Parliamentary candidates Caroline Lucas and Ian Davey take Brighton and Hove to the forefront of the battle against speed in Britain's residential areas.

GREEN PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES are calling for a 20mph speed limit in built-up areas to be implemented urgently TO IMPROVE ROAD SAFETY.

The current default speed limit for residential areas is 30mph. But according to the RAC Report on Motoring, half of drivers admit to regularly "driving significantly above" the current 30mph limit.

And figures from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents state that if you are struck by a passing car in your street at 35 mph there is a 50% chance you will be killed. This survival rate vastly increases to 97% at a traffic speed of 20mph.

The issue is one that strikes right to the heart of Sussex, with the most up to date figures showing 6018 people killed and seriously injured in the county last year.

Brighton and Hove Green Party want to see legislation change at a UK level, but believe that a demonstration of 20mph's viability and popularity must come from practical examples at a local level.

Green Party Leader and Parliamentary Candidate for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas and Green Party Councillor and Parliamentary candidate for Hove Ian Davey have launched a new city-wide petition campaign on the issue with residents of Brighton and Hove.

Caroline Lucas said: "Unfortunately the only response residents ever hear from the leadership of the city's Tory administration is "maybe we will" or "we are looking into it", but very little seems to change. Residents understandably ask, "Where is the vision? Where is the action?"'.

Ian Davey added: "The current piecemeal approach employed in Brighton and Hove of setting up a 20mph zone here and there or of waiting until a tragedy occurs is either too little or too late".

The campaign will focus on two key issues. First, getting Brighton and Hove's Tory council to listen to the city's residents and implement 20mph speed limits on all streets throughout the city where people live, work, play or go to school. And second, calling on the Labour government to reduce the standard speed limit on 'restricted roads' in all built-up areas of the UK from 30mph to 20mph.