Petition: 30 km/h (20 mp/h) urban speed limit

[mickle]

You've got to factor in not just the speed but the way motorists respond to that speed limit. It's part of the deal that you have to deal with the psychological effects of a 20 mph limit. If the limits start raising very negative feelings in the motoring public it reflects on their driving & makes navigating the streets by foot awful.

What a total load of bollocks.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

What a total load of bollocks.

I have to agree.

 

[Brandane]

I am a pompous, self righteous, arrogant old git who drives a red Nissan Micra with cushions on the rear parcel shelf, or a traveling rug. I drive EVERYWHERE at 40 mph, so no point in having any speed limits in urban areas, never mind 20 mph.. 40 is my default because it saves me having to concentrate while on major trunk routes, yet it allows me some leeway if I get caught in built up areas. I also like to sit in the middle lane of empty motorways, and I use fog lights no matter the weather. Woe betide any of you reckless youngsters who try to pass me ......

 

[porteous]

30MPH limits properly enforced and poor/aggressive driving not tolerated under any circumstances would go a long way to protecting pedestrians and vulnerable road users. That, surely, is what we should expect and what we should be demanding?

20MPH limits seem to already be getting put in near schools and where the elderly live, quite properly, but sensible aware driving in 30MPH zones should be perfectly safe. I am a parish councilor and the best we can get is a police presence for part of a day about once every six months to enforce our normal 30MPH limit and 20MPH limit at school day beginning and end. Enforcement is so unlikely that the idiots still pile through at between 40 and 50 with no thought for others.

Proper enforcement and a real effort to change aggressive driving attitudes would be a real step forward so no, I don't support a blanket 20 MPH limit.

 

[Feastie]

I have to agree with others, what we need is enforcement of the 30mph speed limits (and 40mph for that matter) not more 20mph zones. All the villages around where I live have recently been converted to 20mph, including mine, and when driving it literally sets your blood boiling crawling through villages of empty pavements at a frustratingly slow and pointless 20mph. I frequently cycle faster than many of the cars are allowed to drive, and often feel like the only person following the limit in the first place. So many people just ignore the sign saying 20mph, especially when the road is actually mostly used as a through-road, and continue to travel at the old speed limits of 30mph and 40mph. Unless the road is literally the market square or right on top of a school or something, these limits often seem to have been put in place for the sake of the 1 or 2 pedestrians visible on the street in an hour, in my town at least. More zebra crossings would be better for everyone! Or just pedestrianise town centres, put in speed camera, anything really.

I also disagree that it causes less noise and pollution to have people driving at 20mph... round here, you get huge worming trains of traffic going through, especially in places where the speed limit has suddenly gone from 60mph country roads down to 20mph and so you create a 100% constant flow of traffic for hours every morning and every evening. I don't know whether statistically this causes less pollution, but as a pedestrian or cyclist you have fumes in your face the whole time and a slow parade of wub-wub-wub boy racers creeping past.

 

[AndyPeace]

How about bollards that pop up if you do over 40mph, then smash!!

Proper enforcement and a real effort to change aggressive driving attitudes would be a real step forward so no, I don't support a blanket 20 MPH limit.

Bit expensive to set up.. how about any car caught speeding is crushed, that ought to make a real deterent to breaking speed limits? Could even recoup some of the costs of collecting/crushing cars with the scrap metal.

 

[Linford]

[QUOTE 2330218, member: 45"]It works and it's safer. It fascinates me the excuses people come up with to argue against more appropriate limits, as more often than not those reasons are driver attitude and nothing more. Terms like "crawling" and "blood boil" are evidence of this. If you cant drive without letting your surroundings affect your mood and resultant behaviour then you shouldn't be driving.[/quote]
Top Gear is doing a custom car for you right now

 

[snorri]

Seriously, 20mph limits are good in some places but also can cause problems in others.

The places where problems will be caused will be vastly outnumbered by the places where safety and the general environment will be greatly improved.

 

[uphillstruggler]

Because it becomes a nightmare to cross the road. cars nose to tail or when there's space cars bowling along at much higher than speed limit speed....[/quote]

cant see that personally, slower cars are more likely to let pedestrians cross in my experience.

hmm

 

[Linford]

Because it becomes a nightmare to cross the road. cars nose to tail or when there's space cars bowling along at much higher than speed limit speed....

cant see that personally, slower cars are more likely to let pedestrians cross in my experience.

hmm[/quote]

There are in stances where slower speeds cause real issues for getting in and out of junctions. The gaps close, and you just end up with a continuous stream of it in both directions, with nobody wanting to let you out

 

[uphillstruggler]

cant see that personally, slower cars are more likely to let pedestrians cross in my experience.

hmm

There are in stances where slower speeds cause real issues for getting in and out of junctions. The gaps close, and you just end up with a continuous stream of it in both directions, with nobody wanting to let you out[/quote]

and this is the sort of behaviour that leads to bypasses. my feeling re 20mph limits are that they should happen on one way streets, outside schools, hospitals etc with the necessary controls in place and anyone breaking the limits, liable to a fine and points above the limits set now. that doesnt necesarily stop drivers going fast straight away but it will in time. its a case of breaking behaviour patterns, similar to the seatbelt law etc.

 

[Lee_M]

whats the definition of in-town though?

Where I live now (London) it would be obvious which streets should be 20 and which not, where I come from in Yorkshire it would be harder. The local comp is on a corner of two main roads - should they be 20 ? In which case the whole place would be massively snarled up everyday

I don't have a particular axe to grind, but I dont think its as simple as 'outside schools'

 

[green1]

whats the definition of in-town though?

Where I live now (London) it would be obvious which streets should be 20 and which not, where I come from in Yorkshire it would be harder. The local comp is on a corner of two main roads - should they be 20 ? In which case the whole place would be massively snarled up everyday

I don't have a particular axe to grind, but I don't think its as simple as 'outside schools'

The M8 would be fun. 20 mph through the centre of Glasgow.

 

[SquareDaff]

30mph is the maximum speed limit. Just because the sign says you can drive at 30mph doesn't mean you have to. Isn't the real issue driver education - i.e. shouldn't you be adjusting your speed based on road conditions? Leave the speed limits as they are and educate drivers (in fact all road users) instead.

 

[Linford]

Why would it? Slowing cars down doesn't mean more cars magically appear on the road.

In fact, the evidence is that slowing drivers down actually makes traffic flow more smoothly.

I say the smoothing of it creates a problem. It is not unusual to wait 5 minutes to exit a junction onto a busy road near me when the traffic is moving more slowly as they spread out, and the safe gaps to move into vanish. People get impatient and force their way out...as was MrP's example last week