Last week’s ComRes polling (pdf) of Londoners understandably focused on what the outcome of the 2012 Mayoral election might be (hang your heads in shame outer London!). However, there were other aspects to that polling that are well worth a look.
Islington has gone 20mph on all council controlled roads
In particular page 13 on 20 mph speed limits is very interesting. The campaign for twenty miles an hour limits anywhere where people live should take heart because Londoners clearly think it’s a very good idea.
The poll reveals that over London 47% of residents thought there should be a 20 mph roll out compared to 36% who were against.
Support was particularly strong in Inner London and among women. There was also strong support among those between 25 and 44 which could be related to the average ages when people have young families.
The only group of people who did not back 20 mph were Conservative voters. Of those who intend to vote for Boris Johnson in 2012 44% are in favour of 20 mph compared to 46% who oppose demonstrating that even among this more difficult section of the public opinion is very evenly divided.
Campaigners have long argued that reducing speeds would reduce road deaths, noise, pollution and allow communities to breath again. Twenty’s plenty recently released a briefing on how the police benefit (pdf) from 20 mph zones for example.
Until recently it had been commonly thought that wide spread 20 mph limits would be politically damaging however, since Islington’s decision, it has become clearer that such a policy could win votes rather than just lose them.
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