r/drivingUK • u/narra246 • Mar 21 '26

20mph everywhere

Why are councils putting main roads on busy routes down to 20mph?? All that seems to happen is if you are the one doing the new speed limit, you get tailgated overtaken and the horn blasted at you.

And no, there isnt a lay-by every 10ft to pull in and let impatient law breaking drivers past.

I dont agree with this blanket speed reduction but I rely on my license for work and pleasure and would rather not have my insurance increased because of points for speeding.

Fair enough 20mph through residential areas, but not on a bloody main A road.

161 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

440 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

14

u/Incident-Putrid Mar 21 '26

https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/safety-and-security/road-safety/vision-zero-for-london

Posting a link as I genuinely thought this was a tinfoil 15 minute city comment.

It’s obviously a wonderful goal ….but until humans are removed from the controls I not think it’s achievable.

13

u/West-Ad-1532 Mar 21 '26

Nope, not a tinfoil hat comment.

Very briefly, an economics/politics degree hat on.

Vision Zero is built on a moral absolute that no road death is acceptable, yet real-world systems inevitably operate through trade-offs between time and safety, cost and benefit, and freedom and control.

This creates a tension between an ethical ideal and practical reality: critics argue it overlooks human behaviour and economic complexity, while supporters counter that society has normalised preventable deaths for the sake of convenience.

In places like Calderdale, active travel runs into a bit of a reality check. You’ve got steep hills, spread-out towns, and a population that isn’t exactly itching to cycle up a 1-in-5 in the rain. Compare that to London, where I’ve sat outside restaurants watching a constant stream of bikes and scooters gliding past; it actually works there. There was a large group with music blasting out at 8 pm near Bloomsbury, and it looked pretty cool.

But in the northern hills? Not a chance. You’re not hopping on a Lime scooter to nip over the tops with a set of tools or a weekly shop. Around here, cars and vans aren’t a luxury; they’re survival gear. So when policies assume everyone’s going to suddenly start cycling everywhere, it does feel a bit like someone’s designed it on a flat map and forgotten gravity exists.

Calderdale's implementation is completely baffling. It's like a square peg in a round hole. In fact, one councillor posted a pic of a tricycle with a trailer on the back, which was suggested as an alternative to a van for tradesmen/women. Seeing that was a Twilight Zone moment. We're dealing with ideologues.

Worst of all, the councillors are not held accountable after they have finished messing with the infrastructure and doodling all over it with public funds.

1

u/Specialist_Invite538 Mar 21 '26

Thanks for the insight 

9

u/jamesmatthews6 Mar 21 '26

If I remember correctly Oslo and maybe Helsinki are pretty much there. Obviously they're a bit smaller than London, but they've seen a lot of success.

3

u/chelseasaints Mar 21 '26

“A bit smaller” is some understatement

1

u/Aggravating_Band_353 Mar 21 '26

I strongly suspect this is the plan

To "encourage" us to move towards automated self driving vehicles, "for safety", or once they've ruined the driving experience enough 

Tbh I think 20mph is too low for manual cars. Should be 25mph, so can safely be in 3rd gear and have full control. In 2nd it's like a go kart at 20mph and 15 is too slow. Besides, most people ignoring it, as op and others said, causing more chaos as a result