CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

20mph zones may go Scotland wide after Edinburgh trial

(797 posts)

  1. chdot
    Admin

    Going to be on Radio 4 "after 12:30".

    Posted 7 years ago #
  2. gibbo
    Member

    @srd

    "I said fines seemed good as a deterrant (maybe, for some) but that anecdotal evidence (which I have reported here before), was that courses very effective."

    That's where you blew your opportunity to get on the show: You let your opinions be swayed by evidence.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  3. mgj
    Member

    Did anyone notice anything different on their commute today? Have to say I didn't. I have to drive on Thursday so I guess I'll see it from the other side then.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  4. chdot
    Admin

  5. Rob
    Member

    They should've used the back of that van as the mascot's face.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  6. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Did anyone notice anything different on their commute today?

    No because most of the "arterial" routes I am obliged to use don't have any new 20 limits so it was zoom zoom, brake brake, rev rev business as usual.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  7. dougal
    Member

    No change here, though most of my issues come navigating roads and roundabouts that are "unsafe at any speed".

    Posted 7 years ago #
  8. gembo
    Member

    Cowgate seemed same as ever (but maybe the speed there has always been 20)

    I have a nice 20 sign on my desk I notice.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  9. It's not 'all' roads in the city yet though either is it? I think Gembo had mentioned it's staged. So depends on your route?

    Posted 7 years ago #
  10. gembo
    Member

    all roads in city centre except the park (west side) I think.

    All side roads in ratho/balerno. THe main lanark roadwest/lanark road is still 30mph

    Means anyone commuting in to the centre should be able to notice a drop in speed close to the 30/20 boundary when traffic is flowing but as we have mentioned before, traffic probably not reaching 30 at rush hour.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  11. Some of the 'best' comments below the EEN article....

    "It also effects police and ambulance etc response times to emergency calls because they'll have to slow down too!"

    Erm, what? Why? Do the police and ambulances currently stick to the 30 limits while the blues and twos are on? Are you let out of the house on your own?

    "IF this is all about road safety then why is the worst accident road not included"

    Probably because people like you complained about it being an 'arterial' route. And learn how to use a question mark.

    "There has been no significant city wide consultations it all bluff and bluster"

    He's right of course. Save for the city wide consultations that took place after heavy city wide advertising and city wide coverage from the same newspaper he's adding a comment to. Other than that he's right.

    "Being made to drive in sometimes open roads in second gear at a time of record lows for serious vehicle accidents and high pollution. Utter lunacy."

    Ah the 'I can only do 20mph in second gear' fallacy. Once again. Driving licence come in a cornflakes pack?

    "I couldn't work out where the new zones are so just ignored signs, as everyone else was"

    Er. Where to begin? So you saw signs, presumably with the speed limit on? There's no need to know the 'zones', just drive at the speed you see on the sign.... I think this may be today's prize muppet. Ah no, wait...

    "The signage is abysmal - it's vurtualy impossible to tell whether you're in a slug-zone or "safe for the rest of te UK" 30MPH street."

    The rest seem to jump between saying you can't do 20mph anyway as the roads are clogged; or that because you have to do 20mph it's clogging the roads. They really should get together to come up with a coherent story if they're not going to bother to actually gather any 'evidence'.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  12. chdot
    Admin

    But 'evidence' = "experts".

    They've gone out of fashion (apparently).

    Posted 7 years ago #
  13. Frenchy
    Member

    One genuinely good comment in there, though:

    "I did 28mph right over the 20mph speed limit circle painted on the road at one point yesterday, I had to pedal quite hard to do it but it was very satisfying."

    Posted 7 years ago #
  14. Stickman
    Member

    I spotted that some taxis have 20mph advertising on them. Hope they all keep to the speed limit.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  15. I've been willing one of those taxis to overtake me in a 20 zone as I ride at 20.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  16. Stickman
    Member

    Thoroughly enjoying the howling madness of the usual suspects there. I particularly like the "it's a money making scheme" whines.

    1. Speeding fines don't go to the council
    2. Don't speed and you won't get fined.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  17. Stickman
    Member

    I've read quite a few comments already about how journeys are "hugely delayed" by the change. The central 20mph zone is about 2 miles in diameter so I very much doubt they noticed any difference beyond the usual random fluctuations in journey time.

    Seethers got to seethe.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  18. Vez
    Member

    "Did anyone notice anything different on their commute today?"
    Yes, I dinged my bell at a group of workies standing around their van in the road on Rankeillor St and one shouted "Hey! 20 mile an hour!"
    I was maybe doing 8 and it was all good humoured so decided not to stop for a chat about how it doesn't apply to cyclists.
    Guess it's good they were aware of the new limit.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  19. dougal
    Member

    @Vez

    Don't you know it's a target??

    Posted 7 years ago #
  20. Stickman
    Member

    "@CllrNickCook

    An unpopular waste of public money which will increase pollution,congestion and increase journey times."

    Posted 7 years ago #
  21. chdot
    Admin

  22. kaputnik
    Moderator

    "@CllrNickCook

    An unpopular waste of public money

    Is he tweeting about himself?

    Posted 7 years ago #
  23. Morningsider
    Member

    So, no-one obeys the new limit and it slows traffic down to a crawl while the new signs as too small, while cluttering up the street.

    Consistency not really the objectors' strong point.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  24. jdanielp
    Member

    I can't say that I have noticed much difference on my brief stretches of road-based commute so far this week, although the driver of the car which I passed as I gained access to the ASZ on Tarvit Street did resist the urge to overtake me as we proceeded onto Gilmore Place given that I was cruising surprisingly easily at 20 mph - I did get the feeling that I would have been overtaken had I not been taking quite a strong primariy position though...

    Posted 7 years ago #
  25. gembo
    Member

    I think Grassmarklet, Cowgate better today. Will continue to observe. Lot of Festival Driving about to unleash itself

    Posted 7 years ago #
  26. I'm genuinely confused by this comment, but he may have a point. Do you need repeater signs for the limit to stand? I didn't think so, but others (Morningsider?) are more knowledgeable!

    "I note that there is a difference between a 20mph zone and a 20mph limit.
    The former are usually self enforcing e.g. speed bumps islands etc and the latter requiring painted numbers on road and repeater signs at even intervals.

    Clearly the council dont know the difference as by way of example regent terrace is a 20mph zone (sign at start by Leopold Place) however there is no traffic calming on that street so in reality it cannot be called a zone and as it had no repeater signs for 20mph can neither be a limit.
    Edinburgh council dinnae ken their a**e from their elbow
    "

    Posted 7 years ago #
  27. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    You get a call from the school: your kid's been knocked down. Order the three possible following sentences in the order in which you would prefer:

    • by a cyclist
    • by a car doing 20mph
    • by a car doing 30mph

    That should be enough to win the Argument surely? Unless there's a total empathy bypass.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  28. crowriver
    Member

    "some who did adhere to the new rules said they were being regularly overtaken by bikes and facing frustrated gestures from other drivers."

    Oh the poor dears, must be terribly humiliating for them.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  29. chdot
    Admin

    "

    I note that there is a difference between a 20mph zone and a 20mph limit.
    The former are usually self enforcing e.g. speed bumps islands etc and the latter requiring painted numbers on road and repeater signs at even intervals.

    "

    Some or all of that is the 'old' system.

    Things have been changed/relaxed to make things cheaper (less/no traffic calming).

    Not that that means CEC has got it all right...

    Posted 7 years ago #
  30. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    @WC

    Yes, all that has gone:

    http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5013.html

    EEN commenter in "dinnae ken(ning) their a**e from their elbow" shock

    Posted 7 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply »

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin