20mph limit to prevent drivers missing red lights?

[saaby93]

Someone jumped a red light - propose 20mph limit to prevent it
http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/20mph-speed-limit-near...
Will it work?

[Mr Sparkle]

Will it fk, I managed to stop for a traffic light yesterday and it wasn't a 20 zone.

Edited by Mr Sparkle on Sunday 24th March 23:53

[robinessex]

A typical newspaper report so garbled, full of unsubstantiated incidents and hearsay, that's it's impossible to establish any 'facts' to make a rational decision

[Meths]

Nobody has thought to put a traffic light camera?

dsds said:

Marisa Eades desperately pulled six-year-old Lyvia onto the pavement as a "boy racer" sped through a red light on Barton Road, missing them by inches.

The driver was speeding, so it won't matter if they set the speed limit to 2mph.

What kind of idiot thinks "driver was speeding. Must have speed limits reduced!"?

[Laurel Green]

Bring back the red flag carrying man-servant to precede such traveling offenders - would also help with the unemployable gaining benefits.

[s p a c e m a n]

Laurel Green said:

Bring back the red flag carrying man-servant to precede such traveling offenders - would also help with the unemployable gaining benefits.

I'm up for a bit of that, they could also carry a couple of boards so they can lay them over potholes.

[pad58]

20 Mph, What happens when in a few years time and somegoodiebody decides that, that is too fast, then insist on 15-10 mph, will it stop there?

[yellowjack]

pad58 said:

20 Mph, What happens when in a few years time and somegoodiebody decides that, that is too fast, then insist on 15-10 mph, will it stop there?

Pretty much this ^^

There are two reasons why someone might run a red

1. They didn't see it - WTF difference will a new speed limit make to someone who isn't keeping a proper look out.
2. They saw it and decided to drive on anyway - lower speed limits would increase frustration, and encourage SOME people to take more risks in order to 'make progress'.

Tis a bonkers idea to reduce speed limits down to 20mph. Lots of modern cars, and I'm not on about larger displacement/powerful engines, are more difficult to drive well at lower speeds, because they tend to have gear ratios optimised for fuel economy. My TDCi Mondeo isn't brilliant in town for that very reason. First gear is too 'short' and second is too 'long', but give it it's legs on a good A road and it'll find a natural rhythm in the higher gears.

The answer is more, and better, driver education, so that people no longer do stupid stuff like accelerating at things like junctions and traffic lights in the hope that they're still clear/at green when they get there, then braking harshly when, surprise surprise, it isn't safe to proceed when they get there.

The more the authorities 'nanny' drivers at every twist and turn, the less well equipped those drivers are to process information and decide things for themselves, leading to stupid statements following accidents like "it can't have been dangerous - I was driving at the speed limit". Taking away responsibility is NOT the way forward.

Another point needs to be made about traffic signals. Green does NOT mean GO. It means "proceed if the way is clear and it is safe to do so".
This applies equally to pedestrians - just because the 'green man' is lit, I wouldn't step out into a road unless I was sure that traffic had stopped, or was at least slowing to allow me to cross. It doesn't mean a massive delay, either, just a glance in either direction before you step out. I can't open the link to the article, but the pedestrian must take some responsibility for their own safety, instead of trusting their life to a light on a timer.

[RobM77]

Interestingly, on one of the main line train routes they introduced a speed limit to try and reduce red light running. The number of red lights jumped went up, not down, because drivers were looking at their speedometers rather than at what was coming up.

[BlueMR2]

They seem to have the same delay on traffic lights when they change from green to red.

Obviously its just as easy to pull to a smooth stop at 70 as it is at 30.

.