General Category > On The Road
20 mph limit
Panoramix:
May be this has been discussed before but there is a "European Citizen´s Initiative" to make 20mph the default speed limit in town centres / villages.
I was living in the pilot area for a 20mph limit in Bristol and thought that it was quite good, so here you go :
20 mph limit
So far only 14 000 people across Europe have signed it!
Flynn:
--- Quote from: Oranj on 24 February, 2013, 02:45:20 pm ---Is there any point?? <rant>It's never enforced (much like the seatbelt law & mobile phone usage in cars).</rant>
--- End quote ---
But some people will obey it, so it will become self-enforcing.
Pete Owens:
--- Quote from: Oranj on 24 February, 2013, 02:45:20 pm ---Is there any point??
--- End quote ---
Yes.
While people may not strictly adhere to the speed limits they do not disregard them completely. They tend to exceed the limit by the margin that they think they can get away with. So it is quite common to see people driving at 80 on motorways or 35 in 30 limits. Those "not complying" with 20 limits tend to be driving at about 25mph which is a significant gain.
alexb:
Our road is a 20mph limit has light up signs showing drivers their speeds. I'm not convinced that they're accurate. I think they report cars are speeding when they're not. However, most drivers seem to be moving at between 18 and 22mph which as you say is a good result.
The knobs that speed simply don't care and short of bringing the Police in for 48 hours, when most of us would probably also get fined (dependent on the margins allowed), there's not much you can do.
Why might we get fined? Because it's a relatively narrow road and I prefer to roll along and ensure I don't collide with parked cars and oncoming vehicles, as well as paying attention to the pavements. I tend therefore to oscillate between about 18mph and 22mph. There doesn't seem to be a gear ratio that's happy for the car to roll along at tickover which coincides with 20mph.
However, if 20mph became the default, I'm sure manufacturers would be able to improve the gear ratio choices to make this possible.
ian:
In principle a great idea. That said, I live in a 20 mph zone and in the five years I've lived here I've seen zero enforcement. I suspect I'd be more likely to a see aliens dancing the tango. The problem is that many of the roads are rat-runs between two A roads and attract the kind of drivers who hammer down them at forty because they think it'll save them several seconds at the lights on the main road. That's not really a criticism of the 20 mph limit and I'd rather have it than not, and I think it ought to cover all residential areas, there's really no good reason to be driving faster. Driving at 20mph is actually quite hard, it's amazing how used we have become to zooming around and I think that learning to drive slow is no bad thing. Modern cars make speeding along too easy.
So, yes, I'm totally in agreement, but I'd like to see some enforcement. Also, for my local roads, they ideally ought to be no-through-roads to stop the rat-running. I guess there needs to be an urban design for residential areas of which 20 mph is a key starting point, but residential streets should be proper mixed use amenities.
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