20MPH insanity

[alexanderfoti]

These limits are absolutely moronic.

They either need to be enforced 100% or removed.

3! Incidents occurred today with people aggressively overtaking me on my bike, whilst I was doing 23 in a 20 zone.

on the 3rd incident, the intrepid overtaker ran out of road and reached the junction between our road and the main road causing me and them to do an emergency stop. I then reached out to the clever person and requested further clarification on why they thought it fit to run me off the road.

Blank stare and no response.

Response from the other mouth breather was "you where doing 15 mph". I told him to get his van fixed.

Police do nothing about anything, and all I find they enforce is speeding on dual carriageways and fast roads where they generate more revenue.

Thoughts?

 

[geraldrobins]

So are you posting the limits are 'moronic' or they need more enforcement.

 

[alexanderfoti]

They are moronic if they are unenforced.

The default speed on a minor road is 30, therefore if they reduce it below this, it needs it be enforced with cameras, or everyone gets angry and dangerous around the minority that abide by them.

All well and good if you are surrounded by a metal cage,not so much on a motorbike.

 

[alexanderfoti]

They are moronic if they are unenforced.

The default speed on a minor road is 30, therefore if they reduce it below this, it needs it be enforced with cameras, or everyone gets angry and dangerous around the minority that abide by them.

All well and good if you are surrounded by a metal cage,not so much on a motorbike.

E: Is "moronic" not a word?

 

[geraldrobins]

Moronic is a word I believe. Personally I think speed limits would be adhered to more if reminder signs were present.
There is a 20 mph area near me that was introduced about 2 years ago but to confuse things the old school 20 mph signs have not been taken down and part way through the area there are signs saying 20mph when lights flash.
But regarding your post surely the same can be said of 30 mph areas.

 

[John Laidlaw]

It is a word m: mildly stupid
Yip limits all wrong
20s do nothing except cause accidents- maybe with the exception near schools and narrow roads where kids play out then wholly justified,
Duals in open countryside should be 80
Motorways 100
There! That should provoke some reaction !

 

[alexanderfoti]

Moronic is a word I believe. Personally I think speed limits would be adhered to more if reminder signs were present.
There is a 20 mph area near me that was introduced about 2 years ago but to confuse things the old school 20 mph signs have not been taken down and part way through the area there are signs saying 20mph when lights flash.
But regarding your post surely the same can be said of 30 mph areas.

That is definitely part of the issue, sometimes its impossible to know you are in 20 zone because there are no repeater signs, and when the 20 zone ends, they don't need to put 30 signs up, because 30 is the default.

The issue is not nearly as bad in 30 zones.

 

[alexanderfoti]

It is a word m: mildly stupid
Yip limits all wrong
20s do nothing except cause accidents- maybe with the exception near schools and narrow roads where kids play out then wholly justified,
Duals in open countryside should be 80
Motorways 100
There! That should provoke some reaction !

Agree with everything there.

 

[John Laidlaw]

My new XC90 has a switchable functionality to follow speed limit signs with its speed limiter /pilot assist function.
I was warned from using it by the techs who did the handover at Volvo Though as it brakes ' a bit quickly-' the reach the speed limit
This car has auto everything including semi autonmous driving , soon I'll not be needed!
Thank goodness for the simple 212!

 

[Srdl]

There should be no speed limits and road users should travel at a maximum speed that is safe and relevant to that particular road at that time and in the current conditions. Sadly, very few, if any, of us can make those judgements 100% of the time.

But 100mph for an experienced driver in good car on a quiet motorway may not be inappropriate. Conversely, there are single track roads round here that have a 60mph limit but you can rarely safely do more than 20mph.

On the A32 and A272 locally, especially at weekends, there are a lot of born again bikers who seem intent on not getting to their next birthdays. So we get accidents and the authorities reduce the speed limits to 50mph. That inconveniences the car drivers who can safely drive the road at 60mph and the bikers - well they just ignore the speed limit as before and go like the proverbial bat.

One of the things I really enjoyed about driving on German Autobahns a couple of years ago was to be able to drive at (what I considered) a safe speed without having to worry about speed checks. For me, that was usually a cruising speed in the high 80s and I'm sure I was a lot safer without having to continually check the speedo and look out for the police!

 

[Yugguy]

I don't have a problem with sensible 20s though judging by the amount of people up my arse in them I'm in a minority.

 

[geraldrobins]

It is a word m: mildly stupid
Yip limits all wrong
20s do nothing except cause accidents- maybe with the exception near schools and narrow roads where kids play out then wholly justified,
Duals in open countryside should be 80
Motorways 100
There! That should provoke some reaction !

I cant see why 20 mph limits should cause accidents.
Regarding raising speed limits I agree to a point if the conditions allow however I find on most of my motorway runs even at 80mph the road isnt clear in front for long. Lorries overtaking in lane 2 etc and then you are governed by the speed of overtaking traffic in lane 3.
But on a clear road why not 100 mph.

 

[John Laidlaw]

You're right, 20 shouldn't but the evidence just posted here suggests an issue (not a huge cross section admittedly)...

 

[JT1]

20 mph limits cannot be enforced, well in theory they can but there is no fixed penalty system, it would have to be a court case - not going to happen, so, again in theory, you could get away with 40mph in a 20 limit but not in a 30 limit. Wonderful.

20 zones are supposed to be self enforcing with pinch points, speed humps etc, yeah right.

I think they need to change the law because they'd make a fortune as NOBODY in my experience does 20 ..... bar me The vehicle/cyclist/jogger in front will pull away from you and the one behind will catch up rapidly and in most cases genuinely wonder WTF you are going at that sort of speed for.

But it's such fun, especially when you leave your tailgater standing when the National speed limit applies.

............... and the 10% plus 2mph "rule" would still only be 24 mph.

.

 

[alexanderfoti]

Indeed. When cyclists are overtaking you doing the speed limit, its obvious something has gone wrong.

 

[Vintage Racer]

It's almost gone full circle...........at this rate, we will be going back to having someone walking in front with a red flag again!

 

[Yugguy]

Autobahn limits would be lovely but I'm struggling to think where in England apart from the toll road that I'd feel safe doing 100 plus given the volume of traffic we have.

 

[umblecumbuz]

Culture also seems to intervene.

I've found that in Germany, speeds are faster but lane and general driving discipline is of a higher order than in the UK.

Itsly is faster still, and there is the normal proportion of nutters, but the Italian driver seems to have a better idea of spacial awareness - fundamental driving skill.

I have experienced Russian driving also, and they are agressive and childish behind the wheel - especially the long distance big rig guys. They don't seem to have any concept of danger.

If you want utterly crazy no holds barred driving, try Sicily, or any of the Arabic countries - Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria. Survival is all any driver cares about there.

Apologies for being a bit off-thread, but I just had visions of trying to apply a 20mph limit in some other places I've driven in! Impossible!

Umble

 

[Craiglxviii]

Umble,

Go further south in Africa and they get even more mental. India is even worse and China is literally nightmare- inducing in some parts.

As regards road safety, we have the lowest death rate in Europe. 2.97 per 100k population. Vs Germany (3.94), Italy (6.03), France (5.65), Spain (3.65... wtf!)

Data is here http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/road-traffic-accidents/by-country/

 

[kid-jensen]

I heard thet nobody has been prosecuted for exceeding the 20mph limit, unless doing over 30.

The reason being that speedos are not required to be accurate below 25.

....or did I make it up?