[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Heartwarming and compassionate, as always.

That's the problem with kids - they're kids, and often act without thinking (no matter how many times we tell them). The latest figures show that at 20mph, there is a 1.5% (1 in 66ish) chance of being fatally injured - at 30mph it's 8% (1 in 12ish); so driving 10mph faster increases the chance of a fatality over 5 times.

Why should they be playing in the middle of a through road? What the odds of being fatally injured, if you're not in the middle of the road when you're not supposed to be? IIRC With the very first pedestrian fatality from a car, the vehicle was only travelling at 4mph. If you step right out in front of a car, speed isn't a factor.

Link

Reducing the speed limit to 20mph has caused a rise in death and serious injuries, a council has admitted, but is refusing to reverse the scheme because it will cost too much. Bath and North East Somerset Council spent £871,000 bringing in the 13 new speed zones just 12 months ago.
But one year on, a report has found that the rate of people killed or seriously injured has gone up in seven out of the 13 new 20mph zones.
The review of the traffic control measures warns that this is a problem nationally, adding: "There is no simple explanation for this adverse trend but it could be that local people perceive the area to be safer due to the presence of the 20mph restrictions and thus are less diligent when walking and crossing roads, cycling or otherwise travelling."
...
This is not the first warning that 20mph areas are more dangerous. In 2010 the Department for Transport reviewed the scheme in Portsmouth, one of the first areas to adopt it, and found that number of people killed or seriously injured on affected roads actually went up, not down, after the limit was lowered.