Interesting speed limit issue

[embee]

Where I live in Kenilworth there are some council notices up proposing some speed limit changes. That's not unusual.

One of them is to extend a 30 limit a couple of hundred metres. The road is the border between housing and country, and cars do generally tend to exceed 30 a bit but I can't actually recall any significant accident (or any come to that) in 25yrs. The existing road probably needs to be 30 in practice but realistically 40 wouldn't be unreasonable in real life, which is what a lot of people do.

Interesting thing is that there has been one objection so far to the extension of the 30 limit, and that is from..............the Police.

Their argument, which I think is entirely pragmatic and sensible, is that it will just make more people ignore the existing limit due to what will be seen as just another "silly" limit reduction.

The local paper reports that the Council will ignore the Police's view. The campaigners are using the old "accident waiting to happen" argument. Hmmmm.

I wish they'd concentrate on the things that really need doing (spending my council tax on bottled water for the Council meetings for example ).

Interesting - where did you find their objection?

Strange reaction from the police, but a worthy one all the same. I suppose they know more about this thing than anyone else, after all, they've seen almost every single carriageway NSL in Warwickshire be reduced from 60 to 50mph in the past few years with absolutely no positive effect whatsoever on casualty figures.

My eldest daughter lives in Barford near the M40 and says driving or riding in Warks is a bloody nightmare since the 50 limits started springing up everywhere

Originally Posted by Lozzo

My eldest daughter lives in Barford near the M40 and says driving or riding in Warks is a bloody nightmare since the 50 limits started springing up everywhere

That's a little dramatic isn't it?

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Warks is a bloody nightmare since the 50 limits started springing up everywhere

I ignore them all. Kind of proves that the police have a very valid point doesn't it?

Both my parents are over 60 years of age and very rarely break a speed limit elsewhere, but both are habitual speeders as soon as they enter Warwickshire, whilst muttering "ridiculous" Victor Meldrew style at every speed limit sign they pass. They stick to the limits as they used to know them, "it's been 60mph as long as I can remember, I'm not going to start doing 50 now!", so even if one gets changed for a valid reason that they are not aware of, they'll ignore it as being another "ridiculous" limit change.

If you can't get the most law abiding demographic to obey the law, then that tells you there's something wrong with it.

Ah, but eldest daughter has a few points racked up over the last 13 years* so has to be on her guard - her licence is her job.

*I don't think her licence has been clean since she was 18

[Bibio]

we have the same up the coast of fife. huge sections of 40's in the countryside. only explanation i can think of is there will be housing developments going in at sometime in the future so they are getting people used to the limits now.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Ah, but eldest daughter has a few points racked up over the last 13 years* so has to be on her guard - her licence is her job.

*I don't think her licence has been clean since she was 18

Guess I'd be the same in that position, but that said I'm really not sure that the police are actually enforcing those limits. Dunno about scameras. Reckon if she stuck to 60mph she'd be fine.

[embee]

Originally Posted by lx_online

Interesting - where did you find their objection?

Just what it says in the local rag. OK, not necessarily gospel truth, but they aren't usually wrong on these sort of things, public domain stuff I guess.

TBH I don't think the Warwks police spend all that much time on enforcement of all the 50 limits, I suspect they consider they've got better things to do.

[yorkie_chris]

That's a reasonable reaction from the coppers, "an unjust law is no law at all". Like round here where they have solid white lines in perfectly safe overtaking locations, these idiots simply devalue the law in places where it is reasonable to obey it.