Speed limit, no repeaters.
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Discussion

JumboBeef

Original Poster:

3,772 posts

207 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
I live one side of Dartmoor and work on the other side (north to south). The commute of nearly 30 miles is lovely in the good weather, this time of year, not so great.

The moors have a speed limit of 40mph, all single carriageway. On my journey from the north side, I have a section of NSL before passing a sign showing 40, and a welcome to Dartmoor as you go onto the moors. It's then a 10 mile run to Princetown which has a 30 limit. Out the other side and back into a 40 limit for 4 miles until you come off the moors and back into NSL.

The issue is this: you have one large 40 sign and then only 3 seemly randomly placed small repeater signs for 10 miles (plus painted 40 in circles on the road every 0.5-1 miles). The 30 sign going into Princetown is a small repeater sign, as is the 40 on the other side. The 4 miles the other side have no repeaters, but do have painted 40 in circles on the road.

The police occasionally have crack downs pulling people for exceeding 40.

I though you had to have regular sign repeaters on a rural road otherwise it would be NSL?

And no, I've not been pulled hehe I'm just intrigued as to the legally of it. Thanks.

esxste

4,292 posts

136 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
The 40 limit roundels on the road are the repeaters, I think.

I think it would be hard to argue you thought it was a NSL with giant 40 painted on the road every half mile.


HantsRat

2,409 posts

138 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
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No set limit for repeater signs distance anymore. This was changed I believe a year or 2 ago.

ghe13rte

1,860 posts

146 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
The 40 roundels on the road are repeater signs as said above. The Highways authority can choose any form of prescribed repeater and the roundel on the road surface is prescribed.

Unless you can convince a court that your eyes only work when pointed horizontally or at angles above the horizontal then I reckon a court will agree that a roundel every 0.5-1.0 miles provides adequate guidance. If you do convince them of such an eye defect you may have to give your licence back.

CanAm

14,029 posts

302 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
I live near the Ashdown Forest in Sussex which has large swathes of 40mph limits with no repeaters other than circles painted on the road. On investigation I found that that the County Council had been given an exemption from the compulsory repeaters as it was "an area of outstanding natural beauty" (!)
Dartmoor may possibly be the same.

SS2.

14,712 posts

268 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
CanAm said:
I live near the Ashdown Forest in Sussex which has large swathes of 40mph limits with no repeaters other than circles painted on the road. On investigation I found that that the County Council had been given an exemption from the compulsory repeaters as it was "an area of outstanding natural beauty" (!)
Dartmoor may possibly be the same.
Back in the early 1990's, Dartmoor and the New Forest were granted specific derogation from the requirement to have repeaters on sticks because of environmental considerations.

Richair

1,021 posts

227 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
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HantsRat said:
No set limit for repeater signs distance anymore. This was changed I believe a year or 2 ago.
True (TSRGD 2016 changed this), however the guidance in the Traffic Signs Manual Chapter 3 still stands unless the LHA has an alternative policy, which they may well have in the circumstances (probably for environmental reasons given the location, or a wider policy). This is the advice given by the DfT on the matter.

However repeater signs now take the form of either/or upright signs and roundel markings. So if either are placed on the road at the distances required by the guidance or local policy, then this would legally satisfy the requirements.

Having a speed limit in place and it being legally enforceable seem to have been two separate issues over the past 10 years or so for some LHA's...

RyanOPlasty

902 posts

238 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
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But Officer, I can't see the repeaters in the snow?

OverSteery

3,794 posts

261 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
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RyanOPlasty said:
But Officer, I can't see the repeaters in the snow?
Rather than
But Officer, I couldn't see it at the speed I was travelling.

yellowjack

18,476 posts

196 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
SS2. said:
CanAm said:
I live near the Ashdown Forest in Sussex which has large swathes of 40mph limits with no repeaters other than circles painted on the road. On investigation I found that that the County Council had been given an exemption from the compulsory repeaters as it was "an area of outstanding natural beauty" (!)
Dartmoor may possibly be the same.
Back in the early 1990's, Dartmoor and the New Forest were granted specific derogation from the requirement to have repeaters on sticks because of environmental considerations.
Dartmoor specifically has these "Take Moor Care" signs up at every entry point into the National Park 40 mph speed limit area...




They often have some of these out too...

And these...


...because the Dartmoor National Park is a working area, a farming area.

Why anyone would want to drive at more than 40 mph on such roads anyway? If you hit a sheep, it ain't gonna just bounce off into the scenery and only hurt itself. It'll make a proper dent in your car too,at the very least.


