Lancashire County Council announced that all residential roads will have a speed limit of 20mph by 2013 to create a new attitude towards speeding and reduce road deaths.
There is some merit in the proposal but how many deaths will it save and will it change peoples attitude. It’s easy to come up with objections to any change, and lately we’ve seen plenty, but 20 mph is very slow. What is a ‘residential road’? Is Garstang Road or Watling Street Road residential or is it just side roads. How many street signs will it need. A 100yd cul-de-sac with a 20mph speed sign on it? Who is going to enforce it, will it be 3 points on your license for travelling at 23 mph in mid-morning? Also it can be confusing to pedestrians who think cars are at a distance not to cross then they take longer to arrive and you are tempted to cross. It certainly isn’t environmentally friendly or cheap as a reduction in miles per gallon approaching 20% might be expected.
Outside schools and within a certain distance it seems a reasonable idea although there is a school near us with a full set of humps and full time 20mph restriction and it’s so irritating when there is no-one about to manoeuvre round these humps and drive so slowly. In Leyland they have sharp edged humps which should be illegal, keep away if you like your car.
Update: It seems that it is restricted to side roads, however that is defined.