What's the speed limit past your house, and is it a problem?

[Blakewater]

According to the 20's Plenty For Us website, 80% of the public and 75% of drivers support 20mph limits.

http://www.20splentyforus.org.uk/rationale_for_20_...

According to a Hammersmith and Fulham Council survey it's 71% of people in their borough.

https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/articles/news/2015/11/stag...

Of course, these figures are only a percentage of the people who've bothered to take part in the survey, which introduces a certain amount of bias as people may have been keen to sway the figures in their favour by completing the surveys and others may have been too cynical to think bothering to complete the survey would make any difference to the council's actions.

We all know speed limit reductions can come about as a result of a few people starting petitions and pressuring local authorities, groups that may be vocal even though they may not represent the majority of people affected by what they're concerned about. An increasing number of homes are within 20mph limits and zones.

This has led me to ask the question. What's the speed limit past your house and do you think it's a problem to you and your neighbours?

Is it too high? Too low? Would you like to see it changed and, if so, increased or decreased?

[Blakewater]

Petrolhead_Rich said:

20mph limits have their places, schools, hospitals and elderly care homes come to mind, small housing estates perhaps, but main roads through residential areas are fine at 30, the issue is that now in alot of towns very few people stick to 30, with certain groups going considerably faster.

The annoying thing for me is that all speed enforcement concentrates on motorways, I'd much rather see average speed cameras through towns & villages than SPECS/HADECS cameras on the M1/M62, I'd bet this would also have a dramatic effect on road safety and deaths than motorway enforcement, although I appreciate it probably wouldn't have the financial returns that motorway cameras do!!!

There are plenty of stories of people demanding the police set up speed checks on their local roads only to be caught speeding themselves when the police do as they ask. Then there are people who set up Community Speedwatch schemes only to find all the people they catch speeding are their neighbours and they're too embarrassed to have them sent letters by the police.

My office has a plate glass window right next to a 30mph dual carriageway. Plenty of people speed past, despite the new camera. This is probably because, like the guy who nearly came through the office window the other day and drove off after demolishing the crossing light, they have false plates on their cars or are unlicensed and uninsured. One of my colleagues complains endlessly about people speeding yet she's collected a few speeding charges herself, including on roads where people I know live and complain about the speeding traffic going past their houses. As has been said above, she'll tut and sigh at cars she thinks are speeding but are just loud and accelerating in a low gear.

It's always everybody else who is the problem because people have a different perception of speed when its traffic driving past them to when they're in their cars and feel comfortable and in control. Plus, no one likes to be inconvenienced but is keen to demand restrictions on others.

I live on a housing estate that's a 20mph zone and one of the most aggressive and dangerous drivers in the local area lives up the road from me. His wife runs as a Labour candidate in the local elections with road safety and getting more traffic calming measures as one of her big campaign points.

The speed hump right outside my house is a pain because the whole house shakes down to the foundation when the bin lorry hits it and the one going up the hill prevents people getting up when it snows.

Edited by Blakewater on Monday 20th March 21:55

[Blakewater]

pits said:

Blakewater said:

There are plenty of stories of people demanding the police set up speed checks on their local roads only to be caught speeding themselves when the police do as they ask. Then there are people who set up Community Speedwatch schemes only to find all the people they catch speeding are their neighbours and they're too embarrassed to have them sent letters by the police.

They set up under a railway bridge where I live, and last year we may or may not have "keybanged" (I believe that's what the kids call it these days) mates Rover V8 mid tunnel, doing about 15mph, accelerate to 25mph then mid tunnel turn it off and back on again, queue flames and backfire, the three visi vesters shat their pants


30 outside mine, but I would say it is more the corner that is more of a struggle to deal with, it's a 90 degree bend but into town lane is wider than out of town lane.
Out of town people seem to hug the pavement, turn left, clip the kerb and then head over into the opposite lane, and people coming into town basically take the racing line, how no one has genuinely crashed there I do not know, it's not even a think of the children type affair, it's always near misses.

The back of my house overlooks a 30mph main road and a few years ago the police set up a speed check, hiding behind a wall and jumping out on people. One guy braked hard on seeing them and the guy behind ran into the back of him, so the police spent most of the day sorting out the collision that wouldn't have happened had their speed check not taken place.

[Blakewater]

TooMany2cvs said:

Blakewater said:

The back of my house overlooks a 30mph main road and a few years ago the police set up a speed check, hiding behind a wall and jumping out on people. One guy braked hard on seeing them and the guy behind ran into the back of him, so the police spent most of the day sorting out the collision that wouldn't have happened had their speed check not taken place.

Because, of course, it wasn't even remotely the fault of either the fkwit that simply stamped on the anchors for no reason, without looking in his mirror... or the fkwit that was following far too close...

Every collision has a number of factors, but something that encourages people to panic brake doesn't help.

We get complaints about people speeding on our estate now but the speed enforcement is always a camera van under the motorway bridge on the main road where the merge point at the traffic lights has been altered to force people to merge out from the inside lane before their lane ends at the footpath. People accelerate to move out and the camera van gets them.

[Blakewater]

Engineer792 said:

mybrainhurts said:

30mph...

Soon to be 20mph

Which is a problem...

Yes, I'm also irked by roads with pointless 20mph limits.

When I'm trying to cross the road, I now have to wait for the slooooow convoy of cars to pass, by which time another sloooooow convoy has usually arrived from the other side.

I never used to have much of a problem with 30mph limits

When people are approaching slowly you're never sure if they're slowing for you to cross or parking or dithering about.

Outside the school on my estate we have a chicane with raised zebra crossings over one side of the road with a built out kerb over the other. Combine this with cars parked up to them each morning and the road is nearly blocked. As people negotiate their way around the obstacles and each other they tend to forget to watch the crossing for pedestrians.