Clubjazz - Honda Jazz & HR-V Forums
Other Hondas & General Topics => Off Topic (Non-Honda) => Topic started by: dfconnolly on September 30, 2023, 08:37:41 PM
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Well the time has come in Wales that we have to use the speed limiters on our Hondas
One problem I notice with the intelligent limiter is that it’s challenged when hitting the 20mph limit from 50mph zones and goes ballistic in full audio alarm because the speed doesn’t drop quickly enough unless you slam on the brakes.
You have to really preempt this in advance!
I’m using the limiter to keep my eyes on the road and not constantly looking at the speedometer to keep below the 20mph limit!
Regarding the wisdom of Welsh government in implementing this lower limit is another debate!?
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when did any governemnt have wisdom about anything in recent history??
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Strange road design to have a large cutoff from 50 to 20 without anything in between but I suppose any change needs tweaking.
I'm not a fan of 20, but it is worth trying as an experiment if the pedestrian deaths do fall significantly, as the science predicts. If not another look is in order.
The present furore is entirely media driven and reminds me of the stupid comments when compulsory seat belts were introduced, they look pretty stupid nowadays when no-one with any sense would argue we do away with seat belts after the proven death and injury statistics.
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I dont like 'blanket' 20 mph. There have always been many roads where 30 mph is too fast , and some where even 20 mph is still too fast for the circumstances. But plenty of roads where the current 30 mph is about right. I like to think I am a responsible driver. I often drive well under the 30 mph limit on certain roads,and situations . But it can be quite tempting to exceed the limit if you regard it as too slow. We all think we know better. I always resist the temptation of course , ;) :-[
I live on a main road into town . It is 30 mph. Its 40 mph just up the road, where the houses are identical. Indeed my house is on a short stretch that is dual carriageway. As a resident I am NOT calling for MY road to be 20 mph. It would be ridiculous. Its a road where its tempting to drive faster, and thats why it has a speed camera. I just wish they could stop those on illegal e scooters hurtling along the pavement at 30 mph, so I can emerge safely from my driveway, by car or on foot. Its a bit of a hill too. Would cyclists respect the 20 mph limit?
Its normal in the uk to assume if there are lamp posts its 30 mph unless there are speed signs to the contrary.
Saves on the cost of putting up so many signs. But i think drivers are more likely to respect speed limits if they are always well signed, and accepted as appropriate for the immediate locality. Even if its 10 mph in places.
This doesnt mean I am anti there being a lower limit on many roads. But over use because thats the default speed can breed contempt.
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Strange road design to have a large cutoff from 50 to 20 without anything in between but I suppose any change needs tweaking.
I'm not a fan of 20, but it is worth trying as an experiment if the pedestrian deaths do fall significantly, as the science predicts. If not another look is in order.
The present furore is entirely media driven and reminds me of the stupid comments when compulsory seat belts were introduced, they look pretty stupid nowadays when no-one with any sense would argue we do away with seat belts after the proven death and injury statistics.
After the seat belt legislation came in would you believe that the NHS transplant surgeons were complaining about the reduction in available organs because the survival rate of accident victims increased!!
Well they did.
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Simple don't travel to beautiful Wales, we live 20 miles away. Won't be going to enjoy the scenery and friendly pubs.
Another example of top down rules by non users......
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Is the 20mph limit to help protect the jaywalkers texting and the like on mobile phones and not paying attention
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There does seem to be some confusion as to how all embracing this 20 mph limit is in Wales. My own view is that 20 mph should be the default speed limit on all housing estates, near schools and near any retirement/care homes. That is pretty much the case in Warrington where I live. I'm not sure it's needed outside these areas.
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Would cyclists respect the 20 mph limit?
That's a whole new can of worms. There is a very vociferous pro-cycling lobby that argues “speed limits don’t apply to cyclists”, which is being repeated often enough that people are now accepting it as gospel. But I can’t see any mention in the Highway Code of cyclists being treated differently to any other type of road user, and speed limit signs are “signs that must be obeyed” so IMHO speed limits DO apply to cyclists. But you won’t find anyone doing anything about that, because:
1. Cyclists argue that they are not required to have a speedometer so how can they be expected to know they are speeding?
2. Cycles aren’t required to have visible ID (registration plates) so can’t be formally identified and prosecuted.
Even in circumstances where there is incontrovertible evidence of speeding, and the behaviour could endanger other road users, the authorities seem to be powerless and even a simple warning to them generates a social media storm:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/cyclists-speed-limit-law-devon-police-b2404906.html
(BTW I’m not anti-cycling or e-scootering, I’d just like those doing it to obey the rules because not doing so endangers others, especially pedestrians).
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There does seem to be some confusion as to how all embracing this 20 mph limit is in Wales. My own view is that 20 mph should be the default speed limit on all housing estates, near schools and near any retirement/care homes. That is pretty much the case in Warrington where I live. I'm not sure it's needed outside these areas.
