What are your thoughts on the introduction of 20mph speed limits in built-up areas?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Some of you may be aware that on 17th September, the Welsh Government are set to reduce the default speed limit for all built-up and residential areas (aka areas with street lights no more than 200yds apart) from 30mph to 20mph. Transport for London are also changing 125 miles’ worth of London roads to 20mph by 2024. In essence, 20mph speed limits are becoming far more common in built-up areas around the UK, and the introduction of these speed limits is a contentious topic. With this in mind, I’d be keen to know; what are your thoughts on the introduction of 20mph speed limits in built-up areas to replace the default 30mph? Do you agree with the reduction, or do you think that the status quo of 30mph is better?

Personally, as someone who’s been learning to drive for over a year, my stance on 20mph speed limits very much depends on the road.

There are instances where I agree with the introduction of 20mph limits; for instance, I absolutely agree that 20mph is more than fast enough to be driving through the hustle and bustle of a crowded town centre. Near me, town centres like Lydney, Chepstow and Monmouth have enforced 20mph speed limits, and in those instances, I agree that 20mph is plenty fast enough; driving through these towns requires an awful lot of hazard perception. I also agree that 20mph is plenty on side roads with some sort of other hazard; for instance, I absolutely agree with 20mph speed limits outside schools and such, and I also agree that quiet residential side roads probably don’t necessitate a limit higher than 20mph.

However, I do not agree with the blanket introduction of 20mph speed limits on all 30mph roads that the likes of the Welsh Government are pursuing. Under the broad-brush legislation that the Welsh Government are proposing, numerous stretches of main road will become 20mph, and when I drive in Monmouth in particular, I drive along numerous stretches of road that already have a 20mph speed limit where there’s no obvious hazard, and I don’t personally believe that the road conditions call for a speed limit that slow. I absolutely get the safety argument, and in some of the instances I mentioned above like town centres and roads near schools, I think that does have legs, but on some of the roads that are proposed for lowering to 20mph or where a 20mph limit exists, I don’t believe that hazards exist that would necessarily necessitate the lowering of the speed limit beyond 30mph. On main “A” roads in particular, I don’t think the speed limit needs lowering to 20mph, personally. 20mph is a hard speed to drive at, particularly where the road conditions don’t call for it, and numerous people may well exceed that limit; recent DfT research suggests that 85% of drivers exceed 20mph in currently-imposed 20mph speed limit areas (https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlto...uks-department-for-transport/?sh=45ca7ca75c9a).

So in conclusion, I don’t disagree with 20mph speed limits overall. I agree with them in areas such as town centres, streets outside of schools, and other places where there are meaningful hazards that mean that the road conditions don’t call for overly fast driving. However, I don’t personally agree with the blanket introduction of 20mph speed limits in all 30mph zones. In particular, I think that stretches of main road currently at 30mph do not need reducing to 20mph, and in some cases, I don’t think lowering the limit to 20mph is always necessary or likely to be of any meaningful benefit to safety.

But what are your thoughts? Do you agree with the introduction of 20mph speed limits, or do you think that those roads should stay at 30mph?

 

[Rob Coasters]

As someone who doesn't drive, I think it's a fine shout for busy streets in town centres or around schools where people cross the road or interact with, or near it, frequently. So I agree with you there.

However, with the other stretches of main road, I do think there is a justification for the 20mph speed limits there, and they're bicycle-shaped. It's no secret that bicycle users generally have it a bit difficult round here, and when the """""bike lane""""" is nothing more than a low-effort unprotected painting on the side of the road (if even that exists), then cycling in them next to cars going 30mph+ can be and is a little unnerving. And with the size of cars increasing ever more as the years go by with SUVs beginning to become as frequent as ever, it doesn't bode awfully well for them.
BUT!
I would happily switch my opinion on the blanket introduction of 20mph on the main roads if the bike lanes were either raised, protected, or maybe even completely separate from the main road. I'll make it no secret that I'm quite the fan of making our roads more bike-friendly and I kind of hope that our country takes the paths in transport like the Netherlands did. I hope to see that happen in my lifetime. Cities and towns should be created with cyclists in mind, not as a "do we have to?" afterthought. Also this might just be a "me" thing but walking next to a main road is unbearably loud for me especially when next to fast cars but I understand that this probably is not reason enough to bring them down. I guess an argument could be made for reduction of general noise pollution created by large amounts of large & fast vehicles though.

I feel like the concept of 'cars being difficult to operate at low speeds' is a pretty terrible thing. It depends on what makes driving at that speed difficult, because I would happily point fingers at whatever scummy car manufacturer decided to make driving at low speeds intentionally hard because they want you to go at mow-down speeds as much as you can or if it's simply just "the roads aren't maintained well enough because they can't handle the ever increasing weight of newer vehicles".

tl;dr keep them in town centres and near schools. I support the decrease on main roads to take bicycle users into account, but I would support an increase back to 30 on them if sufficient infrastructure is created in the interest of bicycle users' safety.

 

[Dar]

I feel like the concept of 'cars being difficult to operate at low speeds' is a pretty terrible thing.

I've got an old ford focus estate, and the only difficult thing about driving at 20 Vs 30 is my gearbox

20 seems to sit right on the overlap of 2nd and 3rd so I'm either over-revving or chuffing along doing my best steam train impression! The obvious solution is to slow down a little so it's not a problem