O’Dowd welcomes publication of the review of Part-Time 20mph Speed Limits at Schools
Date published:
Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd has welcomed the publication of the review into Part-Time 20mph Speed Limits at schools.
Welcoming publication of the review report Minister O’Dowd said:
“As Minister responsible for road safety, I’m pleased that the review of the part-time 20mph speed limit at schools initiative, which saw this road safety measure introduced at 216 schools, is now complete and the report has been published.
"The review concludes that the initiative has been widely welcomed and supported by the school community including parents and school children as well as making young people feel safer outside school grounds. The data collected as part of the review also shows that there has been a general decrease in traffic speeds at both school start and finish times as a result of the installation of the part-time speed limits.
"I am now considering the introduction of a further scheme to enable these safety measures to be installed in some more areas. I have also asked for consideration to be given to the introduction of permanent 20mph speed limits in the vicinity of schools and in residential areas as I believe that one of the best ways to improve the safety of our roads and fulfil our long-term goal of eliminating death and serious injury by 2050, is by changing road user behaviour.
"As road users we all have a personal responsibility to behave in a way that keeps ourselves and others safe. The sad reality is that if we do not change our own attitudes when we are using the roads, our death toll will continue to increase.”
Notes to editors:
- The review of Part-Time 20mph Speed Limits at Schools is available on the Department’s website at: Review of Part-Time 20mph Speed Limits at Schools
- The Department sought feedback from stakeholders including the schools, parents, the PSNI and others, on how they felt the initiative was working using an online survey to all schools that had a part-time 20mph scheme introduced outside their gates.
- In total 163 schools responded to the on-line survey hosted on the Citizens Space portal (76% response rate).
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