[Misc] 20 Mph Speed Limits

Eeyore · Nov 11, 2020

I don't do a lot of driving, no more than 5k a year.

I've got used to the 20mph speed limits in much of town. I have to say, I like it.

I spent many years not driving and came back to it. The observance of speed limits seems to make the roads much calmer these days. Which is good as I'm a bit of a nervous driver.

I also think that folk probably get to their destinations quicker too in some cases.

How do folk find these, do they agree or not ?

*This is nothing to do with the overtaking thread. It just got me thinking.

Eeyore · Nov 11, 2020

Mustafa said:
Considering that everyone does 30 in a 20 anyway (including police), I don't think it has made much of a difference.

I suspect its main purpose is to give harsher prosecutions to those who speed excessively on residential roads.

It is a struggle to keep to it. But I think it calms traffic.

Weststander · Nov 11, 2020

I think a load of drivers completely ignore it, which is a shame and maintains a higher risk to other users.

LamieRobertson · Nov 11, 2020

Umm.....have to say i tend to do 25/30 in a 20 mph limit....and yet tend to stick to limits outside of it....i prefer tootling along at 30 in 4th gear ...but if the person in front of me wants to do 20 mph in a 20 limit then its fine by me

BNthree · Nov 11, 2020

Think 20mph zones are a great way of enforcing the 30mph speed limit. If the limit was 30 people would be driving at 35mph. Where it is 20mph the fastest the vast majority of people go is 30mph. Most seem to hover between 25-30mph.

Stat Brother · Nov 11, 2020

I don't think enough people, esp toddlers, have been killed by cars yet, in order to make wholesale changes to speed limits.

Chicken Run · Nov 11, 2020

BNthree said:
Think 20mph zones are a great way of enforcing the 30mph speed limit. If the limit was 30 people would be driving at 35mph. Where it is 20mph the fastest the vast majority of people go is 30mph. Most seem to hover between 25-30mph.

Absolutely this, being hit by a car doing 30 is way better than the 40 most would be doing in a 30 mph zone which is why built up areas are now 20, that’s why you’ll never see the National Speed limit raised on a motorway to say 80 as then people would be doing 90mph

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Machiavelli · Nov 11, 2020

I rarely go too much over 20mph in a 20 speed limit, although I'm happy to go above the speed limit on a motorway. Most road deaths are caused in the former, not the latter.

GT49er · Nov 11, 2020

I think the main problem is the idiots who decide which roads should be 20mph speed limits - I know of many that should be but aren't, and plenty where a 20mph limit would be a good idea. For instance, I live in an area where all the roads are 20mph because of the proximity to schools, all except one road - the one where the schools actually are!
Same with 50mph limits - they are popping up all over the place with no real justification; more like any excuse to stick a 50 limit on a perfectly good road.

Stat Brother · Nov 11, 2020

Machiavelli said:
I rarely go too much over 20mph in a 20 speed limit, although I'm happy to go above the speed limit on a motorway. Most road deaths are caused in the former, not the latter.

Exactly.

As I always say, driving from towns and cities to other towns and cities should be considerably easier and faster.

Driving in the towns and cities should be considerably harder and so much slower.

DavidinSouthampton · Nov 11, 2020

Mustafa said:
Considering that everyone does 30 in a 20 anyway (including police), I don't think it has made much of a difference.

I suspect its main purpose is to give harsher prosecutions to those who speed excessively on residential roads.

Everyone? Speak for yourself.

spongy · Nov 11, 2020

Its a difficult one tbh. I agree with 20mph limits around schools and heavy pedestrian areas like town centres but I think the real issue with accidents and people being run over isn't speed in those cases although it does help to mitigate a toddler running out between parked cars as the reaction time is greatly approved...

I think its more to do with driver awareness and state of consciousness. I start work at 6am so am on the road at 5.30. Quite often I'm tired and I'll admit to sometimes being half asleep and not concentrating properly.

How many people on here are like me and hear a traffic announcement at 6am saying 2 lanes are blocked on the M1 due to a 4 car pile up at 6am....

At that time of the morning its not speed that causes accidents. The traffic load is quite light compared to rush hour when everyone has to go slow due to volume. Its drivers who aren't concentrating/tired/distracted that cause accidents on main roads.

Eeyore · Nov 11, 2020

spongy said:
Its a difficult one tbh. I agree with 20mph limits around schools and heavy pedestrian areas like town centres but I think the real issue with accidents and people being run over isn't speed in those cases although it does help to mitigate a toddler running out between parked cars as the reaction time is greatly approved...

I think its more to do with driver awareness and state of consciousness. I start work at 6am so am on the road at 5.30. Quite often I'm tired and I'll admit to sometimes being half asleep and not concentrating properly.

How many people on here are like me and hear a traffic announcement at 6am saying 2 lanes are blocked on the M1 due to a 4 car pile up at 6am....

