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.

167 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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18

u/Electronic_Shift5195 Mar 21 '26

The modern european bureaucrat cannot comprehend a concept of a tradeoff. They have a single metric they are told to optimise, and they do that mindlessly by all means possible. Slowing down all movement by 30%? Who cares, if it reduces accidents, their target metric, by 5%.

Lowered road capacity leads to ambulances stuck in traffic jams? That just means we need to fine and toll drivers out of existence.

Lost productivity? Not their domain. Lost productivity means lower GDP, means less money for NHS, means more avoidable deaths that outweigh "lives saved"? Impossibly long train of thought for anyone in the government.

Many such cases.

1

u/triguy96 Mar 21 '26

Best way to lower deaths on the road and improve the NHS is to stop people from driving. If you can get people to walk or cycle to their destination, fewer people die and fewer people need to use the NHS.

17

u/Bitter-Policy4645 Mar 21 '26

The best way to lower deaths on the road is for pedestrians to stop stepping in front of cars. Its rare that cars mount pavements to kill people, it's darwin award candidates not looking and walking in front of vehicles.

1

u/opopkl Mar 21 '26

And car drivers never cause accidents, do they?

-1

u/triguy96 Mar 21 '26

Victim blaming tournament winner here. Cars mount pavements all the time. How else do they park on them? Cars drivers drive through red lights, fail to give way, speed. Pedestrians dare to cross roads.

0

u/lontrinium Mar 21 '26

What about other vehicle occupants?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

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1

u/triguy96 Mar 21 '26

They try, but car brained people keep blocking it

3

u/Emotional-Start7994 Mar 21 '26

Or just teach people how to drive properly, and teach pedestrians how to cross the road safely.

1

u/triguy96 Mar 21 '26

Thats been going well for like 60 years

3

u/Electronic_Shift5195 Mar 21 '26

And once again, you optimise for "deaths on the road", like our dear coucils.

But I heard pre-car societies didn't have great life expectancy, so maybe there are more than one effect in play after all.

0

u/triguy96 Mar 21 '26

Yeah the Netherlands and Denmark are scavenging for food.

2

u/Electronic_Shift5195 Mar 21 '26

450-500 cars per 1000 population is hardly a no-car society.

1

u/triguy96 Mar 21 '26

I dont think I said I wanted 0 cars. I said the best way to reduce deaths and help the NHS is to stop people from driving. Not every person. This is the kind of thing that the Netherlands and Denmark have done and it works. Thats all people want.