Clarification: Road Safety Foundation’s Position
We would like to acknowledge that this article misrepresented the findings of the Road Safety Foundation’s (RSF) technical report, Determining Safe Speeds.
Contrary to what was reported, the RSF has not called for the introduction of 10mph speed limits in towns and cities, nor 20mph limits on rural single carriageways. The report instead identifies the speeds at which fewer than 10% of people involved in collisions would likely be killed or seriously injured, a concept based on Safe System principles, not policy recommendations.
The RSF’s research is intended for use by professionals in the field and explores the relationship between vehicle speed and survivability in collisions. While it highlights the safety benefits of managing speed, it makes no specific recommendations about speed limits.
We appreciate the RSF reaching out to clarify this. We are currently working with them to correct and update our coverage to more accurately reflect the intent and scope of the original report.
This situation also opens up valuable discussion within the driver training profession:
- How can instructors educate learners about the principles behind ‘safe speeds’?
- What role does evidence-led research play in shaping road safety attitudes?
- How should we, as a community, respond to the public and political debate around default speed limits?
You can read the full report here: https://roadsafetyfoundation.org/project/determining-safe-speeds/
A leading road safety charity is calling for a 10mph speed limit in high-risk pedestrian areas to help prevent deaths and serious injuries on UK roads.
The Road Safety Foundation (RSF) has proposed a major reduction in urban speed limits, calling for a 10mph speed limit cap on roads near schools, hospitals, and busy venues to protect vulnerable road users.
The charity argues that drastically slower speeds in pedestrian-heavy areas could significantly reduce the risk of fatal and serious collisions. It recommends implementing the 10mph limit in areas with a high presence of pedestrians, cyclists, or motorcyclists, such as near social, sporting, or cultural venues.
The RSF also suggests reducing the speed limit on single carriageways and country roads to 20mph – a third of the current default speed. The proposals are intended to help achieve ‘Vision Zero’, the long-term aim of eliminating all road deaths and serious injuries.
Dr Suzy Charman, Executive Director of the RSF, explained to The Times: “We have a clear idea of the speeds [that] would be required to prevent most road deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads.
“We are not saying that all speeds or speed limits should be set to these speeds, rather that infrastructure needs to be improved or speeds reduced to ensure travelled speeds are better aligned with human tolerances to crash forces.”
The RSF’s recommendations are rooted in physics and human vulnerability, stating that no death or serious injury should be considered an acceptable consequence of mobility.
While these recommendations are grounded in safety evidence, critics have dismissed them as impractical. Hugh Bladon of the Alliance of British Drivers called the proposals “laughable”. He argued, “If you ban all motorised transport you might reduce deaths and injury a bit, but we should remember that more people were being killed and injured, in the days before motorised transport, by horses and their carriages.”
Under the RSF framework, 30mph would still be permitted on roads with no interaction between vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists. Higher speeds could continue on dual carriageways and motorways – provided that adequate roadside infrastructure and full segregation from non-motorised users is in place.
Wales has already introduced 20mph as its default speed limit and is supported by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh to be rolled out across the UK. However, a recent poll suggested nearly two-thirds of residents oppose the change. The RSF acknowledged the complexity of translating its recommendations into policy, and while some research raises concerns over pollutants at lower speeds, a study from Imperial College found no net increase in exhaust emissions at 20mph.
Article sourced via Mail Online
13 responses
What utter tripe. Next we will go to a man with a flag walking in front if a car at 4mph
Yes. It makes you wonder how those who believe it is OK to have advisors like this who can come up with such bunkum in charge of an important charity. The woman appears to be without sense.
While there is a general principle that lower speeds create less harm there has to be a degree of practicality in safety measures or they will be ignored.
With 20 mph limits being expensive to enforce, 10mph limits will not be enforced. Equipment is usually not certified at speeds below 20mph.
Impractical suggestions like this points to misguidance at the top of an important charity I would hazard.
Much slower and I’m going to fall off my pushbike. let’s not forget you rely on the giroscopic forces to stay upright
This is difficult to take seriously. I personally do think that rural speeds limits should drop but for me that drop would be to 50mph for various reasons but there has to be a realistic approach to safety and this charity a suggestion is not!
OMG what a nanny state we would turn into. A problem not thought of with some vehicles having to drive at 10mph is this. My car does 40mph in first, so it does not have any problem doing 10mph in 1st gear. My motorcycle on the other hand, does over 80mph in first. I read those figures in Bike magazine road testing results of course. You try keeping the bike in first gear at 10mph. The engine would be jumping out of the frame if you did not keep slipping the clutch. For decades 30mph was seen as the safe speed in built up areas. Now apparently it is seen as dangerous. So the 20mph limit in a lot of urban roads has been introduced. Now the RSF are saying that it needs to come down to 10mph. Maybe they think 20mph is dangerous too. Don’t even get me started on what the RSF are saying regarding speed limits on rural roads. What sort of world of imagination do the RSF live in! Better training for drivers, as well as more traffic police to enforce what we already have now, is the obvious answer to help cut down road deaths. RANT OVER!
Will the 10mph speed limit apply to cyclists, scooters, skateboarders etc? Thought not.
Utterly ridiculous and totally unenforceable.
Let’s make pedestrians responsible for their own safety. Perhaps they shouldn’t wander around wearing headphones, so that they can actually hear traffic. Or maybe remove their hoods so that they can see?
Interesting to see where the majority of this Charity’s income comes from.
https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/295573/full-print
What a load of nonsense. I can cycle over 20 mph ..
Load of **** what about Hgv trucks 10 mph we never get to any destinations for deliveries then. You lot have no idea how traffic actually works this happens then prices will up a lot .Hgv drivers will take all day just to get to drop 1 in places then need rest of week at times away from home normal speeds drivers can do all their runs and get back same day/night ready for next shift. Organisions like this should be banned
It’s fine to want to reduce road accidents but this isn’t a speed issue, it’s a lack of education and respect for the roads.
Pedestrians should take care on roads, pathways are for walking – roads are for vehicles.
Data gathered by police shows that the safest roads are actually 50mph and 70mph.
Overall you are around 5x less likely to have an accident on these roads than you are at 20 & 30.
Road safety should come from better designed and good condition roads, improved signage to aid drivers to make better and safer decisions, and better protection to keep Pedestrians away from harm… i.e take parked cars off roads, place barriers between roads and paths where necessary, raised crossings etc.
This drive for less and less speed is purely to raise money and eventually remove vehicles altogether.
Maybe we should just scrap cars and go back to horses and carts?
What a load rubbish!
I live around about 1 mile from the City Centre of Birmingham the main road would Chocablocked with Traffic if that 10mph was implemented. This has not been thought through.