At that time of the morning its not speed that causes accidents. The traffic load is quite light compared to rush hour when everyone has to go slow due to volume. Its drivers who aren't concentrating/tired/distracted that cause accidents on main roads.

In my area it's errant parents who seem to be the problem at chucking out time. Was driving near a school the other day with parents wandering all over the place to collect their kids. I came close to running a woman over (thankfully I was only doing about 15mph at the time). She just walked into the road from behind a stationary car. I think some reverse teaching is needed. I hate driving that time of day.

Machiavelli · Nov 11, 2020

Stat Brother said:
Exactly.

As I always say, driving from towns and cities to other towns and cities should be considerably easier and faster.

Driving in the towns and cities should be considerably harder and so much slower.

Agreed. There are road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and car/motorised vehicle drivers. I've put that in an ascending order of damage, although the jump from the second to third is a massive leap.
I say this as a pedestrian, a cyclist and a car driver (so, others, please don't set up some faux dichotomy between them). I used to use buses too, ditto with trains, which was my preferred form of transport for an away day :down:

Easy 10 · Nov 11, 2020

Not a fan. I think they're justifiable outside schools, but not everywhere. You can't overtake bikes at that speed - a few times I've ended up tootling along at 20 with a bike on my inside basically keeping up. That makes me uncomfortable, and I'm sure it ain't great for the cyclist either. What am I supposed to do, slow down to 10 ?

Weststander · Nov 11, 2020

Machiavelli said:
Agreed. There are road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and car/motorised vehicle drivers. I've put that in an ascending order of damage, although the jump from the second to third is a massive leap.
I say this as a pedestrian, a cyclist and a car driver (so, others, please don't set up some faux dichotomy between them). I used to use buses too, ditto with trains, which was my preferred form of transport for an away day

You can’t beat the train on many journeys eg away trips to the NW. Two stress free hours on a train from Euston to Manchester or Liverpool. Rather than the tedious experience of endless jams on the M6 near Stoke, and the odd huge diversion via Lichfield or similar after a bad accident.

Regarding the 20mph limit, imho it should be mandatory nationwide on all residential roads. The odds of a kid or old person surviving being hit at say 22mph or 32mph are vastly different.

Hendrax · Nov 11, 2020

My brother in-law is a policeman and he said that basically they cant enforce it as nobody adheres to it. They cant pull everyone over, right?

Harry Wilson's tackle · Nov 11, 2020

Brighton Lines said:
I don't do a lot of driving, no more than 5k a year.

I've got used to the 20mph speed limits in much of town. I have to say, I like it.

I spent many years not driving and came back to it. The observance of speed limits seems to make the roads much calmer these days. Which is good as I'm a bit of a nervous driver.

I also think that folk probably get to their destinations quicker too in some cases.

How do folk find these, do they agree or not ?

*This is nothing to do with the overtaking thread. It just got me thinking.

Good thread.

I love it. The whole of Faversham is now 20. I have been crawling through town ever since I reached 9 points. It is good for the soul (I'm on 0 points now, TFFT).

But nearly everyone does 30-40. The plums.

We have speed bumps on our road. I would like to see speed bumps throughout town.

jonnyrovers · Nov 11, 2020

As a driver who likes to push it a bit on 'the open road' (I started the overtaking thread) I'm surprisingly compliant in urban areas. I will do exactly 20mph in a 20mph zone. I've been on a speed awareness course and I understand how risk of injury/death is massively reduced for pedestrians & cyclists in these zones.

Friends argue that pedestrians and cyclists should be more careful then they would not get hurt, why should drivers compensate? Maybe they are right, but the way I see it, whether the pedestrian is crossing the road staring at his phone, or the cyclist is not wearing her helmet & weaving through cars, I don't want their death on my conscience, and they don't deserve to die for their lapse in judgement. It's in my power to avoid causing harm, so that's what I'll do.

And let's be honest, the distance travelled in these zones is yards not miles. It affects your journey by about 30 seconds if that.

Be nice.

Harry Wilson's tackle · Nov 11, 2020

jonnyrovers said:
As a driver who likes to push it a bit on 'the open road' (I started the overtaking thread) I'm surprisingly compliant in urban areas. I will do exactly 20mph in a 20mph zone. I've been on a speed awareness course and I understand how risk of injury/death is massively reduced for pedestrians & cyclists in these zones.

Friends argue that pedestrians and cyclists should be more careful then they would not get hurt, why should drivers compensate? Maybe they are right, but the way I see it, whether the pedestrian is crossing the road staring at his phone, or the cyclist is not wearing her helmet & weaving through cars, I don't want their death on my conscience, and they don't deserve to die for their lapse in judgement. It's in my power to avoid causing harm, so that's what I'll do.

And let's be honest, the distance travelled in these zones is yards not miles. It affects your journey by about 30 seconds if that.

Be nice.

This.

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[Misc] 20 Mph Speed Limits

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