20mph alternatives

[sussex2]

In Spain rather than blanket limits in town they are graduated, according to the type of road.
A dual-carriageway may have a 50kph limit.
Small two way roads a 30kph
More narrow streets and especially near schools, 20kph (Police will often attend outside schools at opening and closing times).
There are pedestrian crossings at frequent intervals and at every road junction. Pedestrian priority is expected and accepted.
Serious speed humps abound, really serious.

I can´t say that the limits are always kept to and don´t believe they are. The other factors such as frequent pedestrian crossings and the speed humps tend to keep speeds low.
Pedestrians will expect and use their priority so there is a lot to look out for, a lot going on.
It´s a combination of all these things, rather than the limit itself, that keeps speeds low.

A view from abroad.

[exportmanuk]

In Spain rather than blanket limits in town they are graduated, according to the type of road.
A dual-carriageway may have a 50kph limit.
Small two way roads a 30kph
More narrow streets and especially near schools, 20kph (Police will often attend outside schools at opening and closing times).
There are pedestrian crossings at frequent intervals and at every road junction. Pedestrian priority is expected and accepted.
Serious speed humps abound, really serious.

I can´t say that the limits are always kept to and don´t believe they are. The other factors such as frequent pedestrian crossings and the speed humps tend to keep speeds low.
Pedestrians will expect and use their priority so there is a lot to look out for, a lot going on.
It´s a combination of all these things, rather than the limit itself, that keeps speeds low.

A view from abroad.

I would agree with that as a frequent visitor to Europe their drivers are generally more observant of people wishing to cross roads and that might not necessarily mean at pedestrian crossings. I have stopped to look across the street at something in many EU towns and had cars stop, then you really have to cross even if you didn't want to.
France ( Paris in particular) Italy and Greece may be exceptions though

[Another Bill]

I don’t actually have much sympathy for the often heard concession, that 20mph limits are ok in special places, such as near schools, shops, etc. Especially so if all that’s really wanted is to get traffic down to sub 30mph. My view is, it’s perfectly legal drive at 25mph where necessary in 30s, 40s or even NSL, whereas driving at 25mph in a 20 mph limit is a criminal offence.

Our own village elders seem to be ploughing ahead in their quest for a 20 limit, motivated almost entirely by the fact that other villages have got one and they don’t want to be ‘left behind’.

Last week I had the experience of being tailgated by an angry looking cyclist through one such village. He closed on me at about walking pace, finally catching up after I slowed slightly to pass a parked car, so I assume him to have been riding about 22-23mph. That of course is perfectly legal for cyclists, and on that particular stretch of road, probably safe as well as legal. He obviously wasn’t happy about having to slow for my car. In fact I was about to pull over and let him pass when, thankfully, he turned off the road.

[sussex2]

When I lived in Sussex a lot of villagers in Ditchling complained of cars speeding through the place.
The police set up speed traps and caught mostly? The villagers speeding through.

[Strangely Brown]

When I lived in Sussex a lot of villagers in Ditchling complained of cars speeding through the place.
The police set up speed traps and caught mostly? The villagers speeding through.

The only place that I can accept people speeding in Ditchling is on the roads out of it and that's because they have been sitting in near stationary traffic for the last 30 minutes and picking their way through.

Ditchling is a really nice little village but I would not have said it is a place where anyone can travel at speed through it.

[Triquet]

Welcome to Oxfordshire ...

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23857 ... -approved/

[GTR1400MAN]

And so it continues as each council tries to out do the others as being 'safer' and virtue signalling.

[jont-]

Ah, the inevitable straw man of being hit by a car is dragged out. Wouldn't it be better if you weren't hit at all?

[Horse]

Ah, the inevitable straw man of being hit by a car is dragged out. Wouldn't it be better if you weren't hit at all?

Trouble is that drivers and riders aren't always great at keeping their side of the bargain.


Perhaps the most bizarre story I've heard was from a bus driver. Someone in a car, for whatever reason, got so upset that he deliberately drove into the bus.

One of the bus passengers was the car driver's daughter, he'd dropped her off at the bus stop.

[jont-]

Ah, the inevitable straw man of being hit by a car is dragged out. Wouldn't it be better if you weren't hit at all?

Trouble is that drivers and riders aren't always great at keeping their side of the bargain.

I'm not sure we've tried much (other than reducing speed limits ) to stop them.