Drivers who stick to 20mph speed limits rewarded with traffic lights that go green

The benefits of 20mph speed limits are numerous, but how best to enforce them given how few motorists appear to have the driving skill or inclination to keep to them?

Traffic engineers in Canada are forgoing the traditional approach of camera enforcement and fines and experimenting with offering a carrot rather than the stick. A new design of traffic light changes from red to green only when approaching traffic keeps to the 20mph limit.

The system is known as EARL, or 'Educational Awareness Reward Light' (or FRED in FRench 'feu de ralentissement éducatif') and its prototype has been installed for a 3-month trial period near a school in Brossard, Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W2nFFYB_Mo

Initial results sound promising. Before the lights were installed, the road had an average vehicle speed of 25 mph, but since its introduction that has dropped to 18 mph.

Local mayor, Doreen Assaad, told StreetsblogMASS: “Fines might be effective, but it’s effective after-the-fact. The beauty of FRED is we reward good behavior, and it’s immediate. It doesn’t record any private information, it just detects that the vehicle is coming and measures its speed. So it’s a carrot instead of a stick.”

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Twenty is plenty

Here at the ETA, we’re proud to have helped coin the phrase 'Twenty's plenty' and thrilled that over the years it evolved into 20’s Plenty for Us, a campaign group we continue to support.

Given the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, there is no justification for 30 mph as the national speed limit. According to 20’s Plenty for Us, “The 30mph limit that was plucked out of the air in 1934 as being better than no limit, is no longer fit for purpose. It is unjust, unjustifiable and needs to be consigned to history."

The introduction of 20mph speed limits in areas of London has contributed towards a 50 per cent reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured on the roads (see British Medical Journal) - these zones not only reduce casualty figures, they improve quality of life by transforming streets into areas where people are happy to cycle and children are able to play.

The ethical choice

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.

The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK's most ethical provider.

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