Police ready to get tough on 20mph limits It said 20mph zones should be largely "self-enforcing" and that there should be "no expectation on the police to provide additional enforcement." It meant that action was largely confined to taking action against motorists who "regularly and wilfully" broke the law. The Telegraph has learned that work has already begun on devising speed awareness courses for drivers who break the 20mph limit. Drivers who participate in these courses, which normally cost more than the £100 fixed penalty fine, would avoid getting points on their licence. Details of the new police strategy are expected to emerge within the next few weeks when the updated guidelines are published. Already one force, Devon and Cornwall, has said speed enforcement could be appropriate until " an agreed engineering solution" to slow traffic down - normally chicanes or speed humps - is agreed. In London Boris Johnson, who is keen to promote cycling in the capital, has been putting pressure on senior police officers and the Department for Transport for tougher line on enforcement. His officials are keen to run a pilot speed awareness course which could then be adopted elsewhere in the country. However an AA spokesman voiced some reservations about the move. "In AA polling a small majority of respondents say they support 20mph speed limits in residential and shopping streets, however there is significantly less support for these lower limits on main roads," he said. If enforcement is to become more commonplace, and that still needs to be debated, it is critical that there is clear signing, the limits or zones have logical boundaries and that prosecution should not be the only option. It would be far better to encourage greater compliance through use of warnings and education.