20 mph
Very occasionally a Government ‘think tank’ produces something that has its foundations in common sense but sadly today just isn’t one of those days ...
The Department for Transport has advised local authorities to keep speeds in residential streets down to 20mph "unless there are overriding reasons for accepting higher speeds".
The limit would be enforced by "time over distance" devices that measure the average speed of a car between two points. This is to stop motorists accelerating when there is one camera in use. These cameras are undergoing trials and are still awaiting approval for use in 20mph zones from the Home Office.
More cameras … more anti-car regulations & all in the name of SAFETY. Of course anyone that dare to speak out against any of this (“we are only doing it to protect the little children”) is immediately vilified.
Now I suppose that I am, at least in the eyes of the liberal left, a bit of a reactionary but I thought that ‘joined up government’ was supposed to be the name of the game these days, so you’ll need to follow me on this …
Apparently
1. The country is completely overcrowded
2. We need to build squillions of new homes on what remains of our countryside
Yet
3. "Every year, the inhabitants of a town the size of Nottingham or Belfast are killed or injured on our roads. This report highlights the actions that need to be taken to reduce this level of death and injury." - Robert Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety
Thus, it is not unreasonable to view road deaths in a more positive light, namely that they free up the existing housing stock for all of the millions of social security scoungers that have entered the UK under the auspices of refugee status without having to build on our rapidly diminishing countryside. Surely that’s a win win - trebles all round ?
Comments
What a knobber, the idea of congestion relief is to increase car flow not reduce it, reducing car flow increases congestion.
I'll get back on my bike when the trains have guards brakes again and London cabbies stop trying to kill me!
In the mean time I'll drive to work as there is no public transport that doesnt involve 3 buses and a train for a 23 mile journey that takes me 30 minutes by car!
Posted by: Tim C | October 16, 2007 12:04 PM
Actually with all drivers studying their spedos lest they wander inadvertantly over the 3mph speed limit and run over the man with the red flag, there will be a return to the victorian road death data thus freeing ever more accomodation for the scroungers.
Posted by: Chris Edwards | October 16, 2007 12:53 PM
l think its time we tried this `free space` thingy that is succssesfully being used in other 'forward looking' countrys, and anyway isn't all this low speed crawling, stop starting, humps,trafic lights, and trafic lights on roundabouts a nonsense, think of the dramatic reductions in emissions if you could just gently 'flow', but no, take your car for test and it sniff's a bit rich and you've failed
Posted by: Graham R | October 27, 2007 12:38 AM