Lowering Sheffield speed limits to 25 mph

[Tshombe]

Rarther than start down this route that is open to opposition from people that are not daft enough to work out that this would be an eccological nightmare, we should start from the top and ban all new cars being abouve 1.3 cc unless it be for transport of goods or emergency veircles.

 

1.3 engiens now are fast enough for anything and it would help in the quest to cut speeding on motorways and car theft with the only cars fast enough to be on the road being the police.

 

!

Model aircraft are often larger than 1.3cc, my car is 1500cc (1.5 litre).

[spindrift]

Reducing speeds increases road capacity because you don't need the same braking distance, not that many drivers leave one a) because they annoyingly swerve into one and b) 'cos i try not to let them !!!

I partially agree that the number of junctions slow progress down and poor road design is to blame - but this post is about speed limits.

 

Anyway nice to see that the authorities are on he case with increased advertising and monitoring - Oh they aren't are they !

 

Half of all urban car journeys are less than two miles.

[spindrift]

Reasons why twenty's plenty:

 

 

Safer

 

* 20mph zones in Hull, for example, have reduced the number of people killed and seriously injured by 90%. In Holland, where over half of all residential roads are subject to a 30 km/h (19 mph) speed limit, a 25% reduction in all injury collisions has been recorded.

 

* A review of 20 mph zones in London found that there was an average reduction in casualties of 42%, compared with an 8% reduction in surrounding areas. Although injuries amongst cyclists reduced at a lower rate than other users (only 17%), this does not take account of the fact that cycling levels increased much more than for other modes.

 

Better quality of life

 

* 20mph limits also contribute significantly to improving the quality of life. A survey of European best practice by the Commission for Integrated Transport found that where cities have extensive 20mph or 30kmh limits — covering between 65 to 85% of the urban road network — they are transformed “from being noisy, polluted places into vibrant, people-centred environments, with significant levels of walking, cycling and public transport”.

 

Lower emissions

 

* When 30 kph zones were introduced in Germany, car drivers on average had to change gear 12% less often, use their brakes 14% less often and require 12% less fuel.

 

Popular

 

* 20mph limits are also highly popular: in the 2005 British Social Attitudes survey, three-quarters of people said they favoured 20mph limits in residential areas, including 72% of drivers.

 

An excellent model is Portsmouth City Council, which has introduced widespread 20mph limits in almost all its residential streets. The programme was designed to promote walking and cycling and “... create a culture where driving too fast in residential areas is seen as anti-social.”

 

It won the support of the majority of residents. Other councils are now following suit.

 

 

http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5176

 

Department for Transport guidance on 20 mph zones and limits

 

The Department for Transport is now minded to change their guidance to give a stronger backing to the use of 20 mph zones and speed limits, whilst giving a little more flexibility to use simpler traffic calming measures rather than expensive and unpopular road humps. The DfT says:

 

We want to encourage highway authorities to introduce, over time, 20 mph zones or limits into streets which are primarily residential in nature and into town and city streets where pedestrian and cyclists movements are high, such as around schools, shops, markets, playgrounds and other areas, where these are not part of any major through route.

[spindrift]

http://www.20splentyforsheffield.org.uk/?paged=2

 

Much has been made in the local press and TV this January of a report linking dangerous levels of pollution in Sheffield to emissions from motor vehicles. This is said to be responsible for around 325 premature deaths in Sheffield every year, with a cost to the NHS of £96 million

 

Over the last 10 years, successive Council administrations have known about the evidence but done little. There seemed to be an assumption that new generations of engine technology would reduce traffic pollution in the city. This hasn’t happened; in fact the number of journeys by car has continued to go up and with it the pollution.

 

Adopting the default 20mph speed limit in residential areas would be an important factor towards creating a modal shift back to walking and cycling for short journeys. British parents consistently cite traffic speed as the main reason why their children are not allowed to cycle or walk to school.

[anywebsite]

I would've preferred 50+ limit...........

 

.....on empty streets

 

Regards

 

55 on big straight empty roads is the most efficient.

 

If we had more 50+ limit dual carriageways, or even motorways to help us get around the city, away from any pedestrians, it'd be safer, faster & more efficient.

[Tony]

It would be difficult to get to Tesco on a motorway.

[anywebsite]

It would be difficult to get to Tesco on a motorway.

 

Try cycling home with a week's shopping...

 

It's bad enough trying to get there in a car, takes the best part of 30 minutes, from my house. However, there is room for all the roads on the route to be widened into dual carriageways.

 

Manchester has the M60. All Sheffield has is the M1 & the parkway. Sheffield's road system is absolutely shocking & you're wanting to make it even harder to use a car in Sheffield.

 

Admittedly it's harder in Sheffield because of the hills. We could still widen the main routes, build more dual carriageways, increase speed limits on those main routes & design them so that pedestrians are kept away from the traffic.

 

Then lower speed limits in residential areas would make more sense. There would be less need to drive on residential roads.

 

Instead you're proposing more gridlock at peak times, more speed bumps, higher fuel consumption & expecting people to climb massive hills on foot or on bike to get home from work.

[Tony]

Apart from the practical issues, doesn't that fly in the face of the common sense of reducing vehicle use?

[anywebsite]

I fail to see the common sense in that.

 

Less vehicle use is going to make the city even less economically efficient than our neighbours. It's going to increase the cost of bringing goods into the city & taking them out. It's going to drive even more employers away from Sheffield.

 

Try telling someone from one of the big council estates or residential areas around Sheffield they've got to walk/cycle an extra 12 miles a day & climb a massive hill every day if they want a job.

 

It's fine if nobody actually needs to get anywhere, or earn a living.

[HeadingNorth]

I fail to see the common sense in that.

 

 

A car weighs over a ton, and in most cases is being used to transport a person weighing less than two hundredweight. That's ridiculously inefficient by any standards.