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There is a high chance that local roads are about to get slower, as councils across the UK look to introduce new speed limits.
From Scotland to Birmingham, many local authorities are considering imposing blanket 20mph restrictions in urban areas.
If the consultations decide in favor of reducing the speed limit to 32 km/h, millions of residents will be affected.
The proposed reductions are likely to prove highly unpopular after the Welsh Government had to change its 20mph policy earlier this year following a huge backlash.
Which municipalities are considering reducing speed limits and when?
And what part of the UK is already limited to 20mph? We take a look.
More than 1 in 3 people (28 million) live in local authorities with 20mph limits according to campaign group 20’s Plenty for U.
Which UK councils are considering introducing 20mph speed limits?
The latest council to propose a city-wide 20mph speed limit is Birmingham. If the council’s plans go ahead, Birmingham will become a default 20mph zone.
On Tuesday, the proposal will be considered by the Labour-controlled council. If agreed, 1.1 million residents will be subject to driving at 32 km/h on residential and busy roads.
The council has already asked the Department of Transport for permission to put up 20mph speed signs around the city limits, but has yet to receive a response.
Birmingham wants to introduce a citywide 20mph speed limit, with signage around the city limits that would subject 1.1 million residents to speeds of 20mph.
Road safety campaigner Rod King, who founded 20’s Plenty For Us, told The Sunday Times: “What Birmingham is really doing, rather than doing it road by road, is saying: ‘If you enter this city, the default speed It’s 20 mph.'”
‘It’s about process and signaling rather than policy; It’s sensible. This makes it a simpler and cheaper process to implement.”
Much of Birmingham’s decision could be a cost saving, as avoiding putting up 20mph signs on every street would save the council around £12m.
The authority effectively declared bankruptcy in September and needed to save £300m.
This map from campaign organization 20’s Plenty For Us shows local authorities at 20mph across London in green shading.
Scotland is also looking to impose blanket 20mph restrictions.
Earlier this year, Scotland decided to reduce the speed limit on most of its urban roads to 32 km/h. This will be introduced in 2025 as part of an effort to halve the number of people killed or seriously injured on Scottish roads by 2030.
Lower limits already exist in parts of Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Highlands and the Scottish Borders.
At the end of November, 32 councils were given £4m to spend on 20mph speed limits as part of the £14m the Scottish Government committed this financial year to improving road safety in those 32 councils.
The Scottish Parliament will soon publish the results of a public meeting exercise on 20mph speed limits.
What part of the UK already hits 20mph?
More than 1 in 3 people (28 million) live in local authorities with 20mph limits according to campaign group 20’s Plenty for Us.
The organisation’s interactive map shows areas where local authorities have already committed to imposing 20mph limits as standard or are in the process of implementing them.
England does not have a national policy, but many counties, towns and cities, including Hull, Bristol, Norwich, Chichester (West Sussex) and Tonbridge (Kent), and 52 per cent of district-controlled roads in London have adopted 20 mph restrictions.
Will Labor hit 20mph in England?
Now, former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh (pictured) has said she would let local areas decide whether to install 20mph speed limits. It remains to be seen whether her successor, Heidi Alexander, will do the same.
The Labor Party did not comment on 20mph speed limits in its manifesto, but when asked directly by Auto Express before England went to the polls, Labor MP Louise Haigh said: “It should be up to local communities to decide.” speed limits on your local roads. , not Westminster politicians.
’20mph limits are welcome in certain areas, such as around schools, but those decisions need to be made locally. “That is why a Labor government will not introduce general 32km/h zones.”
Louise Haigh became Transport Secretary before resigning last week and being replaced by Swindon South MP Heidi Alexander.
Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Haigh has given the green light to councils that want to introduce safety systems including 20mph zones.
In August, speaking on the ‘Streets Ahead’ podcast, Haigh said: ‘Those sorts of decisions (road safety schemes like 20mph zones) should absolutely be made at a local level by communities and not dictated or fanned by the centre.
“Local authorities will have my full support to implement the plans.”
It remains to be seen whether his successor will implement 20mph zones, but the new Transport Secretary is known to favor 20mph restrictions: when Ms Alexander was London’s deputy mayor for transport (from 2018 to 2021), she oversaw the implementation of 20 mph zones in the capital.
Introduction of the 32km/h speed limit in Wales: why did the Government have to U-turn?
A woman holds a sign during a protest against 20 mph speed limits on September 23.
Wales introduced a blanket 20mph ban on restricted roads in September 2023, but revoked the decision in July 2024, after a cost of £32m.
Welsh Transport Secretary Ken Skates admitted the policy was so unpopular that even his own family had signed the petition against it.
Conservatives in the Senedd were fiercely opposed, calling it a “waste of time and resources”.
The petition to remove the 20mph speed limit was the largest petition ever in Wales, with 470,000 signatures.
Will Scotland also introduce a 50mph limit?
Scotland, known as a driver’s paradise due to its miles and miles of empty roads, could see 60mph limits reduced to 50mph if new proposals are implemented.
Scotland has announced a new proposal to help achieve its goal of halving the number of people killed or seriously injured on its roads by 2030: limiting car speeds to 60 to 50mph on single carriageway roads.
While cars would have to reduce their speed by 10mph, goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes could increase their speed from 40mph to 50mph on motorways and from 50mph to 60mph on motorways.
The changes are the latest part of a public consultation on proposed changes to speed limits in Scotland.
The National Speed Management Review consultation will run until Wednesday 5 March 2025 and a series of engagement sessions will take place in early 2025. Results will be published in summer 2025.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “We must never lose sight of the fact that one death on our roads is one too many.” These proposed changes represent a vital step towards achieving national casualty reduction targets, and I urge everyone to take part in the consultation and help shape the future of road safety in Scotland.’
But the Scottish Conservatives described the plan as “a ridiculous measure intended to demonize car-dependent rural motorists”.
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