Ever decreasing speed limits...
Discussion
We are all very aware of the trend for local authorities to lower speed-limits to unnecessary levels.
This morning, I started thinking about why. The obvious answer is so that they can catch more motorists unawares and extract greater levels of revenue from the resulting FPNs. However, is that all?
What got me thinking about this is the A329 from Thame to junction 7 of the M40. The road is in a terrible state of repair – subsidence or just poor maintenance resulting in sizeable tears and cracks appearing in the surface of a number of pieces of road, often on the corners. Until recently, it was NSL all the way from the roundabout at the Thame end all the way to the motorway junction. Now, it’s a 30mph limit. Not all the way, mind, the section at the Thame end, where there are a number of entrances to factories and a junction on the outside of a corner, is still NSL. Immediately after these hazards, the road is reduced to 30mph. There is a similar situation at the M’way end.
The conclusion that I came to is that previously, any accident on this road was likely to have occurred at, or below, the prevailing speed limit and fingers could quite accurately be pointed at the horrendous state of repair of the carriageway as contributing to the incident. Now, the incident will probably have happened with the vehicle(s) travelling in excess of 30mph (it appears that very few people are sticking to this limit from my observations). If / when the Police arrive at the scene of said accident, I assume that now, speed will be coded as being one of the primary causes of the accident, bolstering the figures used to justify the Home Office’s love affair with Gatso, Truvelo, et al.
Does this conspiracy theory hold water? Or have I just been spending too much time thinking about local government issues that I’ve started to contract the insanity that is seemingly a requirement for all who hold positions of authority these days?
This morning, I started thinking about why. The obvious answer is so that they can catch more motorists unawares and extract greater levels of revenue from the resulting FPNs. However, is that all?
What got me thinking about this is the A329 from Thame to junction 7 of the M40. The road is in a terrible state of repair – subsidence or just poor maintenance resulting in sizeable tears and cracks appearing in the surface of a number of pieces of road, often on the corners. Until recently, it was NSL all the way from the roundabout at the Thame end all the way to the motorway junction. Now, it’s a 30mph limit. Not all the way, mind, the section at the Thame end, where there are a number of entrances to factories and a junction on the outside of a corner, is still NSL. Immediately after these hazards, the road is reduced to 30mph. There is a similar situation at the M’way end.
The conclusion that I came to is that previously, any accident on this road was likely to have occurred at, or below, the prevailing speed limit and fingers could quite accurately be pointed at the horrendous state of repair of the carriageway as contributing to the incident. Now, the incident will probably have happened with the vehicle(s) travelling in excess of 30mph (it appears that very few people are sticking to this limit from my observations). If / when the Police arrive at the scene of said accident, I assume that now, speed will be coded as being one of the primary causes of the accident, bolstering the figures used to justify the Home Office’s love affair with Gatso, Truvelo, et al.
Does this conspiracy theory hold water? Or have I just been spending too much time thinking about local government issues that I’ve started to contract the insanity that is seemingly a requirement for all who hold positions of authority these days?
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