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| Plans to cut traffic speed limits | Plans to cut traffic speed limits |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Proposals to bring down speed limits in areas where there is a higher risk of accidents have been announced by the government's road safety minister. | Proposals to bring down speed limits in areas where there is a higher risk of accidents have been announced by the government's road safety minister. |
| Reductions from 30mph to 20mph in urban locations and 60mph to 50mph in the countryside are being considered. | Reductions from 30mph to 20mph in urban locations and 60mph to 50mph in the countryside are being considered. |
| Jim Fitzpatrick said the way people learn to drive and how they are tested is also set for major reform. | Jim Fitzpatrick said the way people learn to drive and how they are tested is also set for major reform. |
| The plans are part of a new strategy to reduce road deaths in England and Wales by one-third by 2020. | |
| Safety research | Safety research |
| Mr Fitzpatrick said in a statement: "We've already made real improvements to the safety of our roads - there are now almost 17,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries in a year than there were in the mid-1990s. But it is intolerable that eight people are still dying on our roads each day. | Mr Fitzpatrick said in a statement: "We've already made real improvements to the safety of our roads - there are now almost 17,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries in a year than there were in the mid-1990s. But it is intolerable that eight people are still dying on our roads each day. |
| ROAD SAFETY PROPOSALS Recommending 20mph zones around schoolsReview speed limits in accident black spotsNew expert panel to investigate road safetyPlans to cut road deaths by a third by 2020New vocational qualification for van driversProviding learners with more information to help them to choose an instructor | |
| "The major changes to the driver training and testing process will create better-prepared drivers while our plans for the next 10 years aim to make the roads and vehicles they use safer and so prevent many of the terrible crashes which cut short lives and tear families apart." | |
| Places such as Newcastle, Portsmouth, Oxford and Leicester already use 20mph speed limits in residential areas, and other local councils will be given new guidance to cut speed limits in residential areas and outside schools. | Places such as Newcastle, Portsmouth, Oxford and Leicester already use 20mph speed limits in residential areas, and other local councils will be given new guidance to cut speed limits in residential areas and outside schools. |
| There will be a new section in the driving test where candidates will be asked to drive without being directed by the examiner. | There will be a new section in the driving test where candidates will be asked to drive without being directed by the examiner. |
| Young learner drivers who opt to take a new pre-qualification course will be allowed to sit a shorter driving theory test. | Young learner drivers who opt to take a new pre-qualification course will be allowed to sit a shorter driving theory test. |
| Road safety researchers say only one in 40 people who are hit by a vehicle at 20mph die, compared with one in five at 30mph. | Road safety researchers say only one in 40 people who are hit by a vehicle at 20mph die, compared with one in five at 30mph. |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme | |
| Robert Gifford, of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said: "The 20mph zones are proven to save lives and that is especially important when thinking about children and the elderly." | Robert Gifford, of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said: "The 20mph zones are proven to save lives and that is especially important when thinking about children and the elderly." |
| Responding to the government's consultation announcement shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said what was needed were "targeted plans aimed at specific problem groups or specific areas". | |
| Ms Villiers added that the Conservatives would "reform the driving test to encourage novice drivers to be better drivers, but without imposing excessive increases in the cost of learning to drive or hitting young people with unreasonable new restrictions on their mobility". | |
| What do you make of the proposals? Would you welcome lower speed limits where you live? What are your experiences? Send us your comments using the form below. | What do you make of the proposals? Would you welcome lower speed limits where you live? What are your experiences? Send us your comments using the form below. |
| The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions | The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions |