A Necessary Speed Limit Reduction Refused...

[MGBGT]

I have a Saturday 'beer-tokens' job in a car spares shop in Marks Tey, near Colchester (not advertising, but please feel free to drop in and say Hi!). There is a row of shops here with slant-parking at the roadside. The road itself becomes the London-bound on-slip of the A12 and carries a 40mph limit. Of late, there have been a few 'T-Bones' (NON-KSI) as vehicles arrive and depart and the Council is proposing to change the parking to parallel-in-bays. This will more than halve the number of vehicles parking outside the shops and probably sign the death-warrant on some of the businesses.
The local Traders Association has petitioned for a 200yd long 20mph limit past the shop zone, returning to 40 prior to the on-slip commital zone. This has been dismissed on the grounds that 'vehicles would not be able to attain sufficient speed to safely join the dual carriageway', even though there will be 250yds of 40mph limit prior to commital and NSL.
I feel that this underlines the fact that speed limits in this country have no bearing on safety and are based on the possible positioning of Greed Scameras, which are not allowed on slip-roads.
Your thoughts please...

[busa_rush]

MGBGT said:

I feel that this underlines the fact that speed limits in this country have no bearing on safety and are based on the possible positioning of Greed Scameras, which are not allowed on slip-roads.

Where have you been for the past 10 years ?

[aldi]

Its hard to say without seeing the place in question but my gut reaction would be to try and create a hashed-off zone inbetween the spaces and the carridgeway for people to reverse out into?

[james_j]

I'd rather address the problem at source.

Why are people pulling out in front of moving traffic?

Whether they're stupid, negligent or blind, maybe this needs to be addressed. I get tired of this "...address a problem with speed control..." panacea which usually (a) doesn't reduce accidents (b) creates revenue for the camera businesses.

[LRdriver II]

I think I know where this is, just around the corner from Reverie Carbon right?

if so, then I think the councils decision is crap as there is more than enough room to accelerate.
There isnt enough room to create a cross-hatched zone but what about (flame me for suggesting) speedbumps?