Blanket 20mph zones will be created in towns and villages across Perth and Kinross, as part of a radical road safety strategy.
Council chiefs have proposed setting up pilot go-slow areas at Errol, Rattray, Aberfeldy, Kinnesswoood and Dalginross, Comrie.
Parts of Perth – specifically Gannochy and Letham – are also being considered for future action.
The 18-month trial is expected to lead to a shake-up of the authority’s 20mph policy, which could see slower speeds on streets throughout the region.
When the current policy was introduced in 2016, the then-SNP administration rejected calls for a review from Liberal Democrat councillors who described it as “piecemeal” and ineffective.
In a report to next week’s environment and infrastructure committee, project engineer Lachlan MacLean explains the thinking behind the £61,500 trial.
He said each of the five locations was picked because of their different characteristics, such as town, village, school site, residential core and a village on an A-class road.
“These different characteristics will allow comparisons of the trial’s results to be made in order to gauge the suitability of a 20mph speed limit,” he said.
“Extensive traffic surveys will be carried out before and after the limits are introduced to determine what changes have taken place.”
Committee convener and Conservative councillor Angus Forbes said: “If approved, the trial will last up to 18 months and will be the first phase of informing the development of a revisited 20 mph speed limit strategy for the area.”
Aberfeldy Community Council chairman Victor Clements said the scheme could make a difference to drivers’ behaviour. “We recently borrowed equipment from the council to check the speeds of vehicles coming through the village,” he said.
“We were finding that there were around 2,000 vehicles a day passing by at more than 30mph, so it has become quite a big issue here.”
He added: “I know that people will be concerned about how a 20mph limit can be policed, but I personally feel that it could really work in a small, compact town like Aberfeldy. I think after a while, it will start to feel like the norm.
“I’m not sure how it will work in larger places like Blairgowrie, however. That might be more difficult.”
The move has been welcomed by former councillor and local MSP Alexander Stewart who said it would help ensure road users’ safety in the long-run.
It comes as a new poll reveals more than half of Scots back cutting the default speed limit in residential streets to 20mph.
Research carried out by Survation for the Scottish Greens shows 56.9% of people are either strongly in favour or somewhat in favour of the move.
Less than a quarter (22.2%) of those surveyed said they are against the proposal – which Green MSP Mark Ruskell is trying to pass at Holyrood.
