Narrow country lanes to be 20mph

[Deleted User]

daivid said:

I live near Corkscrew lane, hitting 20mph is a pipe dream.

Are we supposed to know where that is and why 20mph is a pipe dream?

[Deleted User]

brianposter said:

Single track roads round here. There are places where 40mph is reasonable and others where 15mph is daring. A blanket limit makes no sense.

It makes sense because time and time again it's been proven that there are enough idiots out there who can't determine what a suitable speed is, or stick to it.

Everyone should know this by now. We can't have nice things.

photome

[Deleted User] said:

brianposter said:

Single track roads round here. There are places where 40mph is reasonable and others where 15mph is daring. A blanket limit makes no sense.

It makes sense because time and time again it's been proven that there are enough idiots out there who can't determine what a suitable speed is, or stick to it.

Everyone should know this by now. We can't have nice things.

It makes no sense for the reasons above , regardless, there would be no one to enforce it anyway

B0bbyEwing

peter_the_piper said:

Thoughts?

Yeah I have a thought. Who's going to stop people from doing what they want?
Is there going to be a copper on every country lane bend? Doubtful. 

Like with the Covid we would really like it if you stopped at home and any other ruling brought in, unless someone is going to make it happen then people will do as they want.

It certainly wont change the way I drive. 

Depending on which way I come home from work, I may or may not take country roads. In some sections I'll be at 70mph if I'm in a rush home. Some will say that's not safe but they'd be saying it not even knowing the road or the conditions I'm talking about. Did I say I'd do it when there's cars everywhere?

Whenever I approach a bend that I can't see around, 20mph is probably actually the top end of what I'd be doing. Reason being is I don't trust anyone else. There's way too many "I know these roads like the back of my hand" people around. Yes, so do I, but knowing them inside out doesn't mean I can see around a corner. Many a time I've nearly been wiped out as I've been crawling round a corner & someone has been coming round on my side of the road & they've had to swerve to miss me. That's another thing I do - I always hug left when going round a bend, again because too many idiots take bends in the middle of the road. 

All in all, it wont change how I drive. I drive to the conditions of the road. If it's a long straight & nobody else is around & visibility is good then yeah there's every chance I'll break the speed limit. If I can see other cars around then no I wont, I'll go slower. If i'm going round bends then regardless of the conditions, I am creeping. 

B0bbyEwing

[Deleted User] said:

daivid said:

I live near Corkscrew lane, hitting 20mph is a pipe dream.

Are we supposed to know where that is and why 20mph is a pipe dream?

I took their post as saying there's a lot of bends, therefore they can't get up to any kind of speed. 

Maybe they actually meant a road called Corkscrew Lane though as you think.

Norman_Castle

“There are scrambler bikes roaring up and down at 60mph and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. We also get joyriders in 4x4s coming at midnight, charging up and down the byways,” he told The Sunday Times.

“They come in the winter, when it’s all muddy, and after dark. They buy an old banger for £50, run it into the ground and just set fire to it.”

How will this prevent "joyriders in 4x4s coming at midnight, charging up and down the byways,” or people coming "in the winter, when it’s all muddy, and after dark. They buy an old banger for £50, run it into the ground and just set fire to it”?

Talk of 4x4s and "scrambler bikes" on byways suggests the problem is idiots abusing green lanes and smaller lanes. Its unlikely a blanket speed limit will prevent this.

Username03725

B0bbyEwing said:

peter_the_piper said:

Thoughts?

Yeah I have a thought. Who's going to stop people from doing what they want?
Is there going to be a copper on every country lane bend? Doubtful. 

Like with the Covid we would really like it if you stopped at home and any other ruling brought in, unless someone is going to make it happen then people will do as they want.

It certainly wont change the way I drive. 

Depending on which way I come home from work, I may or may not take country roads. In some sections I'll be at 70mph if I'm in a rush home. Some will say that's not safe but they'd be saying it not even knowing the road or the conditions I'm talking about. Did I say I'd do it when there's cars everywhere?

Whenever I approach a bend that I can't see around, 20mph is probably actually the top end of what I'd be doing. Reason being is I don't trust anyone else. There's way too many "I know these roads like the back of my hand" people around. Yes, so do I, but knowing them inside out doesn't mean I can see around a corner. Many a time I've nearly been wiped out as I've been crawling round a corner & someone has been coming round on my side of the road & they've had to swerve to miss me. That's another thing I do - I always hug left when going round a bend, again because too many idiots take bends in the middle of the road. 

All in all, it wont change how I drive. I drive to the conditions of the road. If it's a long straight & nobody else is around & visibility is good then yeah there's every chance I'll break the speed limit. If I can see other cars around then no I wont, I'll go slower. If i'm going round bends then regardless of the conditions, I am creeping. 

Applauds loudly... well said sir.

20mph as a blanket limit is ridiculous. Proponents are always keen to pretend that all country lanes are Cornish style zig-zags with high banks and S bends every 200 yards, even though the reality is nowhere close to that.

Reality is that this won't be policed so it'll be ok to continue driving to the conditions, like we do now. Where 20 is appropriate, we'll do 20. Where 40 is  safe 40 is the speed to do. And just like now where the road is familiar, open and clear I'll do whatever speed I feel like. Some days that might be 45, sometimes it might be any speed you care to mention. If it's clear, open, visibility is good and I feel like it I'll get a move on knowing full well that in the last 45 years the police have never been spotted down there and that any speed is ok on that particular stretch. 

A blanket 20 is a ridiculous joke; lowest common denominator material and safely ignored just like it has been since my Grandpa hustled himself along those same roads as a youth.

venomx

Definitely a good idea. See way too many people flying around country roads which are marked as national speed limit, no way should it be that fast.

peter_the_piper

Personally , I'm all for it.. Around here the country lanes are along the edges of fields with high hedges and no straights more than 100 yds so a speed of no more than 20-30mph is just about safe. This does not stop white van man and idiots in chelsea tractors barrelling down them. Too many don't realise that a tractor or horse could be around the next corner. Not wide enough for a white line down the middle then max speed 20-or 30 should be automatic.

The_Unready

Lots of talk here about driving fast on rural roads if visibility is ' good' and you can allegedly see oncoming traffic (70 mph on a country lane - really?), but don't forget that you may not so easily see vulnerable road users such as cyclists and horse riders.

It is precisely those types of road users that the slower speed limits are designed to protect. If you look up the collision/fatality stats for rural roads as opposed to urban roads you'll see that the former are much more dangerous for vulnerable road users than the latter.

So, just slow down and drive to the conditions, making sure that you consider all types of 'traffic' that you might find on a rural road, including pedestrians.