20mph speed limit....for or against?

Whitewavemark2

For. If it saves serious injury or death it is worth it.

My daughters best friend when they were 13 years old was killed by a car travelling at 30 miles an hour. It was thought that if the car had been travelling at a slower speed she would have lived.

This is so sad. Every road death is sad. It’s so unnecessary.

I feel that 20 is fine on many roads. Children such as Whitewave’s daughter’s friend might well not die if the 20 limit was in place in all domestic areas.
However, I think outside of residential roads, 30 is fine.

I'm in a Welsh city - the drive to see my son has always taken an hour give or take 5 mins either way. I did it last week once the 20 mph limit was brought in. It took an hour. It really doesn't slow you down that much, its safer, you will use less fuel, and the road noise outside our house is much reduced. I am definitely for it,

Everyone saying OK outside schools - what about when school is over. Can children still not be kept safe?

Chestnut

Wheniwasyourage

There could be fewer traffic jams, Chestnut, if some people realise that it's just as quick to walk over a short distance, or safer to cycle if there is a 20mph speed limit. We have got to get out of the frame of mind that thinks that the car is the default for everyone!

I'm thinking of the people I mentioned, whose jobs involve driving around town all day by car or van.

It's lovely to think of people walking and cycling but some people cannot manage either, and with our climate who wants to do that during a wet and windy month. They will be soaked to the skin every day before they even get to work.

The delivery people could have a trailer attached with a strap over their shoulders to carry all the parcels.

The carers could go around on bikes like the midwives of the 1950s.

Brilliant idea!

What about those who, for some reason, cannot walk or cycle?

The tractors are of course working, but that does not mean they need to drive like bats out of hell! They are a real danger round here.

Wheniwasyourage

There could be fewer traffic jams, Chestnut, if some people realise that it's just as quick to walk over a short distance, or safer to cycle if there is a 20mph speed limit. We have got to get out of the frame of mind that thinks that the car is the default for everyone!

I'm thinking of the people I mentioned, whose jobs involve driving around town all day by car or van.

It's lovely to think of people walking and cycling but some people cannot manage either, and with our climate who wants to do that during a wet and windy month. They will be soaked to the skin every day before they even get to work.

MaizieD

Chestnut

MaizieD Driving at 20 mph through built up areas really isn't going to make much difference to a journey time.

Tell that to an Amazon delivery man, or a care worker, or anyone who has to go from one place to another as part of their work. I would imagine it slows them down considerably, especially if they get caught in more traffic jams caused by the 20mph limit.

Imagination might be the root of your objections, Chestnut.

I'd quite like to see research findings from road traffic engineers, rather than 'imaginings' to prove or disprove your point.

In my experience traffic jams are caused by high volumes of traffic, not lower speed limits.

Traffic jams could become worse here as the Welsh Government has suspended all planned road building and improvements.

Even with a move towards electric cars, without alternative modes of transport, people will still use cars and, without by-passes being built and major roads improved, traffic jams will become worse with all the house building going on in rural towns and villages.

We won't need 20mph restrictions, we'll all be crawling along at 5 or 10mph.

There is no joined-up thinking.

Callistemon21

Luckygirl3

MaizieD - I agree about country lanes - the tractors are dreadful - kings of the road and they know it! But I am not sure how this might be policed.

I remind myself that they are working!

I don't have a problem as such with tractors, or any of the things I mentioned, but they are a hazard that many people don't seem to be aware of.

I've learned caution in my old age...

P.S it's a pipe dream really, it would be impossible to police...

Chestnut

MaizieD Driving at 20 mph through built up areas really isn't going to make much difference to a journey time.

Tell that to an Amazon delivery man, or a care worker, or anyone who has to go from one place to another as part of their work. I would imagine it slows them down considerably, especially if they get caught in more traffic jams caused by the 20mph limit.

Imagination might be the root of your objections, Chestnut.

I'd quite like to see research findings from road traffic engineers, rather than 'imaginings' to prove or disprove your point.

In my experience traffic jams are caused by high volumes of traffic, not lower speed limits.

Luckygirl3

MaizieD - I agree about country lanes - the tractors are dreadful - kings of the road and they know it! But I am not sure how this might be policed.

