This was raised on another board:
tinyurl.com/4zopg2
It seems that Warwickshire County Council will have their way in spite of 40 formal objections, many from the police. "Members of the Stratford-on-Avon East joint committee [councillors] considered and overruled these objections on the grounds that 'councils had to take account of a broader range of issues than the police, in particular community concerns about speed'. It was also reported that even in cases where Warwickshire Police has not made a formal objection ?it does not support the council?s lower limits?.
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Typical, I really enjoy the driving around Warwickshire and was surprised (and delighted) to find most roads still follow the old pattern of national speed limit in the country and reasonable limits where appropriate.
Too good to be true in this day and age.
It's going to be an increasingly rare joy to actually motor along at 60/70mph without breaking speed limits.
It seems the new de-facto national standard is 50mph for dual carriageways and A roads outside built up areas, 40mph for A-roads leading into built-up areas, 30 mph for A-roads through towns and yet still mostly 60 on country lanes! Bizarre! They should go back to the old days of setting limits nationally with agreed standards that were not influenced by local politics...
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imho some of the new restrictions are reasonable, and reflect increasing urbanisation (new housing estates etc) ;others apply to nice straight stretches of road with pretty hedgerows providing perfect cover for Sc*mvans to trap the unwary.
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yep i know northumbria police appealed against several speed limits being lowered
which is hard for them given the political climate, good on them i say
just goes to show speed limit setting should be taken out of political control and into the hands of impartial advanced drivers who do high miles/lots of experience
also the useless civil engineering consultants typically sub contracted by councils have a lot to answer for, and should be kicked off the gravey train for their psuedo science gobbledegoop approach to speed advice and cameras/road uncalming etc, its just a big income stream for them
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yep i know northumbria police appealed against several speed limits being lowered which is hard for them given the political climate good on them i say
Perhaps they were concerned that if the average motorist finds less and less correlation between the posted limit and what they feel is safe[*] then the dominant effect is simply that speed limits, and maybe by extension other traffic rules, are brought into disrepute.
[*] although I'm sure we could all benefit from periodic assessment of our ability to assess safety.
just goes to show speed limit setting should be taken out of political control and into the hands of impartial advanced drivers who do high miles/lots of experience
I find it utterly astounding that anyone other than experts are allowed to voice an opinion.
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imho some of the new restrictions are reasonable and reflect increasing urbanisation
You are almost certainly wrong noise vibration and harshness as people nearly always are when they start sucking up to the local 'authorities', snivelling carphounds to a man woman and thing in between, on matters of this sort.
So it would be far better if you didn't give vent to pathetic snivelling very humble opinions like that. IMVHO of course (evil smirk).
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>> increasing urbanisation
The planners have gone mad.
Living and driving in Warwickshire for almost a quarter of a century perhaps gives me a greater insight.
I know these roads well.
The housing estates and retail parks are new, the stratford bypass is new.
In Warwick, there is at least one 60mph stretch which now includes an offset roundabout.
Those familiar with the roads are still astounded that the council introduced cycle lanes in some places effectively narrowing the main through roads, despite having wide grass verges and pavements. Hence the 50-40-30 reductions.
The lanes are now too narrow for buses, lorries etc to pass without encroaching on the cycle lane.
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They should go back to the old days of setting limits nationally with agreed standards
I agree. there is a complete lack of consistency. The A140 from Norwich to Ipswich is a good example. The Norfolk stretch is basically NSL with restriction through the villages. As soon as you pass into Suffolk it becomes a mass of fluctuating limits with a maximum of 50mph
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There is a plaque on a wall at a certain boarding school in Warwickshire marking the spot where one William Webb Ellis "with a fine disregard for the rules... first picked up the ball and ran with it, thus creating the distinctive feature of the ... game".
Ran with it ?!?!?! As recently as 1823 ?!?!
If he were attempting the same exploit today, he could well expect a dozen consecutive speeding fines (arriving by post within the statutory period) a couple of on the spot ones for good measure, an ASBO, supervision order and detention by a PCSO until the "real" police turned up.
I fully expect to see reenactment of the Red Flag Act within my lifetime.
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