gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
It was quite a tidy old 850 estate and he seemed unusually patient given I was being a bit slower than usual due to the twit in the newish VW Beetle behind honking his horn and tailgating him ...
National speed limit to be cut to 50 mph
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elbows
Well-Known Member
Yep.
Its funny looking at threads like these, it seems most people have not figured out the nature of the era we now find ourselves in.
Sure cars are practical and fun, but they aint a birthright. Cars are anti-social in a number of ways, planetary resources dictate that people must sacrifice some things on this front in the years to come. Try to look on the bright side and consider yourselves lucky if you still have access to a car for the rest of your life. Failure to compromise will lead to more extremes such as many people being priced off the roads entirely.
Have you really? Gosh!
You know, I don't disagree with what you're saying, although I'm dubious about what that's got to do with deskilling the drivers we've already got...
And any time anyone wants to give me a public transport system that lets me go about my business without driving a car to do it, I'll happily flog it, or at least leave it at home.
I don't see it happening any time soon...
Andrew Hertford
Chocolate Jesus
newme
Giant in Pastyland now
Daft idea, if a particular road causes particular problems then address that. There was a winding country lane by where I used to live, high hedges, maybe 1.5 car widths at a push, that was a 60 for some reason and should be changed. Blanket changes to anything is generally a bad idea.
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
That's all rather premised on the assumption that the only factor involved in accidents and fatalities is speed.
But, then again, that aspect of the debate has been retrodden enough times already here that nobody would seriously still be making the same assumptions...
weltweit
Well-Known Member
That's exactly what's being considered.
No, thats what has been mentioned in one article in one paper.
No comment from the AA or RAC and no comments from drivers groups etc.
I reckon it is a PR floating the idea for some reason or other.
I see no reason to change from 60 to 50, 60 is the maximum speed not the minimum, drive safely and within the speed limits.
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
No, it's definitely under consideration but not yet decided. Comment from the AA here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...d-limits-may-be-reduced-to-50mph-1640157.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...d-limits-may-be-reduced-to-50mph-1640157.html
This isn't going to stop 17 year-olds in Saxos with 5 of their mates in the car wrapping themselves round trees because they don't pay any attention to the speed limit anyway. However, if they were taught to take bends and overtakes safely, rather than "keep to 50 now instead of 60 becasue that's the new limit", then casulaties might actually be reduced.
elbows
Well-Known Member
Well the history of speed limits seems to show they were often done for fuel conservation reasons rather than safety reasons.
Agree about public transport. lthough I fear it wont get better, because its already pretty near capacity in many places, and I struggle to imagine it coping well with the increase in passengers that the future requires.
A friend who drives tells me that a lot of the speed limits round here have been reduced by the local authorities, so maybe even if a new national limit is not imposed, the trend is still there.
Oh, definitely. They changed the legislative basis on which speed limits could be set a few years ago, giving local authorities much more say in what they could do, and the result was a proliferation of new limits, often set for spurious reasons.
As for the public transport issue...it beats me that government cannot see that a public transport system being used to capacity is a Good Thing, and that the correct response to such a "problem" is to plan for increased capacity, not grumble about it and hike prices to reduce demand. Because I think the opposite also happens - my guess is that there will be people who look at the situation around here and say "Ooooh, well, not much point improving public transport there, there's no demand!" while conveniently forgetting that most people, if they need a calendar to see when the next bus is due rather than a watch, will have made alternative arrangements (eg driving a car) and will require rather more than a few pious platitudes about how seriously we're taking public transport before they're going to take the risk of abandoning the car and getting the bus to work.
I tried using the trains around here to get around. Quite apart from the problems a two hour headway presents, I was finding that it really wasn't unusual at all for one of the line's four or five trains per day to be cancelled, often for the flimsiest reasons, and with no notice.
I think it behoves any government to consider providing some sensible alternatives before heading even further down the road of fining, taxing and restricting motor use...
teuchter
je suis teuchter
It would certainly be good if government took public transport more seriously than it does. It also depends on a largely car-dependent electorate demonstrating that they really are prepared to make some changes to their lifestyle in return though, and also be happy to pay for the investment. Generally it seems that they aren't though, outside of London. See recent Manchester proposals for example.
The Scottish parliament appears to be doing rather better than the Wextminster one at the moment, in terms of giving support to stuff like rail line re-openings.
The Scottish parliament appears to be doing rather better than the Wextminster one at the moment, in terms of giving support to stuff like rail line re-openings.
Clearly the car driving portion of the electorate (probably the chunk that can actually be bothered to register to vote and get off their DSS funded sofa to turn out on the day) just aren't prepared to give up their right to travel independently should they wish to do so. NuLabour has finally got round to noticing this and the fact that it's more important than crap like diversity counselling.
As well as the Edinburgh referendum where the result was a 3 to 1 drubbing - in a town where allegedly less than half of the electorate own a car. The Labour administration were unceremoniously turfed out after that fiasco, so I'm surprised that Manchester's finest even bothered to put their necks on the block.
It's easy to "support" an initiative when there's no real funding to back it up - the Westminster Government can always be blamed for the failure to implement. Thankfully they're actually going to guild the second Forth road crossing that the previous incumbents vacillated about for years. Upgrading the A9 to full motorway status was only backpedalled when the accusations of Northern bias crept in so at least the SNP fully recognises the importance of developing the road based infrastructure (e.g. the bit that most people want to use).
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Transport is a devolved matter, isn't it?
The Alloa line is already open and as far as I know the Waverley Line is going to go ahead.
Indeed, but with no direct fundraising powers it's incredibly difficult to plan.
The Waverley route was delayed by 3 years (no work to commence until 2011 at the earliest) so no real money's actually been spent yet.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
National speed limit to be cut to 50 mph
What, even for manual wheelchairs?
What, even for manual wheelchairs?
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