20mph in Wales - why???

[Flpwer]

I don't understand why Mark Drakeford has done this - surely this will just cause more road rage??? Is this a money-making ploy because they know a lot of people will probably drive over it as 20mph feels so unnatural.

I thought I would look into this and it is very confusing! I found something that says "A speedo must never show less than the actual speed, and must never show more than 110% of actual speed + 6.25mph."

So if I am doing an actual 20mph, the speedo could in theory legally be saying 28.25mph. The other way around this means my speedo could be showing 20mph but I am really doing only 12.5mph in real life. This is very confusing as it means anywhere between a reading of 20mph and 28.25mph could be the legal limit. In this case I will stick to 20mph but if I am doing 12.5mph in real life it is not my fault as it is apparently legal!

Generally speedos are set to show around 4mph higher than actual speed I believe. If you have a sat nav it will show your actual speed so you should be able to get an idea of the differential.

So the posters that 'drives 5mph slower than the limit' will actually be driving at around 10mph with the new limits.

To drive 20mph in both my cars i need to be in 2nd gear and that's a lot more revs than 30mph, so safety aside, that's probably more pollution.

It's ridiculous anywhere other than by schools or on housing estates.

Loads of places on Sunday still had 30mph signs up, so hoping those stay 30....

To drive 20mph in both my cars i need to be in 2nd gear and that's a lot more revs than 30mph, so safety aside, that's probably more pollution

Really? They must have widely spaced gear ratios. Just tried one of mine:

20mph, 2nd - 2000rpm
30mph, 3rd - 2100rpm

I also think it’s more polluting though, although the car I tried this in will happily pull 6th at 30mph.

Most of the time my car can do 20mph in 3rd gear except if it’s uphill.

It’s a 7 seater, 1.2 petrol engine.

Where I live drivers were pretty much obeying 20mph the first week but not now! Interesting that although lots of Labour and Plaid SMs have supported this on Twitter, Vaughan Gething has been very quiet. He's next in line to become Welsh Labour leader so may not want to be associated if it all goes wrong.

Cars seem to have generally slowed down through our village. They are trying to stick to the 20mph limit and I also feel that they are more aware of their speed in the 30mph part too. I haven't seen any tailgating or road rage yet.

I personally support the limit as my friend's son was killed by a car travelling at 28mph. We'll never know if a lower speed limit would have saved him.

There’s a great dashcam video posted in the last few days of a cyclist overtaking a motorist who is sticking to the 20 mph speed limit…. The cyclist rapidly disappears into the distance.

Wales has become a national laughing stock.

Where I live, we all woke up one morning to find that the 30 limits had been replaced with 20s. There was a little bit of a fuss on the local Facebook groups, but also some support. Drakeford's mistake was all the publicity - nobody cares about our area of rural England suffering the same fate!
Disclaimer: I am sure that the changes must have been visible to the public somewhere, but I don't know anyone who was expecting the change.

When the 20mph limit came into force in various London boroughs, I hated it. It felt so slow and unnatural.

But now, I think it's great! I now live in a town where people drive at 35mph down the high street where there are tonnes of kids and narrow pavements. I drive along at 20mph now to make a point. If there's one thing I dislike about Essex, it's the residents' love of speed, especially in a town.

I can well believe that cruising at 30 emits less pollution per mile than cruising at 20 mph.

But if I drive through my town at a maximum speed of 30 mph then I actually spend most of my time braking for speed bumps then accelerating to get back up to speed.

If I aim to make 20 mph my maximum speed, I can cruise right through at constant speed (with cruise control on, if I choose). The car rolls right over the speed bumps quite comfortably, and I could well believe the exhaust emissions could be reduced overall.

travelling at a steadier speed will also mean decreased particulate emissions from brake and tyre wear, which is another important consideration.

It depends which car I drive. One is fine at 20 but the other can’t make its mind up as to which gear to use. It’s irritating.

There's plenty of reports coming through where 20 mph are being switched back to 30 mph now.....
The Welsh "bladerunners" seem to be out in force too.

It really has made them the laughing stock of the UK for a change

@RedPony1 where are those reports?

I’m in full support of the change. Driving behaviour seems to have calmed down in our town this week.

I really hope that the Welsh Government stand firm on this.

I am too and I welcome the change. It will save lives so I can’t understand the outrage.

I'm currently travelling around Europe. 30kph (18.6mph) limits everywhere. I bet that they didn't act like it was the end of civilisation as we know it. The tantrums I've seen online have been ridiculous, as have the rants at the pub.

In one place in the Swiss Alps, the limit was 20kph (12.4mph). Complete with one of those smiley face signs that tells you if you're speeding or not. It was sensitive enough to detect pedestrians so of course I had to test it. I managed to run at 24kph and got a yellow warning. Would have needed another 6kph to get the red frowny face. My village could do with that though, there are no pavements and people drive far too fast.

Completely agree!
Ridiculous for people to be actually threatening Mark Drakeford, over having to drive a tiny bit slower in some places! Get a grip i say..