PROPOSITION
SPEED LIMITS: REVISED POLICY
THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -
(a) to approve a revised policy with regard to speed limits on public roads, with the following simplified structure –
(i) a 40 miles per hour speed limit on all public roads not subject to lower limits or Green Lane status with vehicles with a laden weight of 3.5 tonnes or over being subject to a 30 mile per hour limit on these roads;
(ii) a 30 miles per hour speed limit on public roads in urban/built-up areas (using the Island Plan map definition of a built up area) and roads with no centre line;
(iii) a 20 miles per hour speed limit –
(1) on public roads in housing estates and distinct residential areas;
(2) in areas outside schools where there are part-time electronically signed speed limits.
(iv) a 20 miles per hour speed limit in all Green Lanes.
(b) to agree that an Appeals Panel should be established to consider decisions on speed limits made by the Minister for Transport and Technical Services which the Connétable of the Parish or the States of Jersey Police disagree with;.
(c) to request the Minister for Transport and Technical Services, in consultation with the Minister for Home Affairs, to investigate the potential road safety benefits of introducing a penalty points and fixed penalty system to deal with minor traffic offences;
(d) to request the Minister for Transport and Technical Services to take the necessary steps to give legal effect to the proposals.
MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES
REPORT
Introduction
Following a proposition of Deputy Gorst (P166/2008), the States approved the following on 2 December 2008:
to request the Minister for Transport and Technical Services –
(a) to establish a Review Working Group to review the implementation, operation and suitability of the current Speed Limits Policy (P.1/2004) as approved by the States on 15th March 2005;
(b) to appoint 3 States members as members of the Review Working Group of whom at least 2, including the Chairman, shall not be Ministers or Assistant Ministers, with the Working Group to receive appropriate assistance from relevant officers; and
(c) to present the conclusions of the Review Working Group with any associated recommendations for change to the Assembly before 30th June 2009 (subsequently amended to 30 September 2009).
In March 2009, the Minister for Transport and Technical Services (TTS) appointed the Connétable of St John, Graeme Butcher (subsequently appointed as Chairman by the Working Group), the Connétable of St Saviour, Peter Hanning, and Deputies Ben Fox and Kevin Lewis to the Working Group.
Discussion
The Working Group met on a number of occasions and undertook the following consultations to inform their review:
· A public meeting was held on 6 July 2009 at St Lawrence Parish Hall.
· A questionnaire was circulated to all members of the States Consultation Group, made available online and also in hard copy at Parish Halls, Customer Access Centre, the Public Library, Parking Control office and TTS South Hill offices.
· Members of the Working Group met with the Comité des Chefs de Police on 21 July 2009.
· Representatives from the States of Jersey Police attended a meeting of the Review Group on 10 August 2009.
The interest generated by the consultation exercise clearly shows that speed of vehicles is an issue for the Public. A total of 839 people completed the questionnaire either online or by hand and a further 58 people wrote in to the department. In addition, 30 people attended the public meeting in St Lawrence.
The results from the questionnaire are attached at Appendix B (excluding the individual comments) but the key findings from the questionnaires regarding speed limits can be summarised as follows:
(a) 66% of respondents wanted the current policy changed.
Of those people answering the following specific questions:
(b) more people wanted to maintain a maximum speed limit of 40mph than wanted it changed. In fact, there was almost an equal number of people wanting the maximum limit increased as wanted it decreased.
(c) more than half of people who responded (55%) wanted to keep the maximum speed in urban / built-up areas as 30mph.
(d) 83% of people answering wanted to retain a 20mph maximum speed in housing estates and distinct residential areas.
(e) 51% of people wanted the maximum speed limit in Green Lanes raised to 20mph whilst 31% wanted to see it retained at 15mph.
Regarding accident prevention and road safety methods:
(f) 62% of people supported the re-introduction of police motorcycle patrols.
(g) 55% wanted to see an increase in the number of random roving police camera speed checks at accident black spots.
(h) 79% supported the installation of more electronic ‘smiley/grumpy’ speed alert signs.
The questionnaire also allowed people to make comments and there were 574 individual comments made in the final ‘free text’ box. About 20% of these referred to specific locations and requesting a change in speed limits, but the issue of enforcement – or lack of enforcement – also came out strongly with over a quarter of respondents mentioning this issue. A typical comment made was that ‘there’s no point in changing speed limits if they are not enforced’.
Of the 58 letters received by TTS, almost half were specific to certain areas, Parishes or roads. In particular, a third were from residents of St Clement mainly supporting the view that the maximum speed limit should be 30mph throughout the Parish although five respondents opposed any reduction. The remaining comments broadly echoed the views brought out in the questionnaires.
