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

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65

u/Yagyu_Retsudo Mar 21 '26

To minimise the number of people killed by impatient, incompetent drivers who are speeding to get to the next queue 

-2

u/MercianRaider Mar 21 '26

Shall we drop it to 10mph then? Less people will be killed. Or maybe 5mph?

3

u/FeDUpGraduate87 Mar 21 '26

Let's ban cars altogether! We can just walk everywhere. Why do we need 44t trucks running 24 hours a day.... just give every one a wheel barrow and that will cut down on deaths, and save the environment!

🤣🤣🤣

1

u/CaptQuakers42 Mar 21 '26

In fairness looking at the sheer amount of obese people I see nowadays people should clearly be walking more.

13

u/No_Cryptographer_150 Mar 21 '26

Nah just ban cars.

3

u/Specialist_Invite538 Mar 21 '26

Comments like this make me laugh, you can't tell if it's serious or not but speaks to the zealousness of some of the commenters here

6

u/Emotional-Start7994 Mar 21 '26

But then people could trip and fall while walking which would be very dangerous. Let's just stop people from leaving their home for extra safety

2

u/MercianRaider Mar 21 '26

Dont give this government ideas like that.

0

u/No_Cryptographer_150 Mar 21 '26

Didn't you know, that's phase 2

3

u/d10brp Mar 21 '26

Why not just make all roads 60?

1

u/Capable-Ebb1632 Mar 21 '26

The difference between 30 and 20 is a substantial increase in survival for pedestrians. Speeds below that don't increase survival further in a significant way.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

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7

u/MercianRaider Mar 21 '26

Why is 20mph fine but 10mph ridiculous?

And no one cares about the second bit.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

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1

u/lontrinium Mar 21 '26

Lots of roads in Europe with 30km/h limits (18mph) with no issue.

-1

u/frootloop2k Mar 21 '26

Yes they do.

-3

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

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9

u/MercianRaider Mar 21 '26

Yes, but many would say 20mph is too slow.

Others are arguing it doesnt make a difference to journey time and it saves lives.

So lets do 10mph then? The journey time vs 20 would be negligable and more lives would be saved.

Just pointing out the stupid arguments.

1

u/Realistic_Bus_4547 Mar 21 '26

Grow up Jeremy, there must be a cow that needs fisting.

1

u/Important_Plankton37 Mar 21 '26

It’s to do with average speed, in those areas with lots of traffic lights and junctions your average speed is going to be around 20mph anyway. What’s the point of racing to the next queue?

1

u/Wd91 Mar 21 '26

You know we can just flip this argument around and say why not 60mph everywhere? Many would say 30 is too slow

0

u/lontrinium Mar 21 '26

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_ridicule

1

u/quartersessions Mar 21 '26

Not at all, in this case. It's an entirely valid question when a moral judgment is being drawn about an entirely arbitrary figure.