Reduce speed limits to 30mph - petition

[mjr]

It happened last February. It was part of a bigger plan and speed limits in urban areas were supposed to be reduced to 30 Km/hr and 80 on National Secondary roads but they seemed to have had cold feet about those changes.

Overall road deaths increased last year from the previous year, no idea if there was a decrease on the roads that had speed limit reductions.

Do you have a link to the stats? If they chickened out of other changes, it might reduce the number of confounding or aliasing factors.

[...] there remains a small group of hardcore muppets who think the rules don't apply to them. They will get away with it due to a lack of policing and courts that don't bother to punish dangerous drivers.

Yes, this group is a problem which needs policing and court changes. The reduction of speed limits mainly brings benefits in reducing the harm done by law-abiding people who are either clueless (such as don't feel they need to overtake cyclists correctly, or were never taught that they should) or make mistakes.

 

[Gwylan]

Speed limits should be related to the driver's age.
No one gets a licence until they are 20 anyway.
So, 20 to 24 speed limit is 20 mph, 25 to 30 then it's 25mph.
30 to 34 it's 30 mph
35 - 40 then its 35 mph and so on

The magic is that as you get older you realise, hopefully that you drive to the conditions not to the limit anyway.

Break the speed limit and your limit is reduced by one or more steps, until you reach the next age band.
Oh, yes that means 20 year olds go back to zero until they are 25.
Speedy 25 - 30 year old then you could find yourself back at zero.

Me? I'm nearly 80, not a problem. I have the reactions of an 18 year old, but then I wake up.

 

[Bristolian]

I’d prefer it if the syllabus for learning to drive included Limit Point Analysis for cornering, as well as 3-stage overtaking. The latter technique would make it infinitely safer for cyclists.

It would also be helpful if more emphasis were placed on always being able to stop undramatically in the distance you can see to be clear (matching speed with available vision and grip).

Sadly, I doubt the DVSA would ever do much to improve the syllabus for learning to drive.

Whilst I agree with your points wholeheartedly, on the basis that the vast majority of current drivers can't get their heads around the existing rules and best practices I suspect the chances of teaching learners advanced driving techniques are somewhere below zero. Sadly

DVSA have to align the learner syllabus with the abilities of their driving instructors. 'Nuff said

 

[Happy_Days]

Perhaps we need a graduated driving license.

 

[mjr]

Perhaps we need a graduated driving license.

Sounds elitist! Why shouldn't non-graduates drive?

 

[Bristolian]

Perhaps we need a graduated driving license.

Absolutely. We have them for motorcyclists and LGV drivers so why not car drivers? As far as I can see, there is no logical reason not to have them.

IMHO, It is only a lack of political will that stops it happening - the fear that large corporate donors would stop propping up political parties that advocated for it.

 

[DRM]

View attachment 806089
Specifically only for "single carriageways usually found in rural areas".

Now they must have thought carefully about this and chosen these words to add some value. Either that or it was written by an idiot and I can't believe that.

It was written by an idiot, single carriageway simply means where there is no physical central separation, it is marked by a painted line, they can have multiple lanes going in the same direction, the author is clearly clueless & has never read the highway code

 

[DRM]

It is already in all new cars, by law.

It has been required for all new cars sold since July 2024.

https://www.bumper.co/blog/mandatory-speed-limiters

That article is total and utter tosh, my car & van, both 2025 models have a speed limit function fitted, but you set it manually, they are not automated, an automated one in the van would be a complete disaster, as it doesn't have a clue what the actual limit is, it picks up 20 MPH limits on side roads, when you aren't on them, sees the speed reduction signs on smart motorways, but not the return to NSL, it picks up 5 MPH signs outside business premises, and thinks that one 30 MPH road I was on had a 90 MPH limit, thank god that this shambles isn't automated, it would be a complete disaster.

 

[Alex321]

That article is total and utter tosh, my car & van, both 2025 models have a speed limit function fitted, but you set it manually, they are not automated, an automated one in the van would be a complete disaster, as it doesn't have a clue what the actual limit is, it picks up 20 MPH limits on side roads, when you aren't on them, sees the speed reduction signs on smart motorways, but not the return to NSL, it picks up 5 MPH signs outside business premises, and thinks that one 30 MPH road I was on had a 90 MPH limit, thank god that this shambles isn't automated, it would be a complete disaster.

The article was correct. Your van is not a car.

As are these others on the subject.
https://www.webuyanycar.com/guides/car-ownership/speed-limiters/

https://www.electrifying.com/blog/p...laws-what-they-mean-and-what-you-need-to-know

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The article was correct. Your van is not a car.

As are these others on the subject.
https://www.webuyanycar.com/guides/car-ownership/speed-limiters/

https://www.electrifying.com/blog/p...laws-what-they-mean-and-what-you-need-to-know

Mine has a feature to set the maximum speed
and it claims to know the current speed limit via both signs it "sees"
and by the SatNav

but the SatNav is out of date even if I have just updated it and the "sign seeing" function only works some of the time

for a speed limit to be "forced" then the relevant vehicles would need a reliable WWW connection

and that could easily be blocked by "someone" if they just find out where the aerial/sim card is and have some aluminium foil!

 

[Dogtrousers]

I have no automation at all in my 2013 car. But I do have a moderately old TomTom satnav (one with a SIM, maybe 10 years old). It's extremely good at knowing the speed limits (not temporary ones on M-ways). It gives me an audible warning if I exceed them. It's not exactly new technology.

 

[Profpointy]

I'd say the average driver is much more respectful around cyclists these days than were twenty years ago when I started cycling again as an adult, but there remains a small group of hardcore muppets who think the rules don't apply to them. They will get away with it due to a lack of policing and courts that don't bother to punish dangerous drivers.

One ongoing real problem is the continual propaganda advocating hatred of cyclists, or even murder. If the same newspapers and celebs said the same about black people, they'd be in court. And so would an individual publishing calls to murder said "journalists"

 

[Electric_Andy]

It's not exactly new technology.

This is my point really. Nothing is going to be perfect, and any tech is liable to fail occasionally or be tampered with. But let's remember that those who would illegally tamper with such things are not the majority. See also DPF and EGR deletion. Yes some people do it but not very many in the grand scheme of things. Many people have newer cars now and it would take an awful lot of time, hassle and expense to skirt around any forced speed limiter activation, which most people wouldn't do. Also after time it gets easier for people to accept.

There is an average speed camera on 2 main sections of my commute now. I just put my speed limiter on and cruise along at 30. Those undertaking at 45+ are soon slamming their brakes on at the next static camera or set of lights

 

[dougie78]

The principle makes sense on twisty rural lanes where 60mph is clearly unsuitable. But the petition wording feels too broad. I’d rather see 30/40mph defaults for unlined rural roads, with higher limits where justified.