Photo: BBC

A BBC article has reported that "a man has painted a 30mph sign the height of a double decker bus on the side of his house in a Devon village". That's right. He was understandably sick and tired of vehicles tearing through his village and thought he'd do something about it. 

Traffic calming is something ECF has been talking about for some time. Earlier on this year the European Parliament voted for a 30kph speed limit in all built up and residential areas within Europe.

And let's be honest, it's hard not to love 30 kph (~20mph) zones. The British Medical Journal published a study on 20mph zones over a 20 year period with the following results:

• Casualties as a whole were reduced by 41.9%
• There was a fall of 37.6% of killed or seriously injured cyclists
• The numbers of killed or seriously injured children were reduced by half
• The greatest reduction of cycling casualties was amongst children (aged 0-15) 

Only one suggestion from ECF: Paint a 20mph sign next time. 

About the Author

 Julian Ferguson is the Communications Officer for the European Cyclists’ Federation. Originally hailing from Australia and a keen bicycle advocate, he plans one day to ride his bicycle from Brussels to Melbourne