20mph limit extended across roads

Busy roads within the borough of Islington will remain 30mph zones

A 20mph speed limit is to be extended across all residential roads within a north London borough in a bid to further reduce road accidents.

Half of Islington Council's residential roads are already 20mph streets. The remainder are expected to be completed by March 2010.

The borough's main roads, such as Caledonian, Holloway and Essex Roads, and red routes will be unaffected.

The move was approved at a budget meeting last week.

Green Party Councillor Katie Dawson had campaigned for the blanket 20mph limit which was well supported by residents, Islington Council said.

Introducing a 20mph speed limit on the roads means that drivers could be less attentive on the roads Bryan Mooney Association of British Drivers

Greg Foxsmith, the executive member for Environment, said: "It's now well-known that a child hit by a car at 30mph is likely to die.

"Where we've already introduced 20mph zones, accident rates have dropped dramatically."

He said the impact on motorists is likely to be minimal as the main roads through Islington, many of which are run by Transport for London, will stay at 30mph.

Bryan Mooney, spokesperson for the Association of British Drivers, said he disagreed with the move because he felt it was an alternative to proper road safety training and that it could even be dangerous.

"Road users generally need to be aware of road safety and I think the money the council are spending could be used for proper road safety training.

"Also introducing a 20mph speed limit on the roads means that drivers could be less attentive on the roads and their concentration could be reduced, because they will be looking at their speedometers to make sure they are keeping within the speed."

He added that businesses could suffer by people staying away from the area due to be traffic being unreasonably slow.

The design, consultation, and implementation of the plan will cost £1m.

A council spokesperson said residents would be consulted on how they want the implementation to be carried out.