To do 20mph in a 20mph area in Birmingham?

[Marmablade]

Visited a friend yesterday. For at least 20 minutes of the journey I was driving in areas with 20mph signs and the occasional flashing 20mph 'slow down' sign (activated by other drivers not me)

3 times I got overtaken by people who went passed very quickly with engine noises suggesting they were accelerating hard.

1 time I heard a horn beep. I wondered if it was for me so double checked the next sign said 20 not 30 incase I'd missed it. It said 20. Then a minute or two later there was more beeping behind me and he was gesturing for me to speed up. I pointed at the 20mph sign we were passing and he decided to overtake me at speed just before a sign which flashed up 20mph.

I had set my cruise control to 21mph as when I passed a 'record your speed' flashing sign that speed flashed as 20mph.

Literally no one else was doing 20 but I'm unfamiliar with the area, wasn't in a hurry and definitely don't want points. Also, if it says 20mph that's the speed limit and I kept over to the side in case people did want to overtake. I don't think it's fair to use your horn to speed someone up who's doing the speed limit but AIBU?

FWIW 20 felt painfully slow. I passed quite a few schools but it's the weekend so obviously not open. I checked to see if it was only 20 when lights flash but I didn't see any time restrictions. Once I got to a 30mph zone I did see a '20mph when school lights flash' so it's obviously a deliberate attempt to slow down traffic all day every day. The problem is is people then set their own speed limit which seemed more like 35/40 which is surely counterintuitive?

KingsHeathen hello neighbour!

I can’t fathom why they did that to Russell Road either. And yet our road is a notorious rat run that people bomb it down constantly and still a 30. Makes NO sense.

Of course YANBU.

A road near us has recently acquired a 20mph limit for quite a long stretch. It is straight, broad and not very built up. It used to be an A road, but it's been bypassed. The limit makes the village it goes through pleasanter, but I presume the main reason is to stop people using it as a rat run instead of going round the bypass (longer but with a 40mph limit).

It's quite amusing to set the speed limiter to accurate 20 (ie my speedo at 22) and see how many people simply can't restrain themselves from overtaking (sometimes with a beep).

There are lots of areas around schools where the 20 limit is purely advisory (grey circles, not red). Is that the case here?

I've come to the conclusion that the new 20 limit in Birmingham means the council has less responsibility to upkeep the road surfaces.

Drive on a pothole riddled road at 20 is as annoying as fuck. Do it at 30 and you'll probably lose your exhaust or get a puncture.

Oddly enough, all the cul-de sacs off the 20mph roads in Birmingham are 30 zones.

This happened to me last year. Was driving through Bristol in a 20mph zone and therefore I kept my speed at 20mph.

Ironically, I was actually driving home from speed school - I had been on the '20mph' course, as I was caught doing 27mph in a 20mph zone a few weeks before

Had some twat driving right up my arse the entire time. When it came to a wide part of the road, he overtook me at lightning speed.

Joke was on him though, as a mobile speed camera was at the side of the road immediately after so he definitely would've been caught.

Sweet sweet victory!

I regularly do the 50mile an hour stretch of the M6 and am amazed at the amount of vehicles zooming past me. I set the speed limiter to 50mph which is a little bit over 50 on my speedometer. No harsh breaking/speeding etc from me and I STILL get harrased by Audi drivers and the odd foreign lorry. Im in the inside lane, theres a whole two other lanes for you to get your points and a fine in...

Having been on a speed awareness course, I don't care how many people I piss of or who drive up my arse, I will keep to the speed limit thank you very much.

So no, YWNBU.

Most of Edgbaston and Harborne has recently been turned into 20mph zones. I think it’s taken a lot of people unawares plus the 20 signs are quite small so if someone isn’t familiar with the area they might think you were going ridiculously slow. But ultimately you’re in the right, not them. FWIW I find it really hard to drive at 20mph. Even in 3rd gear the car runs away with me.

About a year ago there was an article in the Birmingham Mail about how few speed cameras were switched on around the city. They listed the ones that are, and I think people slow down for those but not for others.

Like others, don’t understand Russel Rd though!

YANBU I hate driving in Birmingham especially when people bleep and they can clearly see the speed limit regardless of time of day and then zoom past, tailgate which for me is the worst thing ever...so bloody dangerous!! There's quite a few in Walmley and people completely ignore and carry on doing above 20 definitely not you op!!

First time I went on the motorway they had signs up all over the place saying 50mph I was literally the only one doing fifty

It was a bit of an odd experience to be fair I set my sat nav wrong and instead of no motorway it took me on it all the lorrys went nuts getting past me driving at fifty I passed my test the week before

Funnily enough it was the Edgbaston area! That makes more sense now thank you. They mustn't have seen the new numerous red circle 20 signs and thought I was a twat! Still, the last guy would definitely have seen the flashing 20 sign. It was painful on some of those wide roads but I don't want to waste a day of my annual leave stewing at a speed awareness course when I was aware of my speed!

There are a lot of rude/aggressive and crap drivers around and in my experience, many of them live in Birmingham. 20 mph does sound very slow but I think I do that anyway if there are a lot of pedestrians about. I certainly drive at that speed on the roads where I live as there are children everywhere.

I've seen this in south London. I used to drive there regularly; then in the few years I was away, it's 20mph almost everywhere, barring a few main roads. It was a shock to go back there to find wide main roads with no parked cars now 20mph (probably one of Boris's bright ideas).

I too was beeped at, tailgated, overtaken, for obeying the rules. At one point, I used the bus lane (allowed at that time), and was overtaken by a bus. I expect lots of people still remember how it was before.

Not unreasonable. I rarely see anyone, ever, stick to 20mph. I'm another one who always sticks to the speed limit and I regularly get overtaken or build up a 'tail' of other cars. I always just let them pass when I can - if people want to drive ike idiots I'd rather they do it far away from me!

My area has a 20mph limit in residential areas, and it works well - it is side streets and a lot have cars double parked so it makes sense.

There is a stretch I do on the way to work (different authority) it goes from 60mph down to 30mph for a short stretch. It is past the back of a school but children from the village over the road attend so at school times it drops to 20mph. People really don't like it, and really get very impatient when behind me.

In Bristol there is usually so much traffic that it's impossible for people to overtake me when I am doing 20.

The roads I went on tended to be the mainer ones which made overtaking me pretty easy. I can see their frustration but ultimately a flashing 20 mph sign should be obvious to anyone paying attention to the road!

Funnily enough I've just driven through Edgbaston via Harborne, and it's almost all 20mph now, once you're off the main road.

The signage is a little weird - just repeaters. No "introductory" big sign, or "20mph zone" sign.

But, if that's the speed limit, that's the speed limit.