Safer, more civilised, streets
We want to see the streets become places for people rather than for cars.
In the UK, our streets have become dominated by motor vehicles. They are no longer safe places for children to play, while older people and those with disabilities are particularly affected. We need a new approach to street design and layout, which puts the needs of residents above those of drivers.
Perhaps the single biggest step in making the streets safer (and making them feel safer) is to reduce speeds. Towns and cities all across Europe have successfully implemented town-wide 30kph (19mph) limits; Portsmouth is the first UK example.
We need government to legislate for easier implementation of town-wide 20mph zones, and for local authorities to implement them, including in rural villages. In residential areas, traffic should move at speeds appropriate to sharing with people.
We want to see 20mph or lower speed limits the norm for residential streets and those used by shoppers, tourists and others, close to schools or public buildings, or important for walking and cycling or children’s play In urban areas only the busiest strategic traffic routes should now qualify for higher speed limits.
What is also needed, common in many European countries, is a change in the law to introduce the concept of "Strict liability”, which leads, for example, to a driver's insurance being deemed to be responsible in a collision between a car and a cyclist. This makes car drivers very wary of bicycles rather than the common British motorist’s view that cycles do not belong on the road.
We should also be ensuring that new-build housing developments incorporate Home Zone principles. Home Zones are an attempt to strike a balance between vehicular traffic and everyone else who uses the street, the pedestrians, cyclists, business people and residents. First pioneered in the 1970s in the Netherlands, since then many countries have successfully transferred the core concepts and created their own safe areas.
Home Zones work through the physical alteration of streets and roads in an area. Benches, flower beds, play areas, lamp posts, fences and trees are used to alter the streets and offer many additional community benefits such as enhanced beauty of an area and increased housing prices. These alterations force motorists to drive with greater care and at lower speeds. Many countries support this with legislation allowing the Home Zones to enforce a reduced speed limit.
In summary, we need a shift away from the 1950s attitude, whereby cities are designed for the car, to one that prioritises our cities in favour of walkers and cyclists.