A special Road Side Education activity has taken place on Canning Street, L8 to inform and educate drivers in the area about 20mph speed limits and the dangers of driving at speed.
The event aimed to give communities the chance to get involved in the city’s 20 Effect campaign and help influence behaviour change of drivers in their areas.
Representatives from Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service stopped speeding drivers at the roadside, showed them a video highlighting the potentially fatal hazards of speeding and asked them to reflect on what they had learned.
Watch Manager John Cousins, RTC Reduction co-ordinator at Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service said: “This is about helping to keep children safe on our roads in Liverpool. We, as a Service, work towards cutting down injuries on the roads by carrying out work with young people and young drivers across Merseyside. We rescue more people from road traffic collisions than we do from house fires and road safety is a key focus for us. We fully support initiatives, such as the 20 effect, that aim to help reduce the number of those injured on our roads.”
The aim of The 20 Effect is to increase the number of residential roads around the city to a maximum speed of 20mph. The campaign is taking place by working with different community groups and partner organisations around Liverpool by providing education and raising awareness around safer speeds.
Everyone can show their support by ‘liking’ the campaign on Facebook or ‘following’ the campaign on Twitter, and most importantly; by driving at 20mph on residential roads.
About The 20 Effect Campaign
- The 20 Effect is a speed reduction campaign designed to influence safer driving and heighten awareness for 20mph limits in residential areas. The campaign is run in joint partnership by Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Primary Care Trust.
- In Liverpool, children face the country’s second highest risk of serious injury or death on the roads. If the city gets behind 20mph speed limits, it will create safer streets, healthier places to live and ultimately, save people’s lives. Statistics are from the MAST report of 2010.
- The increase from 31% to 70% of roads going to 20mph could prevent at least 54 collisions every year and save £5.2m in costs associated with these incidents.
- Driving at 20mph around Liverpool’s residential areas could cut serious casualties by approximately 22%.
- Research shows that a pedestrian has only 50% chance of surviving if they are hit by a car at 30mph, compared to 90% if travelling at 20mph.
- Liverpool has been divided up into seven areas, and these are being prioritised based on the number of collisions. The scheme will cover the majority of residential roads, including roads outside schools on strategic routes, where possible.
- The 20 Effect campaign has been built in partnership with Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Primary Care Trust, Mersey Travel, Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and a number of resident and community action groups.
