there was a more consistent approach.
“Wales’s 20 mph default speed limit has improved road safety. What plans does the council have to roll out more 20 mph speed limits where people live and given the evidence from Wales, will the council speed up these plans?”
The question was answered by John Ennis, the lead councillor for transport.
Cllr Ennis (Labour, Southcote) said: “The council is dedicated to reducing casualties on its Highway network and will consider Police-supplied data to do so, where patterns of probable causes are recorded and engineering treatments considered where possible and appropriate.”
He went on to explain that the 20mph zones in Wales require enforcement by police to deter speeding.
Cllr Ennis said: “Officers at the council always recommend that 20mph schemes are introduced appropriately as ‘zone’ restrictions, in which there are regular features to slow traffic (speed humps, for example).
“This approach makes the restriction more ‘self-enforcing’ and arguably more successful in reducing vehicle speeds, particularly peak vehicle speeds, as it reduces the reliance on enforcement alone – an activity that can only be undertaken by the police.
“Officers would expect strong police objection to proposals that were not being designed in this way.
“However, councillors will be aware that proposals to introduce speed humps and similar measures in residential areas are controversial.”
He then explained that proposals to introduce 20mph zones require public consultation and funding.
A £200,000 project to introduce 20mph restrictions and speed bumps to Northcourt Avenue and Wellington Avenue was approved in June this year.
Any traffic calming measure either needs to be introduced by the highways team or suggested by councillors and residents, in what is called the council’s Requests for Traffic Management Measures list.
The requests are prioritised by the highways team according to need. After that, schemes are designed and consulted on, and only enacted once funding becomes available.
The answer was given at the meeting on September 11.
