New roadside police team ready to set their sights on London motorists breaking new 20mph limit

Drivers in London should expect to see more roadside police officers as a new speed enforcement team set their sights on motorists breaking the new 20mph speed limit.

Transport for London (TfL) will bring in the lower speed limits across the central London TfL road network on Monday 2 March.

The new 20mph speed limits will be enforced across all TfL roads within the Congestion Charging Zone which includes Millbank, Victoria Embankment and Borough High Street.

As part of the joint commitment with TfL to eliminate death and serious injury from London's roads, the Metropolitan Police will continue to target dangerous, careless and illegal driving across London's roads.

From April, a new speed enforcement team will identify speeding drivers across the capital, including within the new 20mph speed limits.

The team will be deployed to known high-risk locations for speeding, equipped with the newest laser video speed enforcement technology.

Speed is said to be a factor in around 37% of collisions in London where a person dies or is seriously injured.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ”I am absolutely determined to do everything I can to eradicate all deaths and serious injuries on London's roads and these new measures are a vital step along the way to helping us to achieve this.

”By cutting speed limits on TfL's roads within the Congestion Zone we are saving lives, while at the same time making our streets more appealing for Londoners to walk and cycle around the capital.”

Lilli Matson, Chief Health, Safety and Environment Officer at TfL, said: ”Millions of walking and cycling journeys are made across our city every single day and a person is five times less likely to be fatally injured if hit at 20mph than at 30mph - it's as straightforward as that.

”Ensuring the safety of Londoners and visitors is paramount, which is why we are introducing a safer speed limit for all road users in central London.

”It's clear the new 20mph speed limits will not only save lives but will also encourage Londoners to travel in more active and sustainable ways.

”We're committed to eliminating unsafe speeds and dangerous driving across our network and are working closely with our Metropolitan Police partners to ensure the new speed limits are robustly enforced, as part of our Vision Zero commitment to eliminate death and serious injury from our streets and transport network.”