New 20mph zones on the Wirral could save £10m a year as five people were killed on its roads last year.
The estimated figure for the cost to society in a fatal accident is £2,029,237 according to Department of Transport data. These figures take into account the cost of damage, medical costs, lost economic output, and costs related to pain, grief and suffering.
At a Wirral Council environment, climate emergency and transport meeting on September 20, it was revealed that over the last six years 27 people were killed on Wirral’s roads. In this time, 590 people were seriously injured.
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Wirral Council is currently in the second stage of rolling out another set of 20mph limits on nearly 1,000 roads across Wirral. This is part of a wider strategy across the Liverpool City Region to get the number of people killed or seriously injured down to zero.
Taking the five deaths in 2022, the estimated figure for the costs related to those accidents is £10,146,185.
According to Wirral Council, it has been working with police and emergency services on the rollout of the limits and Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said there was police support for the move.
However there is significant opposition to the plans in an online petition that now has more than 6,000 signatures. Conservative councillors who previously voted for the first rollout are now saying “it is time to address the democratic deficit” and raised concerns about the policy.
The policy however has found support too, including among people previously involved in road traffic collisions. Gillian Homeri was knocked down by a speeding car when she was 29.
At the September 20 meeting, she said it had left her with scars and difficulty with her mobility, adding: “I am particularly interested to know of anything that is going to reduce this kind of danger I was exposed to.”
Barbara Gleave was concerned about the impact of air quality, particularly on her daughter who has asthma. Wirral Council in response said 20mph limits will encourage smoother driving and pointed to studies that indicated no increase in air pollution as a result of lower speed limits.
Ken Ferguson representing Reform UK spoke against the new limits. He pointed to public feedback against the plans in the first consultation and the petition, adding: “At previous meetings of this committee and tonight considerable anger has been expressed. I’ve seen signage covered by stickers and some have even been blacked out.”
He blamed the council for this who in response said criminal damage has been reported to the police. Vandalised signs will be repaired and replaced.
In a follow up question, Mr Ferguson pointed to the council citing road safety as a reason for the roll out. He added: “The current Wirral road safety plan issued by the council indicates that Wirral in the last five years, 25 children have sadly been killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents.
“In the same period, 107 cyclists have been killed or seriously injured. If road safety really is the overriding aim of this policy, would it not be more logical to ban bikes?”
The council later in the meeting approved a report on its road safety plan as well as a work programme that will see the consultation responses for the second phase of 20mph zones brought to the committee in December.
However not all public questions were read out at the committee meeting. Committee chair Cllr Liz Grey said only half an hour could be designated to public questions leaving several unanswered including those from the Hoylake Beach Community.
The group which regularly attends meetings and ask questions was looking for an update on the future management of Hoylake beach. The group wants to see an area of vegetation cleared by the council.
This decision over the questions was criticised by Hoylake councillor Max Booth who questioned why those from the group were scheduled for later on in the meeting.
Accused of chasing a headline, Cllr Booth said: “It’s standing up for democratic rights, it’s standing up for ratepayers and there were 20 people in the room there”, adding: “People will come to their own conclusions about what happened tonight.”
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