New 20mph speed limits

[Solomon1]

As new areas of 20 mph limits are coming thick and fast has anyone really started to slow down in these areas?

 

Only noticed them round schools really

 

Nowhere else

[Guest]

On the positive side, if a child runs into the road in front of you, he's less likely to be hit if you're doing 20mph, and, if he/she does get hit, your car will do them less damage than if you were doing, say, 30mph.

 

20 is the new 30 then is it? despite cars nowadays that are designed to crumple on impact and have better breaking systems etc.

[Annie Bynnol]

20 is the new 30 then is it? despite cars nowadays that are designed to crumple on impact and have better breaking systems etc.

 

On my street we have buses, lorries, vans and motorbikes as well as cars old enough not to have crumple zones.

 

Also many have ignorant drivers who choose to drive well above the speed limit.

 

So soon hopefully 30 will be the new 40 on our road along which 3-500 kids have to dodge drivers who daily exceed the limit, park/drive on footways and on verges and seem too scared to give way to people already crossing junctions.

[The PIT]

sadly even in none 20 mph zones people are now driving at 20mph or less.

[DT Ralge]

20 is the new 30 then is it? despite cars nowadays that are designed to crumple on impact and have better breaking systems etc.

 

Are you suggesting that the crumple zones come into play on impact with a pedestrian?

 

(A quarter of the road death toll involves pedestrian deaths).

[onewheeldave]

20 is the new 30 then is it? despite cars nowadays that are designed to crumple on impact and have better breaking systems etc.

 

This may come as a surprise to you, but when a car hits a child, the child is often badly hurt or killed, even if the car is designed to 'crumple on impact'.

 

Rest assured however, that the child will almost certainly be hurt less, if the car, whether it crumples or not, is doing 20 mph, as opposed to 30 mph.

 

So, in that sense, I guess yes, maybe 20 is the new 30?

[Snowglobe]

the road I live on is a 30mph limit by default, although realistically it should be a 20mph road due to the number of obstructions and potential children crossing the road.

I find that most people seem to drive at below the 30mph limit, so maybe people are using their senses and driving at a suitable speed for the road, perhaps that's the culture change we need, for people to think about other road users and their surroundings

[DT Ralge]

Do people not find that they are concentrating more on there speedo then watching the road. I know of a few accidents where this has been the case as the driver was in fear of being over the limit and so was paying to much attention to that then concentrating. I personally travel at what I believe is safe and can observe the road. If I was watch my speed all the time I can think of a few accidents I would have had

 

Very likely (sarcasm).

 

---------- Post added 16-01-2016 at 05:17 ----------

 

Exactly, and I,m all for roads being safe but it seems as if all the attention/concern is for the people who shouldn't be on the road in the first place!. People, kid,s cyclists, horse riders all who dont pay road tax.

 

I cycle and drive ...

 

---------- Post added 16-01-2016 at 05:21 ----------

 

Because making it 20mph is clearly an issue for some, so presumably they'd object even more to 10mph?

 

 

 

Fine by me, actually, but, again, unlikely to meet with public approval.

 

We do. But, wherever you've got kids running around, you're going to get accidents/fatalities as, however much you train therm, kids are just way more spontaneous and less in control than adults.

 

1,713 children killed in 2013, and 21,657 children seriously injured in 2013

 

The figure of 1,713 killed, is actually the lowest yearly death toll of children since records began- while it's good to know the figures been going down, it's somewhat alarming that, on a good year, we've lost 1,713 children to cars.

 

It might be a good idea, for those drivers who have emotional difficulty with driving at sub 20mph, to bear in mind that, if a child does run in front of them, by driving sub 20mph, they could well be saving a life.

 

The TOTAL road death toll in 2013 was 1713 (2014 was 1775).

[bassett one]

reading with great intrest a challenge with SCC  ,from the westfield area public demanding a 20MPH ZONE,well we have this at greenhill/lowedges and many other areas in sheffield,but i find in the general term,its a complete waste of time and money as drivers ignore it and folk know ,theres little chance of being caught,lowedges road leading to bradway in our area is 20mph,but we see them doing 40-60mph,even buses exceed the speed,but in this case we are told its hard to police,even when they have time,hows it in other areas of sheffield? are your local police checking it? intresting

[Baron99]

They must have had them in most parts of Nether Edge since the 1990's & in many cases they are ignored, including by the emergency services.  All that happens is that many just go back to 30mph or more between the humps.