Live data from Hacker News

Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

bbc.co.uk

31–40 of 124 posts

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#31

In an nearby area where they have introduced 20mph for many streets the police have said that they have very low resources to properly enforce the limit and instead will be enforced "voluntarily". The council actually wanted more streets as 20mph but the police said that they really couldn't support the larger area effectively blocking it!

But every road has a speed limit. Does changing the limit change the enforcement effort?

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#32
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats factually incorrect. The uk has the third largest number of speed cameras in europe, below only russia and italy. It’s quite annoying having cameras everywhere frankly.

> It’s quite annoying having cameras everywhere frankly. Why?

Because drivers should be trusted to drive to the conditions. Those that speed stupidly will do so regardless of cameras (they will just slow down when they see one which actually makes things more dangerous) and those that drive to the conditions will speed when they believe it’s safe to do so and won’t speed when it’s not safe to do so, which means cameras are actually making driving less safe because they need to drop down for 400m and then speed up again.

Every speed limit purist reply to this argument is that without cameras everyone would be going mad at 120mph no matter what. This just isn’t true and our country roads being mostly 60 mph is proof of this. 60mph is too fast for many of those country roads, everyone knows this and so most will drive 50/40/30 etc depending on the conditions.

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#33
The towns in the part of France where I am also have this limit (30kmh). Hardly anyone obeys it of course. But it's interesting how they try to enforce it. On small roads they install speed humps and/or alternative-side parking. On through roads they cannot do that, since they would slow down emergency vehicles. So they put those fyi radars, which don't seem to have any effect anymore. The real automated camera+radar installations are rare and signalled ahead (by law?), and cars always obey the limit in those areas.

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#34

If only speed limits were designed so that breaking them always equates "reckless driving", and not sometimes (often, here) "driving at a completely normal speed considering the surrounding environment". inb4 pitchfork raising amongst the anti-car rabble

>inb4 pitchfork raising amongst the anti-car rabble

I don't know why you think anti-car people would raise pitchforks at that. In fact this was my criticism of the proposal when I lived in Wales; there seemed to be little attempt to alter the street environments to match the lower limits. I want effective 20 mph zones and that can't happen just by changing a few speed limit signs.

My prediction was that it would backfire: motorists behaviours wouldn't change, so the speed limits would be flouted even more than they are now. Councils wouldn't enforce it consistently, giving credence to the view that it's simply a revenue-generating scheme and/or a way for police to punish people arbitrarily. This is already the case for parking offenses; Cardiff motorists can park on double-yellows with almost complete impunity. Then, populist backlash, law gets repealed, making it even harder to get support for real street safety measures in the future.

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#35
post #7

UK over the years has been destroying something immensely valuable that you can't get back quickly. For example, there are barely any speed cameras on local roads in the UK (compared to other European countries) and yet almost everyone drives under the limit. It's the same with police not needing guns. I think people just don't understand how valuable (and unusual) this is. Edit: As has been pointed out to me, there…

What?! I experienced this vastly differently. I drove from Dover to Lands' End and back this year, and the route was absolutely riddled with speed cams, compared to the Netherlands.

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#36

Once in a while I have to travel to one of the other districts of the city I live in, and I'm reminded that I happen to live in the district which once had tram lines, and you can really tell. My friend moved his young family further out, rationalising that young kids need more outdoor space (their new house is physically smaller, but in an area with woodland) and he didn't like his old neighbourhood (students, drug…

Lol "puffin crossing" - I like the concept, here's the link for us non-uk people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffin_crossing

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#37
post #11

But I need to travel faster! Good luck https://www.tomtom.com/newsroom/explainers-and-insights/lond...

London, that famously Welsh city?

The point I'm making (albeit glibly) is that the perception of the public is that we shouldn't be imposing speed limits to our roads that appear too slow. However the reality is that in many places we can't even travel at the maximum speed allowed on them because of the sheer volume of traffic. I don't care either way tbh.

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#38
post #25

Every car sold at the moment lowers the speed shown on the speedometer algorithmically. Therefore I can believe that although 20mph=32kph and I have problems reaching 32kph constantly on a gravel bike - when cars go 20mph they will go probably around 27kph which is the speed I can maintain on my bicycle. For something different - cars going at slow speeds emit more fumes and consume more fuel.

> For something different - cars going at slow speeds emit more fumes and consume more fuel.

There's research that refutes this for 30mph -> 20mph limit lowering.

https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/lowering-speed-limits/widgets...

" Do slower speeds cause congestion and pollution?

Imperial College London's research into the impact of 20mph speed limits suggests they have no net negative impact on exhaust emissions. Results indicated clear benefits to driving style and associated particulate emissions. The research found that vehicles moved more smoothly, with fewer accelerations and decelerations, than in 30mph zones, reducing particulate emissions from tyre and brake wear. We have undertaken an Environmental Evaluation and are satisfied that the lowering of speeds will not have an adverse impact on the environment or air quality. The Environmental Evaluation recommendation was that no air quality modelling was therefore required. "

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#39
People don't intuitively understand the difference between phase velocity and group velocity. Often you will see people speeding between stoplights, never to actually break away from the same "wave packet" that you are within. When these limits are introduced there is often no affect on journey times whatsoever.

Re: Wales' 20mph speed limit: How has the first month gone?

#40
post #7

UK over the years has been destroying something immensely valuable that you can't get back quickly. For example, there are barely any speed cameras on local roads in the UK (compared to other European countries) and yet almost everyone drives under the limit. It's the same with police not needing guns. I think people just don't understand how valuable (and unusual) this is. Edit: As has been pointed out to me, there…

Thats factually incorrect. The uk has the third largest number of speed cameras in europe, below only russia and italy. It’s quite annoying having cameras everywhere frankly.

Wow, do I feel silly now but in my defence I'm talking from experience, not having checked the stats. Maybe all those cameras are in London because wherever I drive I only see speed cameras on motorways.
Post reply on HN