At the public meeting, 24 people spoke about their views and, once again, the lack of enforcement of the current speed limits was raised as well as people wanting a lower limit in specific areas. The ‘smiley/grumpy’ signs were also fully supported as was the use of non static speed cameras.
The meeting with the Chef de Police focussed mainly on enforcement issues and supported the use of the ‘smiley/grumpy’ signs (Speed Indicating Devices or SIDS), possibly funded by the Community Safety Grants Fund (CSGF). (Each Parish has since been supplied with a SID funded by the CSGF) They also felt that the 15mph speed limit in Green Lanes was too low and would support this being increased to 20mph.
The key issues discussed with the States of Jersey Police were mainly in regard to enforcement and, although not strictly within its remit, the Working Group considered this to be a crucial element of any Speed Limits policy. The following is a summary of issues/solutions discussed:
· Although speed can be an aggravating factor in collisions, only in 3% of recorded collisions was speed determined to be a contributory factor.
· The operational cost of using Police staff on speeding offences is high and they need to utilise limited resources where there is the greatest benefit/return.
· The use of LASTEC, which can process 20 times the number of offenders at the road side than previous speed detection methods, showed that the administration following the offence was a major issue – the Criminal Justice Unit and Parishes could not cope with the numbers.
· ‘Smiley faces’ signs can identify the time of offences which can lead to targeted surveillance which is of greater benefit than random checks.
· There is an issue with the public seeing the prosecution of speeding motorists as simply a means of raising revenue and it is unlikely to change behaviour.
· Currently repeat offenders are difficult to identify at Parish level. It would be beneficial to extend the Article 89 power to allow Centeniers to fine at a higher level and introduce a driving license based record system.
· Changing speed limits and heavy policing is not the whole answer. Perhaps the introduction of Driver Improvement Courses should be considered, as has happened in the UK.
· A penalty points system administered at Parish level through the Driving Licence System, with drivers given the choice between penalty points and Improvement Courses, could provide an answer to the heavy administrative workload currently required and address the repeat offenders issue.
A general issue raised in the consultation is that of the public criticising the current 40mph speed limit, which applies to many of the smaller Parish lanes, where clearly this is not an appropriate speed. One proposal raised is to introduce a “default” Island wide speed limit based on the character of the road on which a driver finds themselves. In particular, those roads with no centre white line (because vehicles cannot pass easily) could have a default speed limit of 30mph. The presence, or not, of the centre line would indicate the default limit without the need for other signage.
Following the completion of the Review Working Group report, the Law Draftsman and Law Officers have been asked for an opinion on the feasibility and practicality of this proposal. The Law Draftsman has indicated that this could be achieved by using the power to amend the law by Regulations (Article 21 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956). Law Officers advice has been sought on whether such a law could be enforced. The Law Officers have indicated that while such a change to the law is not inherently mischievous, such a rule would need to be capable of being easily understood and it is important that public awareness, both to visitors and residents, be heightened to its existence.
Some concern was also raised by a number of respondents and the Working Group themselves that the decision of the TTS Minister in regard to a speed limit was final. There is currently no appeal process whereby the decision of the TTS Minister can be reviewed independently. For this reason, it is proposed to set up a mechanism by which a three person Appeals Panel can be formed to give an opinion on the reasonableness of any refusal for changing a speed limit taking cognisance of the States of Jersey approved Speed Limits Policy.
The Working Group did not go into detail on the formation of the panel but did recommend that members of an Appeals Panel should not adjudicate on limits within their own Parish/constituency, and that an independent person should sit on the Panel alongside Politicians, one of which should be a Connétable. To enable this, a group of Politicians and lay people would need to be established from which to draw a minimum three person Panel for each appeal. The final composition of each appeal panel would need to be agreed between the TTS Minister and the appellant.
It is proposed that appeals be made by either the Connétable of the Parish or the States of Jersey Police, to ensure that the appeals panel were not overwhelmed by individual requests. It should also be noted that under current legislation the TTS Minister remains the person responsible for speed limits on roads, so all decisions of the Appeals Panel which overturn that of the Minister would have to be formally approved by the Minister.
Review Group Conclusion
The Working Group drew the following conclusions from the consultation exercise:
1. The maximum Island speed limit should remain at 40 mph for cars (30 mph for vehicles over 3.5t laden weight).
2. The 15 mph speed limit in Green Lanes is too slow and should be raised to 20 mph.
3. The speed limit for the smaller Parish lanes, where larger vehicles have difficulty passing, is too high at 40 mph and should be reduced.
