Stupid Speed Limits
Discussion
There's recently been a reduction of speed limit on many roads in my local area (Wirral). Mostly by 10mph, a lot of 40's are now 30's and a lot of NSL single lane roads have gone down to 50.
One in particular is the Bidston Bypass; A553 Fender Lane.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&...
This road is a dual carriageway with a central reservation and is predominately straight and in a non-residential area with no adjoining roads.
I have just crossed it today and the police are out in force, nobody appears to be sticking to the limit, which fair cop is their fault if they get caught and punished accordingly, not one speed gun, but two at the same time, they're like a machine. Luckily I was doing dead on 40.
Two points on my mind really... 1) Why the hell is this road a 40? Statistics don't show speed related accidents, however, it is due to this;
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there is actually no place in the local area that a learner driver can drive quicker than 50mph and most of those are country type roads where a learner probably wouldn't anyway.
Therefore a driver can learn to drive and pass their test, then drive on the nations motorways at speeds of up to 70mph and in the presence of people doing far more than that.
One in particular is the Bidston Bypass; A553 Fender Lane.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&...
This road is a dual carriageway with a central reservation and is predominately straight and in a non-residential area with no adjoining roads.
I have just crossed it today and the police are out in force, nobody appears to be sticking to the limit, which fair cop is their fault if they get caught and punished accordingly, not one speed gun, but two at the same time, they're like a machine. Luckily I was doing dead on 40.
Two points on my mind really... 1) Why the hell is this road a 40? Statistics don't show speed related accidents, however, it is due to this;
Local Council said:
"The decision to reduce the speed on this stretch of road was taken after a detailed safety assessment, carried out as a result of lessons learned from the Selby rail crash in 2001.
"In the wake of that incident the Highways Agency reviewed the standards of safety fences and barriers on all major roads.
"The original object of the assessment on Fender Lane was to determine whether road restraint barriers were needed to prevent vehicles leaving the carriageway should a driver lose control.
"From the assessment, it was clear that if the road was built today, to current standards, then a road restraint system would need to be installed on the central reservation in order to reduce the risk of vehicles colliding at high speed with oncoming vehicles on the opposing carriageway.
"For the majority of this stretch, the existing central reservation was too narrow to accommodate an effective barrier system so a decision was taken to reduce the 'derestricted' speed limit to 40mph, thereby reducing the risk whilst retaining consistency with the Bidston Link Road, which is also subject to a 40mph speed limit."
Seems a bit strange to me. Could they not just install safety precautions? Nobody has ever lost control and ended up anywhere near the railway from what I can gather."In the wake of that incident the Highways Agency reviewed the standards of safety fences and barriers on all major roads.
"The original object of the assessment on Fender Lane was to determine whether road restraint barriers were needed to prevent vehicles leaving the carriageway should a driver lose control.
"From the assessment, it was clear that if the road was built today, to current standards, then a road restraint system would need to be installed on the central reservation in order to reduce the risk of vehicles colliding at high speed with oncoming vehicles on the opposing carriageway.
"For the majority of this stretch, the existing central reservation was too narrow to accommodate an effective barrier system so a decision was taken to reduce the 'derestricted' speed limit to 40mph, thereby reducing the risk whilst retaining consistency with the Bidston Link Road, which is also subject to a 40mph speed limit."
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there is actually no place in the local area that a learner driver can drive quicker than 50mph and most of those are country type roads where a learner probably wouldn't anyway.
Therefore a driver can learn to drive and pass their test, then drive on the nations motorways at speeds of up to 70mph and in the presence of people doing far more than that.
Just a note on my second point, I think on the scale of things it's far more dangerous for a learner to be driving on motorways having never experienced how to drive a car at those speeds under tuition than it is to do 70 across that bypass.
Solve one 'problem' cause another.
I used to love taking that route and putting my foot down when it went from 30 to 70 as a learner.
Edit: I typed 'route' as 'root', God knows why.
Solve one 'problem' cause another.
I used to love taking that route and putting my foot down when it went from 30 to 70 as a learner.
Edit: I typed 'route' as 'root', God knows why.
Edited by iAlex on Wednesday 29th September 16:06
There's a lovely stretch of B road near where I live which was 60 when I passed my test in 1994. About ten years ago it dropped to a 50, and then last year it dropped to a 40! This is a wide open two lane stretch of road with no pavements, crossing points or anything like that. It's utterly ridiculous that it should have the same speed limit as an urban road. We even had a 30 on a dual carriageway in Basingstoke with permanent signs for what seemed like ages, but thankfully that's gone now.
Tezzpip said:
I know fender lane quite well and people hoon along there all the time and never slow for the 40 limit just after the flyover and wouldn't slow until the 30 limit near cattons farm and thats only for the lights and the scamera.
Probably means they've got the wrong limit in all three places.Why did no-one complain when the notices went up?
Tezzpip said:
I know fender lane quite well and people hoon along there all the time and never slow for the 40 limit just after the flyover and wouldn't slow until the 30 limit near cattons farm and thats only for the lights and the scamera.
The camera at the Moreton end is in a good place, slows people down before entering the built up area.The actual flyover is ridiculous.
saaby93 said:
Tezzpip said:
I know fender lane quite well and people hoon along there all the time and never slow for the 40 limit just after the flyover and wouldn't slow until the 30 limit near cattons farm and thats only for the lights and the scamera.
Probably means they've got the wrong limit in all three places.Why did no-one complain when the notices went up?
saaby93 said:
XG332 said:
Brackley to Buckingham is 50MPH from NSL now.
when did that happen?422 or 421?
Edited by saaby93 on Wednesday 29th September 18:21
t state of the road, its full of potholes dips and bumps. One part isnt really safe at 50 even though its a long straight due to the condition of the road. But rather than spend money fixing the road they just reduced the limit. bigdods said:
saaby93 said:
XG332 said:
Brackley to Buckingham is 50MPH from NSL now.
when did that happen?422 or 421?
Edited by saaby93 on Wednesday 29th September 18:21
t state of the road, its full of potholes dips and bumps. One part isnt really safe at 50 even though its a long straight due to the condition of the road. But rather than spend money fixing the road they just reduced the limit. Or whatever those signs say.
saaby93 said:
XG332 said:
Remember there has been somthing like 3 deaths in 4 years. I would consider that as not bad.
Or whatever those signs say.
not really - what caused the accidents?Or whatever those signs say.
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