20 mph speed limits.

DigForVictory

Female. Dunno about car bore.
If told to do 20 mph and I can see a reason - school uniforms, children etc, I cooperate. If someone were to hit one of my children, I'd be very upset, so it seems wholly reasonable to moderate it a bit.

What gets me is the lights reminding you of the 20 limit, still flashing even though every school in a 5 mile radius of the sign in question has gone on summer holiday. Another lit sign has its lights controlled by a magnetic fob operated by the lollipop lady & is (correctly) dark but for whatever reason these other lights are still going. Most irritating.

If the local council wants to widen the radius, then I will suspect them of trying to raise revenue, rather than eco/safety reasons,but card carrying wicked old cynic here.

DoaM

Do those lights flash for all traffic, or only the traffic exceeding the 20 limit? If the latter then the solution is simple. (This assumes that it's a permanent 20 limit rather than a temporary limit during certain times).

davidwood681

bertiewhite wrote: »

That's rather sexist, isn't it?

Next you'll be suggesting we have a lunchtime TV programme with an all female cast or an institute purely for women.

Vile programme but I'd be interested to the the response to a male daytime show that use the same language towards women as the one you're on about.

giraffe69

20 mph is alright if there is a need. So around schools when they start or at chucking out time, for example. The problem is that although it is perfectly possible and done is some areas to make them time dependent too,many lazy local authorities make them apply at 3 a.m. for no good reason.

NBLondon

Many bits of London, you'd be lucky to get over 20mph..... As stated above - it's a difficult speed to find a suitable gear for in many modern cars (except electrics I presume). And as above, it makes a lot of sense around schools and residential areas but less so on through routes. Sadly, it is partly because a minority if idiots think a 30 limit means 35 or 36 - and I'm not convinced that all of them will actually take any more notice of a 20 limit unless there is heavy enforcement.

Nasqueron

forgotmyname wrote: »

Sorry Male and a car bore here...

Im guessing you don't drive in London. They claim it saved 4 lives a year in Bristol. This article in the Guardian appears to show that 20mph zones had the opposite effect.

Dropping the speed to 20 could increase pollution also. In my car 20mph in 1st = revving the engine, or 2nd gear where it pulls itself along at more than 20mph with no throttle input. So break the limit in 2nd gear or kill everyone with exhaust fumes in 1st gear.

One article said saving those 4 lives in bristol will save £15 million. How? And i wonder how much it costs to implement?

EDIT.. Think i found it over £800,000

I drive a modern diesel and my partner has a petrol from the same manufacturer, both are happy in 3rd at 20mph

Car_54

DigForVictory wrote: »

Female. Dunno about car bore.
If told to do 20 mph and I can see a reason - school uniforms, children etc, I cooperate. If someone were to hit one of my children, I'd be very upset, so it seems wholly reasonable to moderate it a bit.

What gets me is the lights reminding you of the 20 limit, still flashing even though every school in a 5 mile radius of the sign in question has gone on summer holiday. Another lit sign has its lights controlled by a magnetic fob operated by the lollipop lady & is (correctly) dark but for whatever reason these other lights are still going. Most irritating.

If the local council wants to widen the radius, then I will suspect them of trying to raise revenue, rather than eco/safety reasons,but card carrying wicked old cynic here.

Councils get no revenue from speeding fines.

ciderboy2009

When they first trialled the 20mph limits in Bristol the number of accidents actually increased in the trial areas.

They then decided to roll out 20mph over the majority of the city. However, there's no logic about what is a 20mph road and what is a 30mph road. In some places the same road changes limit in 3 or 4 places for no apparent reason.

This led to drivers constantly looking for signs to see what the current limit is for where they are rather than concentrating on their driving.

If it had been thought out sensibly 20mph in Bristol could have been a good thing.
As it is, most people (including the Police) just ignore it.

AdrianC

Bristol does not have a blanket 20mph limit on all roads.
It has zones across some areas, excluding trunk roads - and even that is being reviewed.

https://www.bristol20mph.co.uk/where/


London is not proposing a blanket 20mph limit on all roads throughout all boroughs, either.

What is being proposed is a blanket 20mph limit on all roads within the Congestion Charge Zone - and remember that the CC Zone does not include the major trunk routes around the border, or the major north-south route through the middle. It's not even particularly new as a concept - the a "blanket 20" was introduced by Islington on what they called "residential roads" across the borough as far back as 2009 - but even that doesn't include every road that there are houses on.

System

Many places are no longer bothering with it because it has shown to make no difference at all other than to the levels of pollution which went in the wrong direction. You could introduce a 20MPH limit in the CC zone in London without anyone noticing anything different because you're very lucky if you ever get the chance to reach that lofty goal.