Remove this post

user1977

Martyn1981 said:

Aretnap said:

TooManyPoints said:

According to officialdom “it’ll only add a minute” 

So it will - if you're travelling just one mile. Beyond that it will cost you one extra minute for every additional mile you travel.

It won't, of course. Driving at 20 instead of 30 would cost you a minute per mile if you were driving on a dead straight road at a constant speed, with no junctions, traffic lights, zebra crossings, parked cars to negotiate etc etc. But to good approximation no roads in built up areas are like that, and the few that are will mostly be designated as 30 mph roads anyway. In typical urban driving, briefly hitting a top speed of 30rather than 20 mph between stops at traffic lights etc will have a small or negligible impact on journey times. 

Regarding a printed Highway Code, I don't understand the point. These are only correct for a moment in time. 

Indeed, and I wonder how such people keep up to date with other changes in the law...

TooManyPoints

...and so many people sit with the needle on 40 going at what is really around 36mph. 

Presumably you are talking about National Speed Limit roads, so why would they be travelling so slowly?

daivid

TooManyPoints said:

...and so many people sit with the needle on 40 going at what is really around 36mph. 

Presumably you are talking about National Speed Limit roads, so why would they be travelling so slowly?

It baffles me but they do. I grew up and learnt to drive in mid Wales and 40mph drivers were definitely a phenomenon. As TLIMH said 40mph everywhere! In a 30, in a 40m, in a 60, not many 20s or 50s about then. It may have been older drivers or maybe just incompetence and fear of bends. Many seemed to get angry when people didn’t want to follow them at 20mph below the speed limit - I remember a brand new Mitsubishi Evo (what a waste…) trying to run me off the road as I passed in a ropey old escort.

Martyn1981

daivid said:

TooManyPoints said:

...and so many people sit with the needle on 40 going at what is really around 36mph. 

Presumably you are talking about National Speed Limit roads, so why would they be travelling so slowly?

It baffles me but they do. I grew up and learnt to drive in mid Wales and 40mph drivers were definitely a phenomenon. As TLIMH said 40mph everywhere! In a 30, in a 40m, in a 60, not many 20s or 50s about then. It may have been older drivers or maybe just incompetence and fear of bends. Many seemed to get angry when people didn’t want to follow them at 20mph below the speed limit - I remember a brand new Mitsubishi Evo (what a waste…) trying to run me off the road as I passed in a ropey old escort.

LOL, I know exactly what you mean. Long road to get to my in-laws, with a 30mph village and a 40mph village stretch, but the rest at 60mph. Nice quality road, wide lanes, gentle bends, but always, and I mean always, someone doing 45mph. Not many places to safely overtake, and almost impossible, if you are 3 or 4 cars back, and nobody ahead overtakes.

But, but, but ....... everyone drives at 30 or 40 through those villages. [Not sure what speed they are now, since the changes.] So weird.

sevenhills

Martyn1981 said:

But, but, but ....... everyone drives at 30 or 40 through those villages. [Not sure what speed they are now, since the changes.] So weird.

I sometimes wonder how the council believe that some limits should be 30 mph and some 40 mph, same type of road.

If you live in a built-up area it might be a 30 mph limit, how many houses does it take to make an area 'built up'? I do feel for those people who live where houses are sparse, with a 60 mph speed limit at the end of their drive.

Car_54

sevenhills said:

Martyn1981 said:

But, but, but ....... everyone drives at 30 or 40 through those villages. [Not sure what speed they are now, since the changes.] So weird.

I sometimes wonder how the council believe that some limits should be 30 mph and some 40 mph, same type of road.

If you live in a built-up area it might be a 30 mph limit, how many houses does it take to make an area 'built up'? I do feel for those people who live where houses are sparse, with a 60 mph speed limit at the end of their drive.

AFAIK there is no single definition of a 'built-up area.

So far as speed limits are concerned it was superseded long ago by the concept of a 'restricted road', which is defined by the presence of street lighting.

sevenhills

Car_54 said:

AFAIK there is no single definition of a 'built-up area.

So far as speed limits are concerned it was superseded long ago by the concept of a 'restricted road', which is defined by the presence of street lighting.

I recall a 30 mph zone where there were only houses on one side of the road, no path or any schools or parks on the other side. Not sure why they would need a 30 mph limit if no one was crossing the road.

user1977

sevenhills said:

Car_54 said:

AFAIK there is no single definition of a 'built-up area.

So far as speed limits are concerned it was superseded long ago by the concept of a 'restricted road', which is defined by the presence of street lighting.

I recall a 30 mph zone where there were only houses on one side of the road, no path or any schools or parks on the other side. Not sure why they would need a 30 mph limit if no one was crossing the road.

Because it's not only about pedestrians crossing the road.

cymruchris

user1977 said:

sevenhills said:

Car_54 said:

AFAIK there is no single definition of a 'built-up area.

So far as speed limits are concerned it was superseded long ago by the concept of a 'restricted road', which is defined by the presence of street lighting.

I recall a 30 mph zone where there were only houses on one side of the road, no path or any schools or parks on the other side. Not sure why they would need a 30 mph limit if no one was crossing the road.

Because it's not only about pedestrians crossing the road.

Yes exactly. There are sheep as well.

(It's not really about crossing the road - even with houses just on one side, the people that live there will want to bring in their shopping, clamber into a taxi, fall out of said taxi again at midnight after a few pints down the workingmans club - and so it's sensible not to have a 60mph national speed limit whizzing past their front door).

badmemory

sevenhills said:

Martyn1981 said:

But, but, but ....... everyone drives at 30 or 40 through those villages. [Not sure what speed they are now, since the changes.] So weird.

I sometimes wonder how the council believe that some limits should be 30 mph and some 40 mph, same type of road.

If you live in a built-up area it might be a 30 mph limit, how many houses does it take to make an area 'built up'? I do feel for those people who live where houses are sparse, with a 60 mph speed limit at the end of their drive.

If the road was around here that would be a simple answer.  Just check where the local councillor lives.