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Original poster

Wales 20mph massive confusion.

74 replies

justasking111 · 20/09/2023 15:41

We've got drivers so scared they're doing 16 mph. We've got drivers gesticulating and swearing at drivers attempting to follow the rules. We've got road signs going from 30 to 20, then 40, then 20 on the same stretch of road.

OP posts:
HohiyiKozbevi · 20/09/2023 15:45

I think if drivers cannot read and obey speed restrictions they aren't safe drivers. We have had 20mph zones in Bristol for ages and it's really not hard to be aware of the current limit and your own speed. If the limit is anything other than 30mph in a built up area the limit is repeated every few lampposts.

NotReallySureWhatToThink · 20/09/2023 15:46

Oh dear.

Well I'm sure everyone will get used to it. It's not that difficult. Speed limits have always changed along different sections of road and people just need to get used to it being the new normal.

EmmaEmerald · 20/09/2023 15:48

Quite a few London roads switched to this years ago and it didn't cause any confusion except at night maybe

I'm aware of this in Wales but is it on roads where it makes no sense? In London it was all from 30 to 20, but knowing what we know about Drakeford, I'm curious to know how this has been done on a practical level.

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Driving & parking
SirChenjins · 20/09/2023 15:50

Sounds very familiar - we had the same when an idiot council in an area that I commute through put blanket 20mph limits on roads, including A roads, across the region. Didn’t reset traffic lights so the traffic built up stopping drivers getting out of side streets, didn’t change the road signs so there was confusion, had some more fastidious drivers doing 18 mph at 6am on near empty roads, caused speeding on other roads as some drivers attempted to keep their overall journey times down…. Thousands of signatures on a petition got the limits reverted back to their previous ones thankfully. Loads of comments online saying ‘make the limits targeted please’ but the council seems to have ignored that.

Gnomegnomegnome · 20/09/2023 15:51

I don’t understand why this is stressing everyone out so much. Half of Cornwall is 20mph, why are people confused?

HamSandwichKiller · 20/09/2023 15:52

A lot of roads have a very confusing mix of 20/30 mph signs which is adding to the confusion. Basically implementation hasn't been great.

Personally I feel like the whole thing is a giant waste of money but Labour don't seem interested in anyone's opinion beyond their own. Interesting to watch Drakeford setting fire to a lot of his Covid won popularity.

madamreign · 20/09/2023 15:53

Gnomegnomegnome · 20/09/2023 15:51

I don’t understand why this is stressing everyone out so much. Half of Cornwall is 20mph, why are people confused?

Because they're total fucking idiots who probably shouldn't be on the roads.

Prometheus · 20/09/2023 15:53

I think it’s because the road signs haven’t been changed (or at least not in the north wales towns we drove through last Sunday). The 30mph signs are still up (some were crossed out) but the 20mph signs have not yet been put in place.

I had an argument with DH as he insisted driving 30mph as that was what the signs still said but I insisted that the law had changed and we should drive at 20mph even if the signage is incorrect.

Jokat · 20/09/2023 15:54

It is ridiculous. We are in South London and the speed limit changes so much between 20 and 30 thatI find myself paying so much attention to them so I don't miss the signs that I'm not paying as much attention to the road as I should. And it changes from 30 in main roads and 20 in side roads, to 20 on main road and 20 in side streets across the borough border. It's almost as if they are deliberately trying to catch you out. It's infuriating.

0021andabit · 20/09/2023 15:55

I think if people are that confused, they shouldn’t be on the roads.

parameciumparty · 20/09/2023 15:56

0021andabit · 20/09/2023 15:55

I think if people are that confused, they shouldn’t be on the roads.

It's not as simple as that, as the post just before yours describes.

Jokat · 20/09/2023 15:56

...from 20 on main road to 30 in side streets.. oops

Hecate01 · 20/09/2023 16:00

Everyone is confused because they haven't changed road signs in time and in places are taking the ones down that they recently put up and moving them to other areas 🙈

Also on our leaflet that every household received it was stated if we saw streetlights we had to assume the road is 20mph but now it's come to light that councils have decided some roads should stay at 30mph.

Throw in our local MS not having a clue what is going on and giving out the wrong speed limits on their facebook page and it's hard bloody work driving around at the moment, people are driving at 20mph everywhere and roads are full of tailbacks.

Floopyfloop · 20/09/2023 16:00

I almost got hit head on cycling last night as some idiot got a bit fed up behind three drivers who were doing 20 so he overtook the lot of them.

Hecate01 · 20/09/2023 16:05

HohiyiKozbevi · 20/09/2023 15:45

I think if drivers cannot read and obey speed restrictions they aren't safe drivers. We have had 20mph zones in Bristol for ages and it's really not hard to be aware of the current limit and your own speed. If the limit is anything other than 30mph in a built up area the limit is repeated every few lampposts.

