Do you obey 20mph speed limits (be honest)?

[Londre]

Where I live, the council has turned into our neighbourhood into a 20mph zone. Thankfully my car has cruise control which can be set at 20mph so it isn’t a problem for me but I’ve noticed some people are overtaking me! It’s a very pedestrianized area with a school, lots of shops and quite busy so quite surprised.

Do you obey 20mph speed limits? If not, why?

I'm more likely to obey 20 because it normally means a school or something dangerous, than the faster limits which seem pointless eg 40 in the middle of nowhere.

What makes you think they’re 40mph limits?

Many I’ve encountered are- it’s maddening when there’s so many blind spots

You're right to ask this question, around here you attract irritated drivers when you stick to the 20 mph limits. A bit further over, there's an area where the speed limit between villages drops from 40 to 30 due to a few local factors, and the treatment you get for sticking to the limit does make you wonder if sticking to the limit's a rarity.

Governments don't want people being able to travel independently, it makes controlling our movements more difficult

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Just seemed odd to mention 40mph when there are many more blind bends in country lanes with 60mph limits.

Yes, we're in Cardiff so almost the entire city is a 20mph zone now. Some roads really should have remained at 30mph though, they're wide and with clear view of everything but still in the 20mph bracket.

Although I will also admit the the road surfaces here are appalling so 20mph is generally recommended so you don't take the bottom off your car!

The behaviour of other drivers though is shocking. I've seen some awful overtaking manoeuvres with near misses far too frequently. I think unless it's enforced 20mph encourages bad drivers to be dangerous drivers and helps no one.

no.

Absolutely. There are cameras everywhere and I'd get a ticket!
There are a few areas where I can go up to, wait for it, 23, but then I see a frowning face by the side and I slow down to make it a green smiling face.

Usually

Yes always. Pretty much everywhere I've been with 20 limit you'd struggle to go above 20 anyway. In fact I'll go slower if someone insists on sitting on my bumper

Nope, I don't agree with them. They cause higher emissions than 30 zones (unless you take the view they are so annoying everyone will cycle or walk instead).

They are also annoying as a pedestrian or a cyclist as cars have to dawdle and can't get past so you can cross the road/don't overtake you easily when you are on your bike.

They may be ok once everyone has an electric car but until then they are just a distraction from the main issue which is to get more people walking and cycling.

I guess the only thing about them is that people will stick to 30, whereas if the limit were 30, they'd do 40. So there is some value.

Sometimes. On built up roads with parked cars, or near schools - absolutely. On wide A roads where the limit is only there because of our virtue signalling council - no, I don't and neither do most drivers. I have been driving almost 40 years without any points on my licence and I fully accept that this might change.

I absolutely love visiting other parts of the country where limits are 30 or even (gasp) 40.

If only we call all ignore the laws we don't like eh, Suella ? Or is it Boris ? Maybe Rishi ?

I can see a new MN game emerging. Spot the minister from their contempt for the law.

The police don't obey 20mph speed limits round here! So no, I don't stick rigidly to 20mph, but I'm not far off. I don't want any points on my licence!

Yes I stick to the 20mph near me because they are busy streets with cars parked and schools so it feels the right speed. I struggle more on this one long straight road which is 40 for half of it then switches to 30 for no apparent reason. I have to concentrate on that one to drop my speed.

I do, and in my area there are three schools and two nurseries all in 30mph limits. I stick to 20mph during the times that children are around.

@liselotte 20mph don't necessarily increase emissions, because although cars are slightly less efficient at that speed than say 30mph, it smooths people's driving styles and causes less wear on the road, plus it makes it far easier for people to choose walking or cycling. It's thought that overall it has a positive impact on people's health.

A 'brief' from TfL
https://content.tfl.gov.uk/speed-emissions-and-health.pdf (pdf link sorry)

Actually, evidence shows they are less polluting, not more as they encourage a smoother, less aggressive driving style involving less accelerating and braking, both of which contribute to pollution.

Your point about cyclists makes no sense. You aren't seriously suggesting that the average cyclists can cycle at 20mph? That would be the only way a car would have to "dawdle" behind them. And how on earth can cars travelling at slower speeds make it harder to cross the road?!

You are quite right that the main issue is encouraging active travel, but this will only happen if roads are safer and more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists and the best way to achieve that is to discourage people from making shorter, uneccesary journeys in their cars which could be walked or cycled. 50% of all car journeys are less than 2 miles and 21% less that 1 mile. These journeys are the most polluting as modern emissions systems are unable to kick in that quickly.

I try to but in third gear it’s hard to stay under 23/24 without braking the whole time if the road is straight and clear. I would never overtake though. If I come up behind a car doing 20 or a cyclist I see it as a good reminder to slow down.

I do because I don't want to get a ticket. But I am well aware of the idiocy of doing so on a straight wide road three streets away from a school at 9 pm on a Saturday night. Plus I know that the "20 mph" spokesperson in my local area is a total opportunist who latched onto this issue in order to declare herself a "low traffic researcher". She then proceeded to ban private cars on a key route into the city so that an overpriced development sold for even more than it might have done and is generally an arsehole.

My estate is a 20 limit and you would struggle to do more between parked cars, areas narrowed to only allow 1 car through at a time and speed bumps so yes I do stick to it. Also lots of kids around so it's sensible anyway.
Generally yes I always try to stick to the limit- it's there for a reason.
What really annoys me on my estate is people slow down to 5mph or less to go over a speed bump, speed up to 20 only to break sharply to 5 again (causing me to almost go into the back of them!) for the next speed bump! The whole road is speed bumps and I don't see why they can't just do a steady 15mph or so all the way- no need to drop to 5 for a speed bump surely and the braking/acceleration is bad for the environment as well.

Personally I go as fast as I can when I can so I can get out of people's way especially on streets where no one's parked on their drive and there's lots of speed bumps. I figure we all want to get to our destination and if I'm ambling along at 15 mph I'm potentially blocking the way for someone up the road who might need to borrow my lane etc. I always think you have to keep things flowing.

Are you mad?

😂