I remind myself that they are working!

Excuse typos, I need a new stylus.

One thing I had noticed is that, on a A road we use frequently which had 30mph through villages, some drivers would drive at about a steady 40mph when they could go faster but then continue at 40mph through the villages!

Now the villages are 20mph most, so far, seem to adhere to the 20mph limit.

It's when a main road is 20mph and a fairly deserted motorway is 50mph that it seems ridiculous.

Casdon

If you have an automatic car you obviously can’t change gear to reduce speed, so you decrease the pressure of your foot on the accelerator pedal instead.
If you’re going down a hill at low speed in a manual car you also change your gears down, you don’t just put your brakes on.
These seem very slight reasons to object to driving more slowly, and I’m left wondering was it just me who was taught all these what I thought were basic driving skills by their instructor?

We've just changed cars.
It was very difficult to keep our last car at 20mph and the cruise control didn't go down as far as 20mph either.
Just an ordinary estate car. We regularly had to go through 20mph areas nearby.
Our new car's cruise control will, thankfully, set at 20mph.

There could be fewer traffic jams, Chestnut, if some people realise that it's just as quick to walk over a short distance, or safer to cycle if there is a 20mph speed limit. We have got to get out of the frame of mind that thinks that the car is the default for everyone!

Been in force for at least 5 years around here - no issue. I keep to the limit without thinking, and as far as I can tell so does everyone else.

MaizieD Driving at 20 mph through built up areas really isn't going to make much difference to a journey time.

Tell that to an Amazon delivery man, or a care worker, or anyone who has to go from one place to another as part of their work. I would imagine it slows them down considerably, especially if they get caught in more traffic jams caused by the 20mph limit.

vegansrock

I seem to remember an uproar from right wing press about the seat belt law and the introduction of drink- driving legislation. There were demos about loosing our freedoms etc. funny how people get so possessive about their cars, they feel that they are more important than safer streets.

This.

There seems to be a lot of “I have a Divine Right to Drive” attitude about. We don’t have such a right, but pedestrians should be entitled to feel safe from idiot drivers. Not all of us are drivers but all of us are pavement users for most of our lives.

MaizieD - I agree about country lanes - the tractors are dreadful - kings of the road and they know it! But I am not sure how this might be policed.

MaizieD not in an automatic car.
Taking your foot off the accelerator is still not enough.

Luckygirl3

Also whole chunks of that road are downhill, so driving at 20 is hard as things creep up - and there are lots of speed cameras!

I am not against the limit in principle, but I think the powers that be need to revisit places where it is causing its own safety problems.

I think exactly the same.
It’s good in some places and causes problems in many others.

I think I'm for this on the whole. Driving at 20 mph through built up areas really isn't going to make much difference to a journey time.

We already have 20mph flashing signs by schools at drop off and pick up times, and many of our local housing estates and villages have traffic calming measures which effectively keep speeds down

I'd like a speed limit on rural backroads, too. You never know what you're going to encounter round the next bend; cyclist, walkers, horses, ridden or driven, or just another driver speeding towards you in the middle of the narrow road...

If you have an automatic car you obviously can’t change gear to reduce speed, so you decrease the pressure of your foot on the accelerator pedal instead.
If you’re going down a hill at low speed in a manual car you also change your gears down, you don’t just put your brakes on.
These seem very slight reasons to object to driving more slowly, and I’m left wondering was it just me who was taught all these what I thought were basic driving skills by their instructor?

LadyGracie

For those of is living in the valleys, imagine the increased wear on your brake pads!

I think those 'Keep in low gear' signs on the downward side of steep hills are trying to tell you something.

For those of is living in the valleys, imagine the increased wear on your brake pads!

All around residential roads in our area are 20 mph. No one made a fuss when they were introduced, everyone largely keeps to it, apart from the odd idiot.

There is a lot of nonsense talked.

We have it in the streets around us which is fine as there is a school but not on other roads it’s really not necessary. We don’t have speed cameras but the warning signs that flash if you are going to fast. Quite honestly the stupid parking of some of the parents is bigger danger to children