From the Chamber: Wokingham's approach to making our streets safer for all

Between 2020 and 2025, more than 1,200 people were injured on Wokingham’s roads. 182 were seriously injured. Behind those figures are people whose lives have been changed, sometimes permanently, by collisions on our roads. Almost half of these happened on urban roads with a 30mph limit and people outside of cars – walking, cycling or wheeling – were disproportionately affected.

When we asked people what their priorities were in the consultations for our Local Transport Plan, nine out of ten said pedestrian safety in urban areas. Two thirds said safety on rural lanes. Half of respondents said that fear of traffic prevented them from walking or cycling, a factor in the congestion on our roads, particularly during the school run.

The council has a duty to promote road safety and to take measures to prevent collisions. However you look at the problem, there is no getting away from the significance of vehicle speeds in these casualty figures. We know that a pedestrian hit by a car travelling at 20mph is around five times more likely to survive than someone hit at 30mph.

Across the UK, councils that want to improve safety are reviewing speed limits to make them appropriate to the area. The most extensive change has been in Wales, where the national 30mph urban speed limit was changed to 20mph in 2023. Some roads remained at 30mph and around 1% have been revised back, but the majority have remained at the lower limit.

The latest official figures from Wales are encouraging. Comparing April to June 2026 with the same period in 2023, before the new default speed limit was introduced, casualties in urban areas were down by 35%, while collisions had fallen by 37%. As well as the human benefits, at least one company is now reducing insurance premiums in response. If Wokingham were to achieve similar reductions, that could mean around ten fewer people seriously injured and sixty fewer other injuries each year.

Reducing speed limits is not the only way to reduce vehicle speeds where needed. Road design is important, but difficult and expensive to do well on existing roads. Police enforcement has an important role, but Thames Valley Police have limited resources and need to concentrate on locations where the risks are greatest. Enforcement alone cannot provide a solution across the road network. Which leaves us with speed limits, set appropriate to the risk, as the practical and effective tool to reduce injuries and make our roads feel safe, and the evidence is that it works, even when road design cannot be changed and increased enforcement isn’t possible.

Wokingham is not proposing blanket changes, but will be reviewing limits in towns, villages, residential estates and rural lanes, in line with council policy agreed earlier in the year. We are getting started with 5 proposals, all based on proposals from town and parish councils and where we believe the need for change is amongst the greatest. These include parts of Wokingham Town, Twyford Village, Finchampstead Village, residential areas around Silverdale Road in Earley and rural lanes in Hare Hatch.

Making our roads safer isn't just about preventing collisions and injuries. It's also about giving people the confidence to walk, cycle and wheel around their communities, helping reduce congestion and making our towns and villages nicer places to live.

You can read more about our proposals on the council’s Engage consultation website (opens in new window) and tell us what you think, up until 9 th November. We want to hear from you if you support these proposals, or if you think they could be improved. With your help, we will make
Wokingham’s roads safer for everyone for the future.