20's plenty to protect

I AM so fed up with all the statistics that are being pushed forward and backwards about 20's Plenty. Everyone knows that you can manipulate them to suit whichever side of the argument you want to promote, and it strikes me that people are losing sight of the common sense approach.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Sep 2012, 11:04 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 18:53 BST

Two things I would like to say:

1 Crossing Cleveland Road earlier this summer, on a quiet Sunday afternoon with my granddaughter and some friends coming back from the swings, we were approached by a car driven at what seemed excessive speed which came out of nowhere around a line of parked cars.

Two adults immediately waved and shouted ‘slow down’ as we felt the children were in danger. The young lady driving the car immediately slowed down, wound down her window and shouted aggressively at us that she was only driving at 30mph, which she stated is the speed limit, was not breaking the law and questioned who were we to tell her to slow down!

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2 I have just recently attended a Driver Awareness Course – you well may laugh that I have the audacity to support 20’s Plenty when I have been caught speeding myself! I can tell you, however, that this course confirmed and supports everything that 20’s Plenty is promoting and believes in.

Several videos were shown which clearly demonstrate the significant difference in the injuries sustained by children who were knocked down at 40mph and at 30mph. So for me it is obvious that there must be an even more significant difference between 30mph and 20mph.

A clear message was given by the course tutor when questioned on where the Speed Awareness Course (provided and endorsed by the WSCC) stood on 20’s Plenty and I quote ‘that the 30mph speed limit was set many years ago to protect the driver; today 20mph should be set to protect the pedestrian’.

Carley Sitwell

Cleveland Road,

Chichester