If you thought 50mph was a pain....

[Bender]

https://www.visordown.com/news/general/surrey-council-trial-20mph-speed-limit-rural-roads

 

This is likely to spread and cause rat runs to appear on roads not covered by the lower limits. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Our rural lane is 30mph - they still do 50-60mph along it which is why there is a camera van parked at the top of the hill virtually every other day. 

 

The bit past our house then becomes NSL. It is a narrow and twisty lane which people often belt along, forgetting it is a rural road so when they meet a tractor head on the results mean that the road is then closed for hours. It then means that for the next few weeks people tying flowers rounds trees become another hazard to avoid.

 

Many people who do not live in rural areas have no idea how rural roads differ from urban areas. Agricultural machinery is often moving about. There is often mud and/or gravel. In the autumn there will be wet leaves. When we moved here out of a city centre our car insurance rocketed because the number of accidents in a five mile radius of where we live is huge. Rural roads are often lined with trees or walls which means that when someone comes off the road they hit something hard.

 

20mph is a bit bonkers but in many rural areas NSL on narrow lanes is daft.

[onesea]

4 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

 

20mph is a bit bonkers but in many rural areas NSL on narrow lanes is daft.

Much depends on how you classify a rural road and what gets classified as a rural road.

 

There was one a time when people where trusted to decide a safe speed, however now these decisions are not allowed.  
 

Probably because in them days most cars could not go round corners that quick.  Now days it’s not the speed your car can go round the corner that is the limiting factor but what’s around the corner.

[S-Westerly]

I do believe that if its NSL the requirement is not to proceed at 60 mph but at a speed such that you can safely stop within the distance you can see ahead. A single track lane may be 20 but to inflict 20 mph on an A road is just bonkers and going to lead to a lot of law breakers.

[Liveware Problem]

I've been fairly sure for a while that society in general is moving towards a place where zero risk is acceptable.

 

Safety is paramount, and any argument against it is just met with 'you're being selfish' as though all drivers/riders who actually enjoy the activity (as opposed to seeing it as a mundane necessity) must be reckless idiots.

 

Councils making these decisions just want everyone to use public transport anyway.

 

[Pie man]

Another stupid Idea, who pays these people to come up with this sh1te.  

[bonio]

2 hours ago, Pie man said:

Another stupid Idea, who pays these people to come up with this sh1te.  

Us - we pay them all.

[S-Westerly]

One of the many problems with these inane ideas is the total lack of effective public transport in rural or even semi rural areas. Some green loons would like us to go back to the days when serfs stayed in their villages for their entire lives.

[Breezin]

On 17/08/2022 at 06:17, S-Westerly said:

One of the many problems with these inane ideas is the total lack of effective public transport in rural or even semi rural areas. Some green loons would like us to go back to the days when serfs stayed in their villages for their entire lives.

 

Isn't it typically Tory loons who do away with public transport options?

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

13 minutes ago, Breezin said:

 

Isn't it typically Tory loons who do away with public transport options?

"Tory loons" is grammatically incorrect since it employs a superfluous adjective. 

[manxie49]

Let's face it they don't want us using bikes or cars.  This is their stupid agenda for forcing people to accept the fact that we have to walk or cycle!  I notice that numerous areas now, including here, have something called "project zero" .... It aims at reducing road traffic collisions to zero by 2040! LMFAO!  How on hells creation do they really think this is ever going to happen, and who, if anyone, will be held accountable for all the money wasted on this ridiculous project when it ultimately fails .... Is it really any wonder that this country is becoming a global joke .... Personally, I'm considering becoming entrepreneurial and marketing the suits below, to sell to our waste of space, risk averse, councils, who seem to have arrived here from another planet!

 

[Breezin]

2 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

"Tory loons" is grammatically incorrect since it employs a superfluous adjective. 

Lately, this is very true!

[S-Westerly]

4 hours ago, Breezin said:

 

Isn't it typically Tory loons who do away with public transport options?

Lo these many years ago when I lived in Weardale  the council was solidly Labour our MP was Labour and Tony Blair was prime minister. Our public transport system was utterly crap. Of course my bit of the Dale was the upper part where the farmers and such tended to be Tory voters so we generally got crapped on by the Labour Council.  Didn't do any better under Tory government though, still had crap public transport.

Edited August 18, 2022 by S-Westerly

[Breezin]

20 hours ago, S-Westerly said:

Lo these many years ago when I lived in Weardale  the council was solidly Labour our MP was Labour and Tony Blair was prime minister. Our public transport system was utterly crap. Of course my bit of the Dale was the upper part where the farmers and such tended to be Tory voters so we generally got crapped on by the Labour Council.  Didn't do any better under Tory government though, still had crap public transport.

Not to get too political, but wasn't that 'New' Labour, aka Not Labour?

[Bender]

3 hours ago, Breezin said:

Not to get too political, but wasn't that 'New' Labour, aka Not Labour?

You mean Conservative Labour. 

[rob m]

 

On 18/08/2022 at 12:03, Breezin said:

 

Isn't it typically Tory loons who do away with public transport options?

 

I wouldn't have thought so, they want public transport to run effectively and make some profit. They don't though. Privatisation rocks!

 

The Tories are more concerned about keeping their donors happy and f**king the rest of us up the arse. Oh, and also trying to prove that Brexit was and is a great idea even though there's sufficient proof that it isn't and those who voted for it were hoodwinked by the propaganda and lies. The sunlit uplands haven't appeared yet. I doubt they ever will. 

 

On topic, speed restrictions promote the use of cash earning preventions such as cameras. The current government are short of cash so need to raise it somehow. Here in Surrey there's plenty and there's plenty of room for more.

 

 

[S-Westerly]

7 hours ago, Breezin said:

Not to get too political, but wasn't that 'New' Labour, aka Not Labour?

It'd been like that for long before New Labour. Probably since Clem Atlee in fact.

[Breezin]

46 minutes ago, S-Westerly said:

It'd been like that for long before New Labour. Probably since Clem Atlee in fact.

I don't doubt it.

But, to go back to the point about public transport, for the concept of getting rid of cars and SUVs (not motorbikes, obviously) to work, there needs to be a political commitment to spending on public transport. 

[bud]

Yes it's a catch 22 situation.

Where most of my family life in North Hampshire, no buses after 6pm. And no buses on a Sunday. So you have to have your own transport.

But then people don't use buses.

Some of the 60mph roads are old winding  single lane roads. They really should be 20mph zones. But you know that's not going to be the roads they target.

[Bikeowner]

I think that 25 would be a more realistic limit, easier to comply instead of constantly staring at the speedo to check on speed, most car speedos are a little fast anyway so majority would be round about the 25 even when pushing the limit at little, modern cars would stop in a few yards at that speed after the thinking distance of course

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Our local shopping estate has a 19mph limit. Why?

[onesea]

39 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

Our local shopping estate has a 19mph limit. Why?

Possibly because 30kph is 18.64mph,

I could be wrong but sounds plausible...

[johnakay]

I wonder if this applies to bicycle these can go over 20 mph. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

3 hours ago, johnakay said:

I wonder if this applies to bicycle these can go over 20 mph. 

So far it only applies to motor vehicles. Even electric bikes aren't covered as they are meant to be assisted only to 15mph.