Davidonly

1,080 posts

223 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
yellowjack said:
Why anyone would want to drive at more than 40 mph on such roads anyway? If you hit a sheep, it ain't gonna just bounce off into the scenery and only hurt itself. It'll make a proper dent in your car too,at the very least.
Cos I have brakes and eyes?

av185

20,464 posts

157 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
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155mph....interesting target speed.

yellowjack

18,476 posts

196 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
Davidonly said:
yellowjack said:
Why anyone would want to drive at more than 40 mph on such roads anyway? If you hit a sheep, it ain't gonna just bounce off into the scenery and only hurt itself. It'll make a proper dent in your car too,at the very least.
Cos I have brakes and eyes?
When I last checked, damn near 100% of motorists who had driven into another vehicle or other road hazard also had brakes and eyes. Having them is no guarantee of not hitting stuff though. Otherwise no-one would ever be involved in a collision. I'm pretty certain the ttfk who drove his van into me on my bicycle on a roundabout a few years ago had both brakes AND eyes because the police checked to confirm this. I still spent five months in pain though, because he failed to make proper use of either to "give way to traffic already on the roundabout".

Do brakes and eyes offer mystical levels of crash protection against a galloping Dartmoor Pony?

Seriously? If folk want to drive fast, it makes sense not to drive within a National Park 40 mph speed limit zone. Between the livestock, the wildlife, and the grockles it would be frustrating at best...

anonymous-user

84 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
quotequote all
yellowjack said:
SS2. said:
CanAm said:
I live near the Ashdown Forest in Sussex which has large swathes of 40mph limits with no repeaters other than circles painted on the road. On investigation I found that that the County Council had been given an exemption from the compulsory repeaters as it was "an area of outstanding natural beauty" (!)
Dartmoor may possibly be the same.
Back in the early 1990's, Dartmoor and the New Forest were granted specific derogation from the requirement to have repeaters on sticks because of environmental considerations.
Dartmoor specifically has these "Take Moor Care" signs up at every entry point into the National Park 40 mph speed limit area...




They often have some of these out too...

And these...


...because the Dartmoor National Park is a working area, a farming area.

Why anyone would want to drive at more than 40 mph on such roads anyway? If you hit a sheep, it ain't gonna just bounce off into the scenery and only hurt itself. It'll make a proper dent in your car too,at the very least.
You've made/photoshopped those signs up unless they have 'Special authorisation'.
Doesn't seem anything legal about them.

xjay1337

15,966 posts

148 months

Thursday 1st March 2018
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Why would the tourism board advertise how bad their roads are with sheep? lol

Red Devil

13,516 posts

238 months

Friday 2nd March 2018
quotequote all
speedyguy said:
You've made/photoshopped those signs up unless they have 'Special authorisation'.
Doesn't seem anything legal about them.
Even if he hasn't, their legality is not in issue here.
SS2 has already given the definitive answer re signage.

The Ashdown Forest 40mph limit was implemented in 1997.
The Dartmoor and New Forest examples were cited as precedents.


JumboBeef

Original Poster:

3,772 posts

207 months

Friday 2nd March 2018
quotequote all
speedyguy said:
yellowjack said:
SS2. said:
CanAm said:
I live near the Ashdown Forest in Sussex which has large swathes of 40mph limits with no repeaters other than circles painted on the road. On investigation I found that that the County Council had been given an exemption from the compulsory repeaters as it was "an area of outstanding natural beauty" (!)
Dartmoor may possibly be the same.
Back in the early 1990's, Dartmoor and the New Forest were granted specific derogation from the requirement to have repeaters on sticks because of environmental considerations.
Dartmoor specifically has these "Take Moor Care" signs up at every entry point into the National Park 40 mph speed limit area...




They often have some of these out too...

And these...


...because the Dartmoor National Park is a working area, a farming area.

Why anyone would want to drive at more than 40 mph on such roads anyway? If you hit a sheep, it ain't gonna just bounce off into the scenery and only hurt itself. It'll make a proper dent in your car too,at the very least.
You've made/photoshopped those signs up unless they have 'Special authorisation'.
Doesn't seem anything legal about them.
Nope. All those signs are genuine as I drive past them daily.

NGee

2,954 posts

194 months

Friday 2nd March 2018
quotequote all


How can you tell the difference from the ones telling the truth?

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

156 months

Friday 2nd March 2018
quotequote all
Davidonly said:
yellowjack said:
Why anyone would want to drive at more than 40 mph on such roads anyway? If you hit a sheep, it ain't gonna just bounce off into the scenery and only hurt itself. It'll make a proper dent in your car too,at the very least.
Cos I have brakes and eyes?
I admire your faith in ovine road sense.

NGee said:


How can you tell the difference from the ones telling the truth?
The honest ones are the ones in the road. The others are lying about not wanting to be in the road, and will wait until the last second to play chicken.

NGee

2,954 posts

194 months

Friday 2nd March 2018
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
NGee said:


How can you tell the difference from the ones telling the truth?
The honest ones are the ones in the road. The others are lying about not wanting to be in the road, and will wait until the last second to play chicken.
But that's not what the sign says, are ewe sure you're correct, or are you just trying to pull the wool over my eyes?