Absolutely agree.
But try telling that to idiot politicians who seem to be bereft of any sense let alone the "common" variety.
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We have a stretch of 20mph here in Kenilworth along the main shopping "street", that bit is fine, you rarely get chance to do more anyway because of the traffic and pedestrian crossings and traffic lights etc. It does however extend rather too far IMO and once out of the main shop area it gets tricky to maintain 20mph without carefully watching the speedo. A blanket 20mph was mooted by some local residents group or other a few years ago but got put aside thankfully.
The town does however highlight some of the absurdities of regulations. If you look at the map you see the A452 signage does not follow what is in reality the main road.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/CV8/@52.3479935,-1.5897278,15.25z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4870b509fe37c6c9:0x74fd6ed0239efa98!8m2!3d52.34044!4d-1.5585727!16s%2Fg%2F11bw3hfb_p?entry=ttu
The A452 goes off round some side roads and residential streets. The reason is that by law (as I understand it) an A road cannot have a "ford" these days, but that's what there is near the castle (when it rains heavily), so the principal road becomes the B4103 past the castle and through the town.
However I also believe an A road shouldn't have a one-way section, but that's exactly what the A452 does, and if you try to follow it north-west to south-east you find that at Fieldgate Lane it is one way only and you can't follow the A452 at all and have to go off onto other lanes and roads. This is all nonsense, if you come into the town from Birmingham direction you just follow the road on the obvious route, the numbering is simply a cobbled up fiddle. Bureaucracy eh?
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We've a couple of housing estates in town with 20mph limits. Makes total sense to me, and I would support a wider adoption of the lower limit in dense urban areas.
What I've noticed, is in 20 limits, people drive nearer 30. In 30 limits, well, 40 is order of the day. 20 is plently gets my vote.
when did any governemnt have wisdom about anything in recent history??
Certainly the last 13yrs. Shower of.......
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:o 20 or 30
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The roads in my London borough are pretty much all 20mph, the exception being main roads which run through multiple boroughs; these are administered by Transport for London and tend to have varying speeds of 50, 40, 30 and, at junctions, etc, 20mph. TfL recently indicated that there would be more 20mph zones introduced where needed. It's not a ''blanket'' 20mph thing but the rhetoric about ''blanket bans'' may have much to do with the Conservatives' attempts to replace Khan as London mayor.
I haven't found that keeping to 20mph is any more difficult than keeping to 30mph - all it needs is a reasonable sense of how fast you're actually going. Journey times are only very slightly affected at 20 but the effect of improved safety for more vulnerable road users is far greater.
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Just for the record it's not a "blanket 20mph" in Wales either.
Old 30mph limits in built up areas have changed to 20mph but councils had the power to keep roads at 30mph if they thought it was safe. Main roads into and out of Cardiff and others across the country are still 30mph.
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A few years ago a 20 IS PLENTY scheme was introduced in the streets arounf a scholl are where I lived.
The only people i saw disregarding this limit was people taking their kids to school!!
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Perhaps one of the reasons for dropping the default urban speed limit to 20mph is to discourage sat-navs from short-cutting through towns and villages because the calculated journey times for such routes will increase. I personally want a sat-nav option to input my maximum speed at 60mph so I'm not routed onto potentially faster roads.
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Perhaps one of the reasons for dropping the default urban speed limit to 20mph is to discourage sat-navs from short-cutting through towns and villages because the calculated journey times for such routes will increase. I personally want a sat-nav option to input my maximum speed at 60mph so I'm not routed onto potentially faster roads.
The Garmin system in the car seems to use more short cut ' rat runs' than my standalone Garmin does. And they dont always save time or distance.
Setting preferences to exclude motorways can sometimes avoid faster roads, but may still include 70 mph dual carriageways. If I have time I will often set the route as a trip, where you can add one or more via points (waypoints) to ensure it uses the route and roads you want. But it can be time consuming . Sometimes one via point is enough, but you may need several to ensure it doesnt still find faster routes between them.
One downside is if there is a diversion due to a road closure it may take you miles out of your way trying to reach a via point you dont actually need to visit. (Until i learned how to quickly cancel 'next via point' :-[ ) You also have to be very accurate when placing your waypoint marker tag. If you place it on the wrong carriageway of a dual carriagway/motorway , or off to the side of a main road it may take you miles trying to get to the exact spot you tagged. Again needing a quick cancellation.
You can also set a specified avoidance zone to avoid a particular road, town or village , although I have never used this facility.
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The present furore is entirely media driven and reminds me of the stupid comments when compulsory seat belts were introduced, they look pretty stupid nowadays when no-one with any sense would argue we do away with seat belts after the proven death and injury statistics.
Best comment I ever heard about seat belts was the transplant surgeons complaining that the supply of organs was reduced as more people were surviving crashes!! :o
So the law of unintended consequences is not a new thing after all.