Police not enforcing 20mph zones in Scottish Borders, officer says
- Published
The 20mph zones were introduced across many villages and towns in the Scottish Borders almost two year ago
The police commander for the Scottish Borders has admitted regular speed checks are not being carried out across the area's 20mph speed limit zones.
The council introduced lower speed limits to 97 settlements in October 2020, with the move largely made permanent in December 2021.
The zones were met with both anger and support from motorists and pedestrians.
Ch Insp Vincent Fisher said speed limit enforcement was focused on open roads as there were more casualties there.
He told a meeting of Scottish Borders Council's safer communities scrutiny board that his priorities for speed enforcement lay away from built-up areas.
The officer said: "Very few casualties occur in built-up areas where the 20s are - most of them occur on the open road.
"National guidelines state that speed enforcement efforts should be done in the interest of casualty reduction."
The one exception to that was outside schools, Ch Insp Fisher said.
He added: "With a limited resource we need to focus our efforts on reducing casualties, and it doesn't make sense to deploy what limited resources we have to police a problem that doesn't exist."
The introduction of reduced speed limits two years ago was paid for by £1.2m from the Scottish government's Spaces for People fund.
A lengthy consultation attracted a large number of objections as well as almost as many letters of support.
'Divisive issue'
A study also found speed limits had reduced by 3mph-4mph in the new speed limit areas.
In December 2021, a handful of roads reverted back to either 30mph or 40mph, while every other carriageway in built-up areas remained at 20mph.
Councillor Julie Pirone, who chairs the safer communities scrutiny board, admitted the reduced speed limits continued to be a divisive issue.
She said: "Half the complaints I get are from people who don't want 20mph zones, and the other half are from people who want the speed limits enforced.
"I think it was a good idea as people are reducing their speeds in towns and villages, but how it is enforced is something we will continue to talk to the police about."
A fresh review into the 20mph zones is to be carried out by Scottish Borders Council later this year.