BLACKBURN with Darwen council should introduce 20mph speed limits on residential roads across the borough to cut child accidents, the authority’s Liberal Democrat leader told its Labour rulers.
Coun David Foster said not enough was being done to cut the toll of death and injury to young people.
He asked highways chief Coun Dave Harling what steps were being taken to improve safety, highlighting the success of 20mph zones elsewhere in Lancashire in this.
Coun Foster said that 44 accidents involving young people in Blackburn with Darwen a year compared to an average of 25 annually in similar-sized authorities was not good enough.
But Coun Harling disputed the figure, claiming it was between 17 and 22 annually over the last five years with just three since April.
He said he accepted one child accident a year was too many, and that 20mph zones were effective, but insisted the council could not afford £500,000 for a total roll-out of such schemes in the current financial climate.
A report on what could be done was due in February, he added.
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