Does community speed watch scheme work
Comments
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the limit is, of course, 20 for no very good reason (it's 30 past the local primary school)
RoSPA point out in their 20mph road safety factsheet that the fatality risk for pedestrians is 1.5% when hit at 20mph but 8% at 30mph.
https://www.rospa.com/rospaweb/docs/advice-services/road-safety/drivers/20-mph-zone-factsheet.pdf
Is that good enough reason?0 -
Mids_Costcutter wrote: »RoSPA point out in their 20mph road safety factsheet that the fatality risk for pedestrians is 1.5% when hit at 20mph but 8% at 30mph.
https://www.rospa.com/rospaweb/docs/advice-services/road-safety/drivers/20-mph-zone-factsheet.pdf
Is that good enough reason?
But that still doesn't make much sense with regard to the post you quote where the limit in question ia 20mph through the village but 30mph past the local primary school.
As the risk of death is far lower with the reduced speed, why not have the limit at 20mph where there is a very good chance that many young children will be on or very near to the road?0 -
The point I was trying to make is that a 20mph limit could benefit the whole village. I don't know why the lower limit wasn't extended to the school, maybe it should be, but trips on foot to the school will (at least partially) now be made on a road with a 20mph not 30mph limit. Perhaps the OP (with local knowledge) could shed some more light on the matter?0
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They probably work however I wrote in & complained when I got a letter completely incorrectly (I'd never even been to the damn village & still haven't and it was the other end of the country!) with a rather aggressively worded letter from the local Police.
I particularly found the part about being considered for prosecution if reported twice ridiculous since there would be no proof whatsoever that would stand up to scrutiny since as far as I am aware they aren't equipped with photographic equipment -for one offence let alone two!
Frankly, I think they may well 'work' but they're mostly there just to keep the locals concerned with speeding happy.0 -
Is that good enough reason?
No. Should it apply to all roads with pedestrians? Presumably if the fatality risk drops from 30 to 20 it will be even lower if people with red flags precede the car and there is a limit of 4mph. There has to be a balance between safety and progress. There is also a road near this village which is narrow and winding. It has no speed limit other than the national one but anyone driving at more than, say, 40mph would be a reckless lunatic. I fear that speed limits are often imposed to satisfy local feeling of old codgers and without proper regard to real issues of safety and without allowing for any degree of common sense. I like the French system of one motorway speed in dry conditions of about 82mph and a lower one rigorously enforced if there is heavy rain, snow and/or fog. Similarly if 20mph was sensible past a school at some times of the day it isn't hard to make it 30mph the rest of the time and during holidays. It's harder to get people to stick to the limit if it is held in general disregard (well at least with the resources available).
No idea why the 20 mph limit is as it is but it covers the centre of the village and the school is just outside this zone.0 -
I particularly found the part about being considered for prosecution if reported twice ridiculous since there would be no proof whatsoever that would stand up to scrutiny since as far as I am aware they aren't equipped with photographic equipment -for one offence let alone two!
Why would they need photographic equipment?
People were successfully prosecuted for centuries before the camera was invented, and still are.0 -
Small village we will slow the traffic down with our speed guns .
Then we will be free to speed as we always do in our village and speed in your village as well.
I remember reading a story about a village where they'd campaigned for years for a speed camera and once they got one it was mostly the villagers who campaigned for it who were caught speeding.0 -
I'm quite happy for wake-up calls to be sent to people who can't wrap their heads around the potential issues posed by somebody in hivis waving a hairdryer at them - or who don't actually realise they're exceeding the speed limit...
Perhaps it'll persuade them to pay a little more attention to the world outside their window, in case something more serious crops up?0 -
No. Should it apply to all roads with pedestrians? Presumably if the fatality risk drops from 30 to 20 it will be even lower if people with red flags precede the car and there is a limit of 4mph. There has to be a balance between safety and progress. There is also a road near this village which is narrow and winding. It has no speed limit other than the national one but anyone driving at more than, say, 40mph would be a reckless lunatic. I fear that speed limits are often imposed to satisfy local feeling of old codgers and without proper regard to real issues of safety and without allowing for any degree of common sense. I like the French system of one motorway speed in dry conditions of about 82mph and a lower one rigorously enforced if there is heavy rain, snow and/or fog. Similarly if 20mph was sensible past a school at some times of the day it isn't hard to make it 30mph the rest of the time and during holidays. It's harder to get people to stick to the limit if it is held in general disregard (well at least with the resources available).
No idea why the 20 mph limit is as it is but it covers the centre of the village and the school is just outside this zone.
I wasn't advocating 4mph, but 20mph is plenty within the built-up area where there will be more pedestrians and cyclists (not just school children). This makes hardly any difference to journey times compared to 30mph, so no need to be concerned with 'progress'. So what exactly is the 'local feeling of old codgers'? Perhaps they're afraid to cross the road? Yes, some motorists might need time to accept lower speed limits just as some have a complete disregard for any speed limit. However drink driving used to be socially acceptable for a majority and now no longer is.
For me any time that community speed watch are out it's having a positive effect on driver behaviour and helping to support the police.0 -
All the critics talking about "old codgers" and "old farts" trying to slow down speeders, ignores what happens in my village. The village is built within a series of sharp, winding bends along a single-carriageway 'A' road, which is a holiday route. Out of season, locals stick to the 30 mph limit, 20 past the school. And we do stick to it. However, once the holiday season begins, we get caravans, cars and mobile homes racing through our village at well over the limits. There is a village shop on the other side of the road from our bungalows, which are Sheltered Housing. Therefore we old codgers are forced to run the gauntlet when we cross the road: is this what some here might consider as reducing the population of old farts?
At the moment, the situation is going to be made worse by the building of new homes, which will have a new exit road. On the crown of a 'blind' bend. Despite hundreds of letters and opposition by the Parish council, this went ahead. The homes will be built and the exit road in use, by the summer season. The consequences are obvious.
Sometimes old codgers have a genuine desire to live longer.I think this job really needs
a much bigger hammer.
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