Road speed limits change consultation

[steve hughes]

It’s happening everywhere, even though the usual condescending naysayers told us this wouldn’t happen. Sherborne and Yeovil has gone from 70 to 60 (don’t see any reason for it). Slowly but surely they will lower all the speed limits.

Blanket 30-> 20 mph in Wales case in point. Nine months into full implementation they realised a national speed limit (60 in most cases) to 20 mph was too much of a change. So they introduced 40 mph either side of the 20’s on certain roads to ease the speed down to the 20 mph.

 

[glenn2926]

It’s irrelevant anyway. Everyone crawls along behind badly driven, hired motorhomes.

That’s really funny. I overtook a Porsche going up Glen Sheil in my motorhome last summer. So using that it’s porsches holding everyone up.

 

[stever1]

That’s really funny. I overtook a Porsche going up Glen Sheil in my motorhome last summer. So using that it’s porsches holding everyone up.

Last time I was travelling across the A836 towards bettyhill, there was 29 cars and vans following a rented motorhome. It had both mirrors folded in, driving at about 20mph,and was on the crown of the road so no one could pass. Only moving left as oncoming traffic approached, after slowing down even more.
It took me about 20 overtakes on the wing to pass them all.

 

[jags]

Last time I was travelling across the A836 towards bettyhill, there was 29 cars and vans following a rented motorhome. It had both mirrors folded in, driving at about 20mph,and was on the crown of the road so no one could pass. Only moving left as oncoming traffic approached, after slowing down even more.
It took me about 20 overtakes on the wing to pass them all.

i hope you passed the campervan ,blocked his route and told the fecker to use his mirrors. oh, and gave him/her a right bollocking.

 

[stever1]

i hope you passed the campervan ,blocked his route and told the fecker to use his mirrors. oh, and gave him/her a right bollocking.

No, just the horn and the middle finger as we overtook them. Mind you, he was very old so probably didn’t even know.

 

[jags]

No, just the horn and the middle finger as we overtook them. Mind you, he was very old so probably didn’t even know.

would he have about 78?

 

[stever1]

would he have about 78?

Don’t know, but he shouldn’t have been driving.

 

[Berin]

"Road safety in Scotland is at a critical time. National statistics indicate that collision on non-built-up roads (roads with a speed limit of 40mph or higher), account for over 40% of the total number of reported casualties. They also account for 66% of those killed and over 40% of the total number of seriously injured.”

As usual, a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Nothing in that statement says that excessive speed is the cause of these fatalities. For all we know, it could be collisions with deer wiping out the locals.

If speed is a factor, is it speed over the posted limit? If so, then the requirement is for effective enforcement, not lower limits. If drivers/riders are prepared to travel at 80mph in a 60 limit, they'll still do it if limits are reduced to 50mph. It's just the statistics will alter to show the errant road user is now 60% over the speed limit instead of 33%.

However if folk are crashing below the posted limit, then its time to review those limits. But that takes time, effort and brains to work out, not something politicians have much of, it seems.

Just take a ride around Wales, you can tell the local drivers quite easily as they are the ones ignoring the 20mph limits knowing there's no-one around to enforce them.

True. There are so many pointless 20mph limits round where I live that, many of them miles out in the country. Almost everyone ignores them, and then once you get into the habit of ignoring 20 limits then the other slightly more sensible limits get ignored too.

That’s why speed limits used to be set factoring in the speed people drove at, not based on anti- car ideology.

20 limits are a case in point. For them to be relevant they must reduce accidents that take place between 20 and 30mph, of which I bet there are pretty much none.

 

[JoeBiff]

I've worked with enough people in Scottish Government to know that they often have a firm view of the line they want to take albeit for political reasons and being seen to be different to England.
However it always surprises me how few people actually bother formally responding to Scottish Government consultations.

That’s most probably attributable to the lack of trust the Scottish electorate have in the feckless cnuts in the Holyrood Parliament?