Speed limit signs
Discussion
Are speed limits that are displayed on white rectangular signs with a black border legally enforcable? I'm talking about the ones that read "max speed ## mph" and are typically found below a loose chippings sign or a bend in the road sign.
ETA: sorry if this type of question is reguarly asked. I did look on the ABD website but their speed limit signage page didn't appear to say anything about this type of sign.
ETA: sorry if this type of question is reguarly asked. I did look on the ABD website but their speed limit signage page didn't appear to say anything about this type of sign.
Edited by SamHH on Wednesday 19th July 23:35
OK, but would ignoring them alone (and not crashing) be sufficient to be convicted of driving without due care and attention (or some other offence)? I realise it's difficult to know what police, the CPS and the courts will do, but I was wondering if there's any precedent for this sort of thing.
It is not a named sufficient reason for a charge of careless to stick. However, all that is needed is an officer to suggest that your standard of driving fell below the standard required and a magistrate to agree with him. The standard required is as laid out in the Highway Code and tested on your driving test.
SamHH said:
Thanks for the replies. I asked mainly out of curiousity; I'm not going to be taking any bends quickly until I learn to drive properly, but the chippings signs can be annoying when they are left there even after the chippings have been cleared.
Was recently stopped at temp. traffic light behind another car. At the light were a loose chippings sign and a 10mph black-bordered sign below it. A trafpol car pulled up behind me. Normal limit on this road is 60. As the light turned green and we set off it was obvious that there were no loose chippings or particular hazards of any sort. The car ahead of me must have gone ahead at approx 50. I was doing 30ish, just in case there was something about the scene that I was not picking up.
The trafpol stayed fairly close to my bumper, as if he wished I were going more quickly. He obviously had no prob with my going 20 over the advised limit, nor with the chap doing 40 over who eventually was gone in the distance.
7db said:
In practice if you could stop in the distance you could see to be clear, then I think you would be ok with a max speed sign in a corner. I think you can go about twice as fast as the speed indicated before you run out of grip in the dry.
I agree that the advisory speed limits shown are often very conservative, but I wouldn't try doubling the speed for the hairpin bend at Saltergate on the A169. Anything much faster than the indicated 20 mph will at best result in a lot of tyre scrubbing and at worst a nasty prang.
....and no, I haven't found out the hard way!
Best wishes all,
Dave.
7db said:
My point being that I think the speed is set with a maximum of 0.2g cornering force.
Oh I never thought there was any rational basis for the deployment of the signs. In our area a lot of them seem to be 25 mph signs. It's almost as if the highways people have bought a batch of signs at a good price, and then just scattered them around willy nilly!
Best wishes all,
Dave.
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