Drivers can't read what isn't there. The road signs are very sporadic at the moment so it's a guessing game.

Some roads have two signs like this, which one is correct?

Wales 20mph massive confusion.
TherebytheGraceofGodgoI · 20/09/2023 16:05

It’s all a mess and unclear. Yesterday I drove through 30mph signs to pass through a small town, as I left that town I could see the signs to enter from the opposite direction are 20mph.
There are 20 and 30 mph signs standing side by side on some roads.
Total mess at the moment

User19537876 · 20/09/2023 16:09

Probably best to just go at twenty all the while

Coral569 · 20/09/2023 16:10

Gnomegnomegnome · 20/09/2023 15:51

I don’t understand why this is stressing everyone out so much. Half of Cornwall is 20mph, why are people confused?

That's a big exaggeration. Some roads through some villages are 20mph and a lot of drivers do 30mph on them anyway. But that's about it.

itsmyp4rty · 20/09/2023 16:13

I read that there were people on roads that are national speed limit going at 20 mph. I also read that the 'get rid of the 20mph speed limit in Wales' petition had 199, 000 signature.
Personally I wish round here they'd police the 30 mph through our village as plenty of people ignore that. It's all pointless if most people ignore it.

Hedgesgalore · 20/09/2023 16:17

HohiyiKozbevi · 20/09/2023 15:45

I think if drivers cannot read and obey speed restrictions they aren't safe drivers. We have had 20mph zones in Bristol for ages and it's really not hard to be aware of the current limit and your own speed. If the limit is anything other than 30mph in a built up area the limit is repeated every few lampposts.

If only the signs were repeated, they aren't.

On one particular stretch of road it went from 40 to 30 then without any more signs it was 20 with no repeater signs

I know this as the new 20 signs were put up (still covered over) but coming from a different direction. This has happened on many stretches of roads.

There is a map online which shows restricted roads then there are exemptions with numerous clauses, but no explanation as to what speed exactly. No wonder everyone is confused. Then everyone sticks to 20 (or slower) when its 30. Bonkers.

The way the Welsh Government has rolled this out is an utter disgrace. I'm all for 20 in certain areas, no problem, but to stop Wales moving is crazy. The fact is we need our cars because the buses and trains (you'd be lucky) are absolutely dire.

Drakeford is on a money making scheme to fund the new 33 MSs that we really don't need in a cost of living crisis. Apparently 17.8 million EXTRA a year. Madness.

Original poster
justasking111 · 20/09/2023 16:23

The A470 dual carriageway you find drivers doing 20. People watching their speedometer closely rather than the road ahead. I've seen impatient drivers overtaking three cars. It's not safe to do so.

OP posts:
Original poster
justasking111 · 20/09/2023 16:25

There is a petition just checking it.

Wales 20mph massive confusion.
OP posts:
HohiyiKozbevi · 20/09/2023 16:31

If you can see a 20mph sign then its 20mph, obviously. If I saw something like that photo I would assume that some joker had rotated a pair of signs around 180° and the 30 sign was supposed to be pointing at people leaving the more-peopley-area side of the sign and the 20 was supposed to be pointing at those arriving in the more-peopley-area.

The speed limit is a limit not a target. There is no harm in going at 20mph to be on the safe side if there's any confusion. There is no hazard or danger caused by going at 20mph in a 30mph zone. So if in any doubt at all, go at 20mph.

If there's no 20mph sign in sight and you haven't seen a limit repeater sign in the last 200 metres then you are probably in a 30mph zone if there is street lighting. There's also a clue that the limit is 30mph on a main road if the side streets have larger (change of limit) 20mph signs for those turning off the main road.

If paying sufficient attention to these things and making appropriate judgements about a safe and legal speed is at all tricky for you, please just get the bus instead.

SilkenPilken · 20/09/2023 16:38

It’s incredibly hard to focus on the road and be aware of fast and frequently changing speed limits. I don’t get why some people can’t get this and just keep repeating that people are stupid if they are finding it difficult.

There are cyclists and pedestrians and even horse riders on the roads. I need to be hyper aware of them as a driver. In doing this I may miss a speed limit sign. It’s not hard to understand.

SirCharlesRainier · 20/09/2023 16:41

Jokat · 20/09/2023 15:54

It is ridiculous. We are in South London and the speed limit changes so much between 20 and 30 thatI find myself paying so much attention to them so I don't miss the signs that I'm not paying as much attention to the road as I should. And it changes from 30 in main roads and 20 in side roads, to 20 on main road and 20 in side streets across the borough border. It's almost as if they are deliberately trying to catch you out. It's infuriating.

"Paying so much attention" - come on. It's a massive sign with a number on it, you drive at/below the speed the number says until you see a different one, then you drive at/below the speed that number says.

If this confuses you to the extent that you can't concentrate on the road, please hand back your licence.