No to lowering speed limit.

[snorri]

I thought this was a bit disappointing

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...cil-drops-plan-to-lower-speed-limit-1.1123266

 

[HLaB]

I saw that on the news the other day, sign clutter seemed a lame excuse to me.

 

[Banjo]

If speedlimits were better enforced it would have more effect than lowering the limit.

Where I live when they introduced cameras in it was really noticeable that cars were slowing down through the villages. Personally I like cameras, if you dont want to pay the fine then dont do the crime.

Re the blot on the landscape argument why not just paint the limits on the road in rural areas?

 

[Dan B]

Re the "blot on the landscape" argument, I'd suggest - admittedly without having seen it - that the road itself, and the traffic it enables, is a much bigger blot on the landscape than a few signs could ever be

 

[albion]

The country is near bankrupt so a blanket motorway limit 60mph and A road 50mph would help with our balance of payments.




And if every country had such sensible limits then the cost of oil would either fall or fail to go further into orbit.

 

[Alun]

The country is near bankrupt so a blanket motorway limit 60mph and A road 50mph would help with our balance of payments.




And if every country had such sensible limits then the cost of oil would either fall or fail to go further into orbit.

I'll leave those decisions to you expert economist types!

 

[HLaB]

The country is near bankrupt so a blanket motorway limit 60mph and A road 50mph would help with our balance of payments.




And if every country had such sensible limits then the cost of oil would either fall or fail to go further into orbit.

Playing devil's advocate on one hand most economies succeed better financially with faster more efficient transport links but on the other hand the cost saving due to accident reduction alone would out weigh this IMO. Actually the whole road should be replaced with a high speed rail line

 

[Mr Celine]

I thought this was a bit disappointing

http://www.heraldsco...limit-1.1123266

IMHO a very sensible decision. Lowering the speed limits on these two roads would be expensive and intrusive due to all the 50mph repeater signs but more importantly it would have no effect on the casualty rates.
Both roads are weekend race tracks for motorcycles and the KSI stats merely reflect this. One notable fatality on the A708 involved one organ donor biker colliding with the fire engine on its way to hose down the wreck of the previous crash.
Due to the twisting nature of both these roads there are few spots where it is possible to reach 50mph in a car. On a motorcycle it's a different story, and as the bikers ignore the 60mph limit they are hardly likely to comply with a 50mph limit.

I cycle on the A708 most weeks. The speeding bikers do not pass close or on blind corners and are far less dangerous to me (and everyone else except themselves) than the 35mph Sunday drivers.

 

[twobiker]

I don't think lowering the speed limit will bring down the price of fuel, we will still pay the same tax on it and world markets will still jack up the price every time someone sneezes in the middle east.

 

[albion]

It would certainly cut deaths as no doubt is the fact that car miles have declined quite dramatically.Some reckon that the deficit means sterling has a further decline of 50%+ so £10 a gallon by 2013 sounds possible.

 

[snorri]

IMHO a very sensible decision. Lowering the speed limits on these two roads would be expensive and intrusive due to all the 50mph repeater signs but more importantly it would have no effect on the casualty rates.

As you have local knowledge, I will take your word for it, but I am generally in favour of lower limits on rural roads.

My disappointment comment was based on local experience of a road with a bad crash record where the limit was reduced. The vast majority of users obey the new limit and they have the effect of a rolling road block on the would be racers. The slower average speed has dramatically reduced the number of close passes of cyclists as drivers used to squeeze through in the face of oncoming traffic, now they seem happier to hold back.
Although the limit was reduced in order to deter boy racers from killing themselves, it has had the effect of reducing the danger caused by these drivers who treat speed limits as speed targets and so create a hazard for cyclists and pedestrians.
The new 50mph signage could not by any stretch of the imagination be described as intrusive.

 

[gaz]

If speedlimits were better enforced it would have more effect than lowering the limit.

Where I live when they introduced cameras in it was really noticeable that cars were slowing down through the villages. Personally I like cameras, if you dont want to pay the fine then dont do the crime.

Re the blot on the landscape argument why not just paint the limits on the road in rural areas?

You mean they slowed down where the cameras are?

Every local road user knows where the cameras are and they just speed in between, fixed cameras are a waist of time!

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Playing devil's advocate on one hand most economies succeed better financially with faster more efficient transport links but on the other hand the cost saving due to accident reduction alone would out weigh this IMO. Actually the whole road should be replaced with a high speed rail line

Yea , change the road for Rail ,, so we can all stand at the side and watch the train wizzzz past , coz sure as hell no one could afford to use it ,

 

[albion]

The rule is that we are allowed to know where the cameras are so we can then choose where to increase death risk by driving illegally.A perversity of so called freedom.

 

[albion]

Seems they are about to increase the motorway limit to 80mph.Maybe the extra 15% of fuel needed will help push of fuel costs and keep the riff-raff off em.Nutty as a fruit cake as far as I'm concerned. Costs and costs!