Article by Iain McWhirter about 20mph being a positive experience for drivers.
https://iainmacwhirter.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/20mph-madness-how-slowing-down-can-actually-make-you-go-faster/
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20MPH madness: How slowing down can actually make you go faster.
POSTED BY IAIN2MACWHIRTER ⋅ MARCH 18, 2016
Driving through central London is, like root canal dental treatment, something that should be avoided if humanly possible. Nevertheless, there I was recently rolling off the motorway and through the sociological layers of North London: Hatfield, Barnett, Golders Green …
As the streets start to become terraced and increasingly multicultural, you eventually hit Islington which inevitably reminds you of Tony Blair, New Labour and expensive brasseries where they plotted. By this stage I was getting weary, frustrated and vaguely intoxicated by the fumes from the dense traffic. Vans bear down on you like big white dogs snapping at your heels.
Then I saw the sign: “Islington: the first 20 mph borough in London”. The words were in pastel colours and surrounded by balloons presumably to remind you of all the toddlers whose lives would be saved by this latest exercise in traffic calming. I groaned inwardly. Trust politically correct Islington to make it even more difficult to get through London.
Then I noticed something strange. I seemed to be moving more quickly the slower I went; not only that, the traffic seemed to have largely disappeared. It felt like driving through a small town, even a village. Where had all the cars and vans gone?
I looked around and they were still there but somehow more space seemed to have opened up between them, as if the road had become larger. Cyclists, who normally appear abruptly and perilously out of nowhere, were clearly visible and moving at around the same speed. This was quite remarkable.
Some critics of 20mph zones in cities say that they don’t reduce traffic speeds but I think they are missing the point. The average traffic speed in inner London boroughs like Islington is less than 10 mph. But the 20 mile limit seems to lift this significantly. The reason is that there is less bunching. You don’t have the usual stop-go cycle of traffic racing away from lights and then having to slam on the brakes.
At 20mph, white-van man settles back and listens to the football instead of trying to beat the lights. The traffic moves at a more level pace, which is good for fuel consumption, engine wear and drivers and pedestrians. You no longer have to brace yourself for the barrage of angry horns when you venture onto roundabouts or try to change lanes.
As soon as you leave and are allowed to go faster again, your speed drops and stress returns; at least that was my experience. Speed is largely to do with perception. But suddenly the traffic is all around you again, coming from all directions. You find yourself revving the engine again at traffic lights so that you will be able to keep up with the traffic flow when they change."
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