Brighton goes 20mph

[fungus]

From Meridian News today.http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/story/ ... oes-20mph/

Note the response from B---e.

[skodatezzer]

Why don't we just have a law restricting all motor vehicles to a maximum speed of 4 mph, and compelling them to be preceded by a man on foot, bearing a red flag?

[Hiijinx]

"A clear majority of the public were in favor of 20mph zones"

As a Brighton'er I would like to know who are these people and why can't I have some behind me when obeying the speed limits?!

"The 20pmh limit won;t be routinely enforced by either the Sussex police of by the use of speed cameras so it will be up to motorists, to change the way they drive."

Just brilliant, so now I really WILL be seen as a granny.

Its gotten to the point I hardly need to think about stopping distance between me and the car in front because simply put, there aren't any. They are all doing their constant 40 a mile ahead after angrily speeding passed me as if I were a dawdling granny. I am dreading going into town now with 20 zones everywhere as I know, no one will want to stick to them, giving me just yet more grief having them up my bumper making me feel pressured and an obstruction.

1100 casualties a year, fair enough, but who says you cannot get hit by a car doing 20mph?
Yet again, dumbing down the system instead of educating the driver.

Green party = Bicycle owners imho.

[gannet]

how is going slower greener?!

just have to avoid the city - parking charges recently went through the roof as well...

[fungus]

We have a short stretch of 20mph through West St and the High St in Wimborne Minster. West St enters, and the High St exits the town Square. There is also a stretch of about 100-120yds in West Boro which exits the Square. The High St and West St are not a problem as the roads are narrow one way, with a double bend in both. West Boro is another matter, not so much the 20mph limit, but the fact that one side of the Square has been pedestrianised and paved, removing two bus stops which have now been moved into West Boro which is two lane one way with parking on the right. The bus stops are on the left, along with a couple of taxi stands. This has the effect of causing problems for drivers wishing to use the left hand lane to Cranborne when there are buses or taxis waiting, as the right hand lane is often very slow or stationary, made worse by blue badge disabled drivers exercising their right to park on double yellow lines.

When the 20mph limit was introduced, the police set up speed trap at about 7am one morning, the purpose of which was to warn drivers and not to prosecute. My wifes friend was one of those caught doing around 25mph, which was about the speed of most drivers before the change and still remains the natural speed with drivers generally slowing for the bends. So nothing's changed there.

The image,(pre changes), show the Square with West St coming in from the left and West Boro leaving the Square in the top L/H corner. The High St leaves the Square in the bottom R/H corner. The bus stops on the North side of the Square are the one that have been moved just inside West Boro.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=50.799949,-1 ... 1&t=h&z=19

[Big Err]

There is a massive and vociferous "20s plenty" campaign group made up mostly of people of an older generation with too much time on their hands.......

20s in residential estates, with engineering measures to enforce it are fine, but the above group want everywhere to be a 20 in their mistaken (my opinion) belief that it would suddenly transform townsinto wonderful places to live, bustling with good people and free of all danger (sigh - time for their medication I guess).

[jont]

There is a massive and vociferous "20s plenty" campaign group made up mostly of people of an older generation with too much time on their hands.......

20s in residential estates, with engineering measures to enforce it are fine, but the above group want everywhere to be a 20 in their mistaken (my opinion) belief that it would suddenly transform townsinto wonderful places to live, bustling with good people and free of all danger (sigh - time for their medication I guess).

Ah yes, the same sorts of drivers who think 40mph is plenty in an NSL but carry on merrily at that speed into the next village?

I suspect it's going to have a nasty effect on emissions too as most cars will be much less efficient at 20 than 30, though I can't see central gov moaning if their tax take goes up from increased fuel usage

[jont]

Exactly as expected, everyone is treating the new limit with the respect that it deserves.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10342886.Drivers_ignore_new_Brighton_and_Hove_20mph_speed_limit/?ref=fetp

The problem now is that people will probably treat other, quite appropriate, 20 limits with equal contempt.

Have to love the strawman argument from the council "Whatever the limit, people will go over it by a certain amount," added Coun Davey. “If in a 30mph zone people tend to go 35-40mph, in a 20mph zone they’ll drive at 25-30mph and that’s still an improvement."

Stupid sod. Limits that are going to be clearly flouted shouldn't be allowed to be introduced as they're unfair on those who want to try and be law abiding. If you want cars to do 25-30, set the limit at 30 and enforce it

[Big Err]

A slightly older document, but interesting reading all the same from the RAC

http://www.racfoundation.org/assets/rac_foundation/content/downloadables/speed_limits-box_bayliss-aug2012.pdf

[Hiijinx]

Ah yes, the same sorts of drivers who think 40mph is plenty in an NSL but carry on merrily at that speed into the next village?

That is one of my absolute pet hates.

I love my driving, the only thing that I dislike about it, is the average driver. The I drive at 40mph everywhere type who harass you with tail gating throughout towns and especially in between NSL in villages, all to find them violently swerving past you once you slow down for the 30 zone, to see a cloud of curly grey hair over the seat in front accompanied with a dirty look in the mirror.

Overtaking - equally frustrating as it just makes me think of the tortoise and the hare story - yes I can breeze past them on the NSL stretch, but only to see them reappear in my mirror up my bumper once into the next village. Seems to make any reasonable progress, you have to speed.

Anyone have any tips on how to deal better with peer pressure from drivers behind?

Throughout the city, 95.77 per cent of the 142 vehicles were recorded speeding at four different locations.
Among the culprits were two cyclists, one who clocked 26mph on Edward Street and another on Upper Lewes Road who reached 21mph.

Overtaken by a cyclist, this will be new

The total cost of all three 20mph zones, to be introduced over the next three years, will be £1.5million.

And yet they will not be enforcing any of them? That money could have been used to much more important things ...

So publicly announcing that this new £1.5 million 20mph zone is not going to be enforced by the law/speed cameras, it goes against the entire highway code making this new limit inside a mandatory order red circle - redundant?

Knowing that you wont face any charges/speeding tickets with a speed of up to at least the usual 30mph + 10% + 2? = 35mph, the question is, and a difficult one to answer on a forum such as this is - will/would you be obeying this limit knowing fully well you won't be stopped?

(Baring in mind that these roads are main roads where 20mph feels painfully slow, not your usual narrow side street scenario where 20mph is sometimes too fast)

I for one follow all limits, you wouldn't jump a red light, why speed? Have to draw the line somewhere after all.

[Kimosabe]

I live in Brighton. Yesterday I was undertaken by three cyclists because I was driving in a 20mph limit at 20mph(indicated) and they weren't. So now what?

[jcochrane]

I live in Brighton. Yesterday I was undertaken by three cyclists because I was driving in a 20mph limit at 20mph(indicated) and they weren't. So now what?

One of the things I like about cycling is that there is no offence for speeding as such.

Police Motor Bike Officers from the national escort team told me they could not keep up with the pro cyclists on some downhill sections of the Tour of Britain Race.