To think driving 10mph is too slow?

[Hulabalu]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/16/speed-limits-should-be-cut-to-10mph/

per the above article, there wil be “less deaths if we drive at 10mph”. No sh*t! There will be less deaths if we stop using cars and go back to horse and cart. This is the reversal of progress. Maybe the invention of the wheel was too dangerous!
There are already too many 20mph roads , even dual carriageways in non residential areas. It’s too slow! You can’t get anywhere. London has gotten ridiculous!

I think 20 is fine. Although my car really struggles at 20, either wanting to go slower or faster. Perhaps 25 its more comfortable with

Yes it’s insane- we have one road near us that changes from 30 to 20mph simply because half of it falls under a different council. Me and many of my friends have had clean licences for 20+ years, 20mph zones come in and bam we all get done. I had to do a speed awareness course for 24’mph. It’s a money making scam end of.

100%!

It’s an absolutely bloody stupid idea.

bet cyclists won’t adhere to the speed limit either!

I agree OP! I think 20 is too slow let alone 10 ffs. 20 around schools is sensible because if the higher risk of a child running out in the road. Other than that we need to go back to 30 being the norm in built up areas. 10 is ridiculous.

Totally agree, 10mph is insane! Our town has recently dropped to 20mph throughout which I adhere to and accept as there’s lots of kids and I have kids so much safer, even though for some roads it seems really slow! But 10mph is ridiculous, it’s barely moving! Unrealistic.

It’s a 20 limit through our village. I was over taken by a cyclist…….

I am literally going to get a horse & cart to transport the family. Cheaper than a car and greener 😄

As usual articles in the media on other publications are selective about what parts they quote

The road safety foundation have made a statement about media articles, as below plus the actual report in the second link

https://roadsafetyfoundation.org/statement-from-the-road-safety-foundation-on-recent-media-coverage/

https://roadsafetyfoundation.org/determining-safe-speeds/

Yes 10 is way too slow. I could run faster 🤣

Only time I've ever done 10mph on a road is when there was a lot of young children outside a school/nursery after some sort of event.

There were so many children about some on scooters I just slowed right down to be safe..no one behind me so it didn't matter to anyone else on road.

10 Is too slow for normal road use

How much time will you save if you decide to do 30mph in a residential area instead of 20mph?

At some point, there's a speed that's too slow but 20mph in a residential area seems fine giving thinking and stopping distance

Why is 20mph ok around schools where pupils could be rushing out into the road but too slow around residential areas where children could be playing, crossing the road etc,

It is mad. But, I think tens of millions of horses and carts would cause more fatalities.

I’m in wales and the 20mph has replaced the majority of the 30mph areas round me. I totally get around schools and town centres but there are some areas where we’re literally crawling for no reason and my car isn’t sure what gear it wants to be in - I’m not sure how good it is for the environment?! I think 10 would be ridiculous. May as well run (well if you’re good at running)

The term residential area is so strange imo- as another poster said I understand school streets and narrow roads but I live in London, large main roads have properties either side. It’s also not so much about time but how painfully hard it is to drive 20mph on some streets.

To be fair people could be crossing anywhere - so let’s do 10mph everywhere except the m25

Yes , why not make it just 5mph everywhere 🤷‍♀️. So much safer !

I really think my car would just stall if I tried to drive at 10 mph.

20 is fine where I am in London. I have no problem not running over people. It also means that the traffic consistently runs instead of all that speeding up and slowing down.

The Telegraph has gone from being a serious newspaper to being a source of ridiculous hysteria. It's becoming the Daily Express with semi-colons.

Never let the facts get in the way of a dog whistle.

How many people did you run over at 30mph?

What speed would you pick in residential areas to balance speed, safety, reaction times, stopping distance etc?

From the link above

We are concerned by the distortion of our research and the damage this has done to the understanding of the public. We ask media outlets to correct their misreporting, issue clarifications, and present this work with integrity.

The way the telegraph has reported on this is just pure unadulterated clickbait. targeting those who don't read past the headline

What speed would you put on country lanes?

That's a good question.

I think that 60 is too high. We went to Norway and it was 80km/h virtually everywhere (50mph) - bends, blind corners, tractors coming out, cyclists It was slower, but I don't think the effect on journey time is affected too much, especially as you get to villages when you have to slow down anyway.

What speed do you think is appropriate for residential areas?