Forum Topic

20MPH speed limit

I was driving up Ealing Road yesterday evening rush hour (Waterman's to A4) and noticed that the speed camera was flashing.So not safe to assume that the limit isn't being policed.

Susan Kelly ● 2376d25 Comments

Speed limits should be appropriate to the road and it's usage. Generally i am in favour of 20mph for side roads, in front of schools and on places like the uxbridge road in town centres. But some roads 30 would be sensible. a smooth traffic flow would be an important factor. but LBE are anti-car in policy. but the fact is that when i lived there like many people we needed our cars to get to work and when my late girlfriend was alive we needed a car to get around as she was disabled. So the question is whether we can prioritise public transport effectively. Cycling and walking as well. But a speed limit where the road is big and wide is bonkers as it encourages poor driving.

Peter Chadburn ● 2369d

When the speed limit was 30 mph in Kent Avenue vehicles were checked at 65 mph (in Argyll Road the record is 100 mph), so I had hoped that the eye-watering amount of money which the council spent on the 20 mph zone would have produced an obvious 'calming' effect but this is not apparent.I try to keep to the 20 mph limit, which angers the 'tail-gaters' behind me, who then use the next available traffic island to overtake on the wrong side of the road, which rather seems to negate to safety aspect of the 20 mph zone.I do hope that either the police take some action or the council install more cameras - perhaps they haven't realised that there is a fortune to be made here.

David Park ● 2370d

>>NB wrote>> In a 30mph zone, I drive at 25mph. Passed through several hand held speed guns and looking down one day in a 30mph zone and seeing my speedo reading 22mph I was glad I did.>>TH replies>> Cars' speedometers are factory set to over-read, up to 10% of actual rolling speed. So if you're driving to a speedo display of 25mph, your true speed is closer to 22mph.  In a 30mph zone, any camera will be set to trigger at no lower 33mph. So driving at a speedo display of 25mph means you are driving 30% slower than the trigger of a speed infringement/penalty.

Tony Heath ● 2371d

In a 20mph zone I drive at 15mph. 30mph zone 25mph. Passed through several hand held speed guns and looking down one day in a 30mph zone and seeing my speedo reading 22mph I was glad I did.

Nichols Beard ● 2371d

So you do break the law by exceeding the limit?

Paul James ● 2372d

I means I drive safely not according to virtue signallers

Graham Weeks ● 2372d

The problem with Ealing's 'blanket' 20mph schemes is that the signage is pretty hit and miss (are they 20mph zones or limits?) and applying them to main roads seems contrary to the RoSPA guidance:"20mph zones are designed to be self-enforcing due to traffic calming measures which are introduced along with the change in the speed limit. Speed humps, chicanes, road narrowing, planting and other measures are typically used to both physically and visually reinforce the shared nature of the road."20mph limits consist of just a speed limit change but no physical measures to reduce vehicle speeds within the areas. Drivers are alerted to the speed limit with 20mph speed limit repeater signs. 20mph limits are most appropriate for roads where average speeds are already low, and the guidance suggests below 24mph. The layout and use of the road must also give the clear impression that a 20mph speed or below is the most appropriate."

Peter Evans ● 2372d

SO when you write "I have observed no difference a all made by his money wasting virtue signalling."That must mean you choose to ignore the 20mph limits?

Paul James ● 2372d

Yes so if that is the case why don't they do that at more junctions. It is purely revenue getting. I can see the point of the no right turn when going west into longfield lane as it holds up traffic. But forcing people onto congested routes is part of the LBE strategy.

Peter Chadburn ● 2372d

For the last fifty years.

Graham Weeks ● 2372d

So they just use other junctions. This does nothing to reduce overall traffic levels but means drivers take longer journeys to get to their destination, burning more fuel and emitting more CO2. And it creates bottlenecks at other junctions as more vehicles use them, thereby further increasing emissions and pollutants.

Vlod Barchuk ● 2372d

The no left turn from longfield is there to reduce the number of people in vehicles using he junction and more specifically to stop drivers cutting across the roads north of uxbridge road and then turning left onto it.

Paul James ● 2373d

Do you drive Graham?

Paul James ● 2373d

Susanso true,without enforcement also silly. i find the road policies of LBE quite daft at times. the left turn from longfield road has no virtue apart from money!! i have also seen the public realm plans for hanwell station and those are daft aswell. they will cause jams and pollution.

Peter Chadburn ● 2373d

I have no problem with 20mph on side roads but to put it on through roads such as Ealing Rd, South Ealing Rd or Popes Lane is plain silly.

Susan Kelly ● 2373d

I have observed no difference a all made by his money wasting virtue signalling.

Graham Weeks ● 2374d

It is good not feeling so pressurised because some moron is tailgating.  It does seem to have calmed a lot of the frantic crazy driving down.

Philippa Bond ● 2374d

We reckon that is about 13mph.  That would seriously inconvenience some of those boy racers (although I think girls are fast catching up).

Philippa Bond ● 2374d

The speed limit in parts of mainland Europe is 20kph. In one village I counted 3 speed cameras.

Nichols Beard ● 2376d

Non-contradictory given that I would adhere to the limit if it was 10mph or whatever.I am glad that there at at least two of us embracing the limit which, given that I live at the 'edge' of the borough, adds precisely one minute to my commute.It IS futile Paul as, for as I posted earlier, the number adhering to the limit is tiny.If 'people are being pulled over' then I have yet to see any reports of this. Moreover evidence of the road on which I live would clearly, very clearly, suggest otherwise.

N V Brooks ● 2376d

You state it's a futile exercise, but you adhere to the limit and so do I?Can you not see there the direct contradiction in your statement?Sure there are people that break the law and exceed 20mph, but the same happens at 30mph.And there are stories of people being pulled over.

Paul James ● 2376d

Absolutely rigidly and I ignore the remonstrations of those who don't.As I have posted time and time again, it is a futile exercise if it is not enforced.It has not changed my driving habits as I always drove within the limit.  Would that it were the same for others.

N V Brooks ● 2376d

I'll also ask, who here doesn't?I do.

Paul James ● 2376d

Do you adhere to the new limit?

Paul James ● 2376d

That is, of course, LB Hounslow and not Ealing and the speed cameras were reset to the new limit well before Bell's Buffoons introduced the un-policed virtual 'borough-wide' 20mph limit.It has made virtually no impact on speeding on roads where it is not policed.Stand by Boston Road, day or night and you will see perhaps 1 in 20 keeping to the new limit.

N V Brooks ● 2376d