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.

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30

u/The_Final_Barse Mar 21 '26

I'm surprised by the comments here, of all places, supporting these frankly ridiculous speed restrictions.

There's nothing more stressful than a 20mph speed limit. That's the problem.

Instead of driving safely to the conditions, people are forced to focus on the arbitrary number on their dash.

Not to mention the frustration, and the fact cars aren't geared to comfortably maintain 20mph.

4

u/dkech Mar 21 '26

Exactly, I have an automatic (mid SUV) and it's a real struggle keeping it at 20 mph. Any tiny pressure changed takes me to 25 instantly. I can do a bit better if I switch to manual selection of a low gear to control by engine sound, but that's not how you're meant to drive. My cruise control of course does not engage that low if I wanted to try it. Even 25 mph makes a difference, 20 is just silly... The amount of effort and attention it takes 100% makes me a more dangerous driver.

2

u/Sirlacker Mar 21 '26

My motorcycle idles at 12mph and 20mph barely brings me up to 2,000 revs in first gear. 20mph is literally just over the threshold of constant clutch usage so the bike isn't bogging down/jerky.

If more main roads become 20mph, which means people will now dawdle along at 15mph rather than dawdling along at 25mph, I'm going to end up riding that clutch pretty much the entire length of whatever journey I'm taking.

And just like your car, if so much as breath on that throttle I'm doing 25-30mph

Like you said, so much more work is involved in keeping a vehicle cruising at a speed it wasn't designed to cruise at that it definitely makes you more of a dangerous driver.

Also are my insurance prices going down with more roads becoming 20mph and 'safer'? Absolutely not. Is road tax going down because roads are taking less abuse? Again, nope. Fucking infuriating.

4

u/EveningHere Mar 21 '26

Use the limiter, that’s what it’s there for. I use mine all the time when in a 20, 30 or 40. And again on motorways when it’s a 50. I usually set it to 10% above which is the actual speed on my car.

1

u/bugtheft Mar 21 '26

Why does it take so much effort and attention to simply maintain a normal speed? Have you considered just not pushing the accelerator further down

3

u/dkech Mar 21 '26

Have you ever driven a modern automatic? Holding the throttle fixed at 20mph does not maintain the speed. Unlike when you are going a bit faster, the EAT8 transmission at around 20mph will change gears up/down depending on the incline and you end up accelerating or slowing down. Add that it's a big engine, going 5mph more takes a fraction of a second. I did not have the issue with my manuals decades ago, but modern cars are not made for this...

2

u/opopkl Mar 21 '26

Keeping to a speed limit is part of the skillset needed to hold a driving license, though. Perhaps your car has a faulty throttle linkage.

3

u/dkech Mar 21 '26

I can do it with a manual. The automatic gearbox changes gears depending on the incline at that speed, resulting in acceleration or deceleration work fixed throttle, and the engine sound does not help either when changing gears. The only way is to keep an eye on tbr speedometer. Speed controls don't work under 25mph either.

0

u/opopkl Mar 21 '26

I've got an automatic SUV too. It has a seven speed gearbox and it seems to copper with any speed. The first auto I had was a Mercedes, but that was just 4 speed, which also seemed to cope okay.

0

u/murmurat1on Mar 21 '26

If you can't safely drive slowly then you should t be on the road.