Plan for 20mph speed limit targets in London voted down

Labour said it supported the 20mph speed limit motion "in spirit" but could not vote in favour of it

A proposal for London's mayor to set specific targets on the introduction of more 20mph speed limits in the capital has been voted down in City Hall.

A motion debated by the London Assembly on Thursday had called on Sadiq Khan to "set a new target for speed limit reductions" to 20mph.

Green Assembly Member (AM) Siân Berry said the policy would hold the mayor to account on road safety in London.

Labour said it supported the idea "in spirit" but could not vote for it.

Relatively few roads are controlled by the mayor through Transport for London.

Siân Berry wanted to see targets to achieve more 20mph streets

Ms Berry's motion called on the mayor to "amend the relevant Transport for London (TfL) action plans to increase work with boroughs to achieve this target".

Her party colleague Caroline Russell said the lack of 20mph limits on some of the capital's roads had meant that "we could have people alive and with us, who are not".

Mr Khan's transport strategy states: "Lowering speeds is fundamental to reducing road danger because a person is five times less likely to be fatally injured if hit at 20mph than at 30mph."

It adds that a 20mph limit should be "considered as part of all new schemes on the TfL road network".

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The London-wide transport body is generally responsible for trunk roads in and out of the city centre, along with the congestion charge's boundary roads and the North and South Circulars.

Labour AM Elly Baker said while her party supported "the spirit" of the motion, they could not vote in favour of it because it was "not within the mayor's gift" to force borough authorities to introduce the limits on roads they control.

She explained that Labour would therefore abstain in the vote on Ms Berry's proposal.

The Greens were joined in their support for the motion by the Liberal Democrats, but the Conservatives voted against meaning it failed to win majority support from those voting.

Tory mayoral candidate Susan Hall, who is running against Labour's Mr Khan in next year's election, has said she would remove 20mph limits from all main roads if elected.

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