Edinburgh is the first city in Scotland implementing a citywide 20mph network. The new limit aims to reduce the risk and severity of road collisions, encourage travel on foot and by bike and help make the city’s streets more people-friendly.
A 20mph mascot competition was open to all pupils from primary one to seven, with Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs) promoting the competition to design and name a 20mph mascot in their school. There were 360 entries from 51 primary schools.
The overall winner is eight-year-old Teo Edwin Gonzalez from Tollcross Primary School. His superhero mascot ‘The Reducer’ has been made into a costume to promote the 20mph campaign and to assist with road safety education in schools.
And you can see The Reducer here!
Introducing ‘The Reducer’ – Edinburgh’s 20mph mascot! #20splenty pic.twitter.com/Vugf1f2m8a
— Edinburgh Council (@Edinburgh_CC) June 22, 2016
At the awards ceremony, Transport Convener Councillor Lesley Hinds will present Teo with vouchers to buy a bike from Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative. Tollcross Primary will also receive £1000 to spend on active travel activities or equipment as part of the prize.
Cllr Hinds said: “This was an incredibly difficult decision for the judges, we had such a fantastic selection of entries from schools right across the city. In the end we picked Teo’s design for The Reducer as the mascot for our 20mph for Edinburgh campaign. He’s an eye-catching character with a clear message about the need to slow down and stick to the 20mph limit. We’ll be seeing a lot of The Reducer as the new limits get rolled out all over Edinburgh over the next couple of years. Congratulations to all the winners and well done to everyone who took part in the competition.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
