New 20mph speed limits rolled out across Aberdeenshire

New lower 20mph speed limits have been rolled out across Aberdeenshire’s towns and villages.

The council is the latest local authority to slash speeds in “built-up areas”, with hundreds of roads affected.

The new limits will affect streets near schools, residential and retail areas, community centres, churches, hospitals, GPs, sports facilities and more.

Aberdeenshire Council previously said that the speed limit reductions will “help make the north-east’s roads safer for all road users”.

It said evidence shows pedestrians are seven times more likely to die in a road traffic collision with a vehicle travelling at 30mph than at 20mph.

“The aim of the 20mph speed limits in our villages and towns is to reduce the likelihood of collisions and severity of injuries and also to encourage people to feel safer when walking, cycling or wheeling in their neighbourhood,” Councillor Alan Turner, chair of the council’s infrastructure services committee, previously said.

“We fully understand that there may be some road users who will be opposed to the implementation of these 20mph speed limits, but in the interests of safety, it is absolutely the correct decision for the council to make.”

The speed reductions in Aberdeenshire follow the Scottish Government’s commitment to see all “appropriate roads in built-up areas” have a safer speed limit of 20mph by the end of 2025.

Glasgow, Edinburgh, and other local authorities have already made the move.

Reduced speed limits were also officially put in place across more than 700 streets in Aberdeen earlier this month, but council leaders later admitted that the rules cannot be enforced until signs are put in place to warn drivers.

Enforcement of speed limits will remain the responsibility of Police Scotland, and Aberdeenshire Council warned that it will be carried out in targeted areas.

The council said this is likely to be in places where the new speed limits are “regularly being broken and where there is an increased risk of injury to other road users”.