4. There is a grey area of interpretation which relates to the definition of a built-up area and hence the appropriate speed limit. The Working Group considered that the Island Plan designation of a built-up area was broadly in line with their views of areas that should carry a 30 mph speed limit. For instance, parts of St Clement which are now 40 mph and also some village centres which are 20 mph would, and should, become 30 mph.
5. There should be an appeals mechanism after a decision is made by the Minister for Transport and Technical Services so that a Connétable or the Police can ask for a further review of the decision.
6. Enforcement, or the lack of it, is a major issue with many people and if a system could be introduced which the Parishes could administer and was cumulative on the number of offences (such as a penalty points type system), a greater deterrent would exist.
7. The ‘smiley/grumpy’ faces are supported as a means of alerting drivers to their speed and recording much needed information on actual speeds of all vehicles passing which, in turn, helps target enforcement.
Review Group Recommendations
The following recommendations were made by the Working Group:
1. A simplified structure of speed limits should be introduced as follows:
· An island wide maximum speed limit of 40mph for cars (30 mph for certain vehicles such as those over 3.5t laden weight)
· A lower limit of 30mph in urban/built-up areas and roads with no centre line.
· A 20mph limit in Green Lanes, housing estates and distinct residential areas and part-time at schools.
2. The definition of a built-up area should have regard to the built-up areas as specified on the current Island Plan.
3. An Appeals Panel to be set up to consider decisions made by the TTS Minister which the Connétable or the Police do not agree with. The TTS Minister remains the person responsible for speed limits on all roads, so all decisions of the Appeals Panel which overturn that of the TTS Minister would have to be formally approved by the TTS Minister.
The Working Group also felt that further recommendations stemmed directly from hearing the views of the public and the Police but were not directly within the remit of the Group:
4. Greater use to be made of ‘smiley/grumpy’ signs and the Group recommends that funding be made from the Community Safety Grants Fund (CSGF) with the Parishes responsible for managing and regularly moving the signs. These will add to the ones already owned and operated by some Parishes. The active monitoring of the information these signs provide should lead to targeted surveillance by the Parishes. (Subsequently, SIDS have been provided to all Parishes, funded from the CSGF)
5. Although the Working Group acknowledged that enforcement was not strictly within the remit of its deliberations, it is clear that this issue runs parallel to any Speed Limits Policy. For this reason, the Working Group concluded that the introduction of a penalty points system, adapted for Jersey, should be considered by the Home Affairs Minister. If it was possible for such a system to be administered by the Parishes, utilising the Drivers License computer system and without recourse to the Criminal Justice Unit at Police HQ, enforcement could be managed at the parish level and not impact on the judicial system until the point is reached where an offender has accrued enough points that the licence may be removed. This final decision must be for the Court to decide. Furthermore, consideration should be given to include an option of driver training/awareness courses as an alternative to heavy fines.
6. The Working Group recommends that the Home Affairs Minister investigates the possibility of on-the-spot fines for admitted speeding offences as this would greatly reduce the paperwork involved with driving offences.
7. The Working Group strongly recommends the reintroduction of the police motorcycle unit as this unit provides a strong deterrent and fast response.
Subsequent to the publication of the speed limits Review Working Group report, Transport and Technical Services have received representation from the Tourism Department opposing the proposal to raise the Green Lane speed limit to 20mph. However, given the support of the Comité de Chefs de Police, the consultation responses, and the support of the majority of Connétables, the Minister for Transport and Technical Services has decided to include the recommendation of the Working Party to increase the speed limit in green lanes to 20mph in the Proposition.
Manpower and Financial Implications
(a) Speed limits changes are enabled by amending the Road Traffic (Speed Limits) (Jersey) Order 2003, and installing signage on the roadside. Should more requests for speed limit changes be brought forward as a result of this proposition being successful then amendments to the Road Traffic (Speed Limits) (Jersey) Order 2003 require Law Drafting resources will be required. TTS would anticipate providing and maintaining the required signage from existing budgets. There will also be a cost to changing the 15mph signage to 20mph on Parish Green Lanes, estimated at £20000 across the 10 Parish’s which have Green Lanes. This cost would be borne by the respective Parish Highway Authorities.
(b) There are no cost implications to forming an appeals panel.
(c) TTS and Home Affairs will need to allocate officer resource to progressing an investigation into the potential safety benefits of a fixed penalty and penalty points system.
(d) Modest officer time from Law Drafting and TTS will be required to give Legal effect to those measures requiring amendment to the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 by Regulation.
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