Over £75 million was spent on traffic calming measures in Britain in 2014, a 53 per cent increase on 2013.
Investment increase detailed
Research from Churchill Car Insurance reveals that between 2013 and 2014, the average spend by a local council on measures such as speed bumps, mini-roundabouts, chicanes and reduced speed limits increased significantly. In these two years the average spend jumped from £213,895 to £327,058.
In total, an estimated £75.6 million is reported to have been spent on traffic calming measures in 2014. That represents a 53 per cent (or an estimated £26.1 million) increase compared to 2013.
However, local authorities in 2014 also paid out £47,196 to drivers who suffered personal injuries or damage to their cars as a result of traffic calming measures.
The research also notes that during 2014, a lot more extra 20mph zones were implemented across the country compared to the year before.
Drivers react to traffic calming measures
2,004 adults were also surveyed about Britain’s traffic calming measures and while 42 per cent of respondents believe they are effective in slowing cars down, 47 per cent believe they cause damage to vehicles. 23 per cent of those surveyed said they had experienced having their car damaged by a traffic calming measure.
The head of Churchill Car Insurance, Steve Barrett commented: “It is encouraging to see a significant increase in funding for traffic calming measures, as it plays a valuable role in managing the safety of our roads. With that said, road safety is a very complex issue and traffic calming is one of many factors that can impact on this.”
