20mpg speed limit

Depends which way you look at it, personally I hate official 20mph limits, you spend too much time looking at your speedo.
Now just to be clear in residential areas , that’s about the speed I drive anyway as I hate to think of the consequences of some young kid or animal coming out from behind a parked car.
It’s just that once they start making it official you are constantly aware of the risk of speed cameras.
Now I’m retired it doesn’t really mean much to me, but when I was driving for a living it always seemed a constant battle to keep within the varying limits across the country , especially as signage was generally adequate at best.
And again just to emphasise, for somebody who did a lot of miles in unfamiliar areas I finished with a clean license, but it’s real pressure knowing your livelihood could be gone just like that.

 

Drive slower so the Welsh can have a longer view at the sheep.

 

It’s like any other speed, you get used to what driving it feels like if you do it regularly.

A blanket speed in built up areas makes knowing the speed limit easier, surely?

 

Trouble is, the bell ends will keep speeding no matter the speed limit

 

A few years ago I was driving around Thorpe Hesley heading towards Hood Hill. So past the rec ground and doing 25-30 when someone in a pink! Porsche starts tailgating me and they shoot past on the first bit of road they can with all 4 big men in the car giving me the finger. About 1 minute later I rounded one of the bends in Hood Hill and it was on its roof! They jumped out, tipped it over and set off again leaving a big gouge mark in the road when one of the wheels was pointing the wrong way...

 

They can calculate the kinetic energy of a vehicle (1/2mv2), they know the speed, average reaction time, etc. and from that can model the impact on a human. For example, if it takes you 3/4 second to react and hits the brakes, at 40mph you travel 12m before you hit the brakes - at 20mph its 6m. So it someone steps out 10m in front of you, at 40mph you hit them at full speed - at 20mph you've almost stopped. (This is all in the Highway Code).

Bigger cars have more kinetic energy, so do more damage to the pedestrian. Modern cars might brake faster, but the wetware behind the wheel is the biggest limiting factor at lower speeds.

 

Been done twice. 1st one after 30yrs clean licence.
(Tbh if motorway cameras were abundant in those 1st 30yrs I'd have been done sooner. Or just lucky. Isuppose)
Having got done for speeding 34mph at cutting edge camera. I'd forgot to use my speed limiter. I rarely if ever dont use it now in urban areas. Same with cruise control on the motorway. 70.
But my car was off the road once and I'd borrowed my young uns. (No speed controls) I didnt realise the limit had been reduced to 60 on the dual carriage way in Cambridgeshire. Got done doing 70. I wondered why the outside lane was more or less empty Camera van on bridge.

 

Add vanish to thi weshin.
Also works brilliant on those impossible to remove stains in some types of crockery. mugs etc. Small teaspoonfull, add water, stir , leave 30 mins, hey presto.
Wesh the bugger after though or thi tea will taste funny.

 

aye but speeding in a 20 means they’ll probably be doing 25-30. Speeding in a 30 they’ll be doing 35-40

 

As mentioned in previous threads on this,

Pros
reduction in carbon footprint (huge)
reduced injuries and fatalities (massive cost to the NHS)
significant numbers of people treat current 30mph zones as 40mph so now maybe they'll do 30mph.
reduction in road noise
reduction in brake dust as people get used to just driving at a lower speed and don't keep accelerating and braking

Cons
A few people will be slightly inconvenienced.
Can you think of any more cons? Cos I can't.

 

This also applies to electric cars as they are significantly heavier for a given size of vehicle. This contributes to the higher insurance costs for EVs along with the higher list price and higher fire risk due to Lithium batteries.

 

I take your point but there are a myriad of reasons why speed limits and indeed road layouts change over the years. Anyone who drives, let alone earns their living by driving, has a duty to keep up to date with such things. This also applies to the highway code, there are still a significant number of drivers who seem to be unaware of the rules round the required clearance for cyclists as evidenced by me being overtaken last evening so close I could have leant my elbow on the roof...

 

Signing such a petition is playing into the hands of the Tories, they are desperate for a wedge issue to get out of the massive hole they are in and see disaffection with ULEZ and these new speed limits as their salvation. You have been warned.

Note that the Tory opposition to the 20mph limit in Wales is being lead by the very Tories who supported and voted it through in the first place. Hypocrisy on an epic scale.

 

CYMRU
ROAD COLLISION STATISTICS

• These road collisions in 2022 resulted in 4,442 personal injuries. Of these, 93 people were killed, 921 people were seriously injured and 3,428 ‘slight’ injuries were recorded.
• During 2022, over half of all road collisions (51%) occurred on 30mph roads with the next highest proportion (25%) occurring on 60mph roads. Road sections with a 20mph speed limit accounted for 6% of all collisions.

twice as many accidents at speed of 30 mph compared to accidents at 60 mph.

 

I know what you mean, and like I say I always did my best to adhere to all speed limits and rules, I just think it’s harder than people think when you are working. But as JD said maybe a blanket speed limit would make it easier.
Anyway I’m out of it now so no matter.

 

Im not too sure if 20 in 30s would bother me too much, it might but one thing I would like to know the thinking and science behind is the 60mph for clean air quality when your going through Sheffield on the m1. It goes on for quite a while and I always think that surely the excess time I spend by going slower through Sheffield would leave more fumes behind. I'm not a scientist but I always think about it when going through.

Sorry not really on topic

 

According to Highways England, travelling at 60mph reduces emissions by 17%. The distance is less than 4.5 miles, and it should reduce the excessively high levels of NO2 quicker.

https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-...se/air-quality/air-quality-speed-limit-trials

 

The main reason this is necessary is stupid people. Stupid drivers, stupid pedestrians and stupid cyclists. The amount of downright idiotic things I see on the roads is staggering.
Slowing everyone down will not stop that but hopefully it will save some lives when people do the stupid things.

 

I agree outside schools and parks we had that before. Its the main roads, its just ridicolous.

 

If you travel at 80mph, you'd miss them all together as they wouldn't have started to cross the road.

Seriously though 20mph is just crazy to enforce for a vehicle, you can easily do over that on a push bike with no requirement for a speedo. Usain Bolt peaked at 27mph in his 100m record. I wish they would take into account the responsibility of pedestrians to use their brain more rather than just blaming vehicle drivers. I'm ok with it on an area say outside a hospital or school, but otherwise for a modern day vehicle 30mph is low enough.