Safe Speed Forums

The car park in the building where I work has a posted 5 mph limit.
My digital speedo tells me my car would not even be able to do less than 8mph, and that would probably be quicker to just jump out of the car and push it.
I regularly proceed with caution, and switch my dipped lights on, in an attempt to reduce the probability of an accident. But there is a nasty blind spot, and my car being damn quite at any speed, in the event of an accident, whereby a collision happens with a pedestrian for example, and whereby it was not my fault, but I was travelling faster than 5mph, am I still prosecutable?
I am in the process of calling the Health and Safety dept to know more, but they tell me the maximum speed limit for car parks is 10mph. Which I would say it is acceptable.

You can't really prosecute on a 5mph speed limit, and AFAIK speed limits on car parks aren't set by the law, they're set as a guide.

A brisk walk / slow jog is on average 4mph, so yes, you'd be right.

If you knocked someone down they would probebly be going for one of:

- Driving without due care and attention
- Dangerous driving
- Death by dangerous driving (if you kill them - unlikely unless you reverse and have another go).

Assuming the car park is privately owned, the police would be hard pushed to prosecute successfully. You would most likely just end up with a heavy claim on your insurance from the pedestrian.

Car parks where I work are all 5mph "limit lollipops" - advantage is though - we mow someone over - at least they are in right place for treatment - and person who runs them over is more than likely to be a medic!

Seriously - more than likely that there will be people walking to and from cars in a car park and there will be cars reversing in and out of spaces. Just drive slowly - that's all! And LOOK AND LISTEN!

(Though one of sounds you may here is my "angel" grinder on the wheel clamp if I forgot to renew the pass again! They are draconian - forget - let it expire by one hour and .... clump /clamp!

It is a nightmare - and going off on tangent here but Manchester is gettin new super duper £496m hospital and NO parking spots for staff! They will make staff (consultants Arggh! NO! will have to take the bus (NO NO NO! PLEEEESE! to get to new duper diper hospital as it will take them 18 months to build the car park! Will make wroking day nigh on impossible for consultants down to the porters alike! They tell staff there that places will "be set aside in the local Sainsbury's, a Bingo Hall (well - could nip in have a game whilst waitng for the bus - 'spose and the greyhound stadium (and have a bet or two on the dogs)" and bus will take them to work! (Er note - they are not gonna use the local GOLF course car park ) Oh - the best bit is that these car parks are about one hour's bus ride away from this hospital too! And some staff make home visits - like physiotherapists! Only good thing is that the Trust Chairmanw will be getting his ears bent on this same bus!

Relax - we would not be able to NIP you for this!

We could - at pinch do for "due care" etc if you did something daft - like mow someone over and really hurt them on car park.

But breaking the 5mph limit on private car park ---- Love to do this at my local Tescos but ....

I'm not sure how accurate a car speedo is at low speeds anyway. But aren't we aloowed 10% + 5 mph? So you'd have to do 10.5 mph to set a camera off!

10%+2, hence 35 in a 30 (30+3+2), not +5. 7.5 mph would be the trigger, but then again I don't think x5mph limits can be legal, so you can't be done, even if it wasn't just a guide and was on a public road.

Simon

It would be interesting to challenge the Health and Safety manager to give a demonstration of how to drive a car without exceeding 5 mph. Even 10 mph is not easy to achieve smoothly.

A place I worked a couple of years back had a nominal 10 mph limit, but it was about a quarter of a mile from the front gate to the main loading bays. After a debate about whether it was realistic the site speed limit was raised to a more realistic 20 mph.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

I'm at college on the Isle of Wight, and we have a quarter of a mile driveway too and they have a posted 5mph limit. The people who set these that clearly have no idea just how slow that is: you could easily exceed it at a brisk walk. I can just imagine the insanse traffic jam if people kept to that speed: the queue of cars would stretch for miles.

I've just done a test on this and in first gear at tickover, my car does a brisk jogging pace, which I think is about 6mph. I can get it down to a bit less using the brakes, and very much slower with a little clutch work,around 1 mph, but that is too slow even for me!



Yes, 20 in a built up, dangerous area is about right. 30 is way too high, but I would say that, wouldn't I!

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I stole this .sig

Gasp! Basingwerk! You mean something is actually too slow

I do need to lie down!





Knew it would not last

Basingwerk, you seem to think that ANY speed above 0mph is dangerous, therefore the faster we go in reverse, the better.
By the same logic, because putting your hand in water at 100 degrees will burn you seriously, water at 20 degrees will also burn you, but not as badly.

Regards
Peter

How is this using the same logic, looks like a logical fallacy to me.

My point exactly

I have done deliveries to a power station where the speed limit is 13mph, my speedo is calibrated to 5mph increments, how the hell do I figure out 13mph.
Sorry, this is H&S gone mad, there are actually people paid huge salaries to think these things up, and it is us that pays their salary.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Surely in order for it to be enforcable, there would have to be the equivalent "30" sign when you leave the car park (ie. to signify where the 5 mph limit ends). Virtually all speed limits in car parks, business parks and so on are advisory, but if you were to run someone over by driving irresponsibly there'd be other things to charge you with anyway.

It is 3/5th of the way between 10 and 15.

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I stole this .sig

Most speedos, mine included, are calibrated in 10mph increments. 3/10ths of the way between 10 and 20? Do me a favour - someone's having a laugh here.

Anyway, no speed limit off a public road is enforcible by law.

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Keep right on to the end of the road ...

Just because the sign says 13 does not mean you must do 13mph. Just do 10 if you want to drive by the speedo.


But most of these sites have traffic rules which allow the organisation to deny you vehicular access in future should you disregard them.

I expect some idiot defined the limit as 20km/h and then converted to mph. FWIW.

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Paul Smith
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