Safe Speed Forums

A Shropshire village resident is over the moon at a new 40MPH speed limit to be introduced on the rural road near to where she lives. She states "It's definately needed and will make it safer, it's not a pleasant road at all". She said she was not able to sit in her garden sometimes because of the noise of the vehicles going along the road. She lives on a straight bit of the B4368....not a particularly busy road by B road standards.

West Mercia Police felt that the recorded speeds along the road (45MPH) were far in excess of those for those advised for the introduction of a 40MPH as well as a 50MPH Limit ( so let's go against Dept for Transport Guidlines then?) BUT Shropshire Council has said the introduction of a 40MPH speed limit on the road would reduce the likelihood and severity of an accident should it occur.

So it seems that if you live near a noisy road and I hope that includes motorways, you should be able to get the speed limit reduced to 40MPH if you find sitting in your garden a little noisy on a sunday afternoon. Take no notice of the Polices' recommendations, Mrs Smith ( we used an actors name to protect the identity of the foolish), knows best AND IF THERE SHOULD EVER BE AN ACCIDENT,,,,it won't be quite so severe.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

It must have come as a terrible shock after she bought the house to find that the road outside was open to the public. She should sue her solicitor for not warning her.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Yes, my first thought was...Is this her first summer there?...happens alot round here, people buy houses on main roads or near the river and complain when traffic goes past or their garden floods.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

No, it's more likely to be things like THIS.
Pride of place must go to the people who bought houses along the route of the [at the time] proposed Bedford Bypass [in planning since 1950,to be finished next year] which, in part, was to be financed by developers of housing along that route. They are now complaining about the noise [not yet] and the security implications [not yet] when the bypass is finally finished [not yet]. When the bypass is finished, and more housing is built along its route, the buyers will then be complaining that they need a bypass because of the traffic noise and risk to their children [many of whom are not yet]. Meanwhile they will be putting applications in for reduced council tax for the problems they will have, then.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

I'd like to add, since when was the noise level of traffic a criterion for setting speed limits? Would not a better course of action for this somewhat hard of thinking woman have been to buy a house that was in a quieter area, rather than buying a house in a noisy area and then attempting to quieten the traffic.

I also wonder how much difference this will make to the noise level. If I were driving my car in a 50 limit, in all likelihood, I will be in 5th gear with the engine running at about 2,000 rpm. In a 40 limit I would likely be driving in 4th gear with the engine running at, you guessed it, 2,000 rpm. Now I have never put a noise meter on the car, but I suspect that the noise will be similar, only the road noise from the tyres will be different. What does make a huge difference to noise level I find is the road surface. Roads that have been "dressed" (which seems to mean throwing loads of grit at tarmac, with about 20% of the grit sticking to the tar) are fantastically noisy. Whereas a few roads I drive on have been laid with noise reducing tarmac, and these produce almost no road noise. I suspect they are much safer for our friends on 2 wheels also, since one is unlikely to grate all ones skin off in the event of a tumble.

So my point is, if noise were the issue why didn't she campaign to have the road properly surfaced - which would have worked, rather than reduce the speed, which won't work.

Because Mrs Smith is stupid and believes the Government spin that speed is the only issue.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.