Am I the only idiot that sticks to the 20 MPH limit?

I get the environmental thing,,so maybe they need to remove all the speed bumps which produce more pollution by drivers driving then slowing then driving then slowing..

I lie in bed listening to the cars and bikes zooming down our road and shout slow down... it doesn't help

We are a cut through road, long, straight and quite wide but with speed bumps but doesn't stop them.

We have lots of kids on our road it drives me mad. We keep our gate shut incase toddler makes a run for it.

Sometimes I feel like standing outside with my hairdryer

My local seafront area is all 20mph. I stick to this as it seems to wind up the tourists that flood the area during summer. Roads are narrow enough so they cannot pass me either. One of life's little pleasures.

It's 20 all around Brum uni, but to be fair the students are a law unto themselves with their headphones on or eyes glued to phone held in front of them.

I ALWAYS stick to the speed limit.

I generally drive at the top allowed speed unless conditions make it unsafe (poor visibility etc). However I'm ALWAYS getting aggressive (typically male) drivers driving cm behind me and overtaking me the first chance they get (sometimes dangerously!). I honestly don't understand it. If I'm driving AT the allowed limit why is there a need to overtake?

it's also an emission thing.

just keep to the speed limit. if you don't you deserve fines/points/bans

I believe some of the limits are to stop pollution that reduces air quality. I was told that is why the M25 is a total car park. I was on it a couple of days ago and there were 4 lanes either doing 40 or stopped.

Plus a lot of people will get very frustrated at being stuck behind a driver doing 20 on a "natural 30" road, and then try to overtake in a risky way. I don't do it myself, but I can believe this might happen a lot, and make the road more dangerous than it actually was before.

Maybe people should just look and practice safe road crossing,,remember the days of the green cross code,stop look and listen? That went out of the window and now people,especially younger,think they can just meander out on the road and the traffic has to part like the red sea.

You also find that certain councils sutff loads of 20 limits in because they are left wing types and love to rake in lots of fines,pandering to those who dont take responsibility for their own actions.

Having said that, iam not a speeder in general,i consider i am a very safe driver and i do try to keep within the spirit of the 20 though as others have said,you do get people trying to push you along.

Manchester city council has 20s everywhere ,,whereas stockport has next to none..

Our local council recently changed all non-major roads from 30 to 20.

Some of those roads really do deserve to be 20. Most do not. The council just changed the limits on all of them wholesale, without proper research. They also put no enforcement measures in place - just changed the signs. It was a classic case of virtue-signalling.

The only people who seem to do 20 on the "natural 30" limit roads are learner drivers under instruction. Almost everyone else just does 30, the way they have been for decades on those same roads with no ill effects.

If the council had actually wanted to reduce RTAs in real life, they would have spent some money on policing - making sure people were actually sticking to the original speed limits and not driving like complete twats. The problem wasn't people doing 30 on the "natural 30" roads; the problem was tossers driving down them at 45 - which they still do. I see just as much dangerous driving as I used to. I would love to see the before-and-after accident statistics for our area.

Exactly probs.

I am happy to stick to speed limits but I think the 20 mph unless near a school or built up area is impractical.

We have a few roads near us where they trialled a 20 limit and then didn't bother to remove the signs at the end of the trial so I am not sure what the actual legal limit is. Most people do 30.

I guess if it were a 30 limit, they'd be doing 40, so it's not such a bad thing.

But it does increase emissions.

I always stick to that limit and get horrible, impatient twats up my arse.

I always drive at the speed limit and it’s amazing the amount of drivers who want tailgate or overtake at stupid places. The people I know who do it think they’re great drivers as well and anyone who drives at the speed limit is over cautious. Twats.

not offered a speed awareness course, maybe because it was a first offence?

From what the instructors on my course said, it's down to the guidelines set by the authority that caught you. Some are more strict than others. However there was a preference for first offences to be dealt with by an SAC where appropriate.

I did my course in 2014. Over half the measures the instructors warned us about have come to pass:

• general drive to lower speed limits on dual carriageways and A roads
• introduction of 20 mph zones
• lower tolerance for speeding (the lady that was 32 in a 30)
• wider use of Average Speed Cameras on A roads.

There's a desire to see speeding become regarded in the same light as drink-driving. And the Nudge Unit is on the case .....

@DGRossetti - not offered a speed awareness course, maybe because it was a first offence?

I found it an overly harsh penalty at the time, but it certainly made me more aware of obeying speed limits.

I've only seen it on a couple of roads

They're springing up everywhere - certainly in Birmingham. Whole areas are now zones, not just individual roads.

To be fair, it may be an issue of familiarity. I don't often get people trying to get past me on 20mph roads now. Even taxis are quite happy to follow at that speed - and more than 2 cars in a line doing 20 make it a lot harder for chummy-boy at the back to get past, especially if there's oncoming traffic. Also some 20mph routes cover bus routes - which make the overtaking game a lot harder, as buses are quite hot on speed limits because of cameras in the bus (which also catch people overtaking, and are forwarded to the police).

I've only seen it on a couple of roads, and mostly stick to it if it's completely clear and no kids, schools etc around. I would never harass anyone doing it though

If it's true 20 zones have higher accident rates, it'd be interesting to know why

Idiots overtaking at 30 ?

Who are these arrogant people who think they can decide what speed to go, whatever the signs say? Do you decide other traffic laws for yourself as you go along too?

I suspect insurance data suggests yes ... drivers who speed are more likely to have accidents.

I don't know if it's still the same (I'm going back to 2005 with my knowledge), but Northants only used to allow drivers caught doing 34 in a 30 do the SAC. That was the extent of their 'generosity'.

We had a quick show of hands at my SAC. Most were like me - less than 10 over. One lady was done for 32 in a 30. The instructors commented that was going to be the way of the future. Much less tolerance for lawbreakers ....

Who are these arrogant people who think they can decide what speed to go, whatever the signs say? Do you decide other traffic laws for yourself as you go along too?

If it's true 20 zones have higher accident rates, it'd be interesting to know why. Were people hit by cars going over 20? Were there just more pedestrians because the 20 made it a nicer environment? Was the road layout still encouraging faster speeds?

My whole city is 20 pretty much, it's just my natural speed in built up areas now, I find it hard to go at 30.

In Germany, we have 20 KPH (12.4 mph) in roads near schools,
or where there is housing with open spaces where kids play

Kids are expected to walk to school alone here from age 6-7 and they play outside with their mates then too

Drivers seem to stick to 20 kph and it is necessary with so many small kids around

If you find driving the speed limit ‘frustrating’ then you have the emotional control of a child and shouldn’t be driving. I fucking despair at the absolute state of some of you.