Drivers still speeding in Cambridgeshire 20mph zones as overall speeds drop

Cambridgeshire County Council began introducing the new zones across the county in early 2024

A county council report revealed new 20mph limits on roads have shown “statistically significant” drops in speed a year after being introduced.

Cambridgeshire County Council began introducing the new limits across the county from early 2024, across a total of 25 roads so far.

The report, presented to the council’s highways and transport committee on Tuesday (September 1), looked at the impact of the limit on eight of these roads within the first year.

It found that average speed was reduced on all of them.

It looked at schemes in Cambourne, Histon, Ely, Great Abington, Fowlmere, Ramsey, St Neots, and Great Staughton.

Speed reductions ranged from six per cent to 16 per cent, with the largest falls seen where speeds were highest before the limit was introduced.

The report said early evidence of the limit’s impact on crashes is “encouraging but remains inconclusive” as numbers were already low in many towns.

It said Ely is the only location which has so far shown a statistically significant fall in crashes, but Cambourne, Histon, and Ramsey have shown a downward trend.

The report said there were an average of 15.6 crashes per year in Ely across the seven years from 2017, but this fell by nearly half in the scheme’s first year.

It said there were eight crashes after the limit’s introduction, which was a “notable reduction” as crashes across Cambridgeshire had only fallen by 12 per cent.

In St Neots, crashes actually increased during the first year but the report said this was not significant and falls within normal annual variation.

It added that evaluating the scheme’s impact on crash rates will need at least three years of data, and recommended a further review at a later stage.

The council collected anonymous data through sensors to determine speed and police road traffic collision records for crashes.

The council has set aside £150,000 per year for new 20mph schemes with more currently planned or delivered in another 29 locations.