Most ridiculous 30 mph road

[Big_M]

Must be the A1168 Loughton to Chigwell road in Essex where it passes under the M11. Dual Carriageway - no houses - 30 mph - WHY?

Unless you know a better one.

[jmorgan]

The roads over the Epynt ranges in the Beacons. Good long roads with 30 and 40 limits. Army must need slow targets for practise

[rs1952]

You don't need me to tell you that the country is riddled with stupid speed limits. We could all think of some in our neck of the woods. In mine, for example:

50 mph on the B4040 Malmesbury - Cricklade. Mile after mile of empty countryside except for the repeater signs!

50 mph dual carraigeway A4 Batheaston bypass, complete with camera. And nobody can say that its in response to the accident rate - the thing's been there since they opened the road.

New 40 mph on A4 through Cherhill, between Calne & Marlborough, complete with extra white paint narrowing the carriageway and ghost islands. I can just about remember when it was a 3-lane carriageway and no damn speed limit at all!! (ok, I'm getting on a bit !!).

Spotted last Sunday week - a new 30 limit through Melbury Abbas just south of Shaftesbury - it just ain't possible to get up to 30 because of the bends through the village, so why bother.

Its speed limits like these which, if he "authorities" aren't careful, are going to bring all limits into disrepute, as more and more people take no b****y notice of them.

However, it is comforting to know that our local authorities are spending our Council Tax on somemthing worthwhile. They wouldn't want to waste our cash on repairing the roads, now, would they ....

[Tabs]

Drove on the A523 from Macclesfield to Ashbourne today. What a nightmare! 30's, 40's, 50's and NSL. Cameras everywhere, and red paint and rumble strips every 100 yards! And I thought Northamptonshire was bad.

[nonegreen]

quote:
Drove on the A523 from Macclesfield to Ashbourne today. What a nightmare! 30's, 40's, 50's and NSL. Cameras everywhere, and red paint and rumble strips every 100 yards! And I thought Northamptonshire was bad.

Macclesfield borough council are all completely mad. That road was once a seriously nice run and 120 was OK in parts on a nice day. There used to be a bit with a humpback bridge and a little chicane which was good for 90 if both sides of the road were clear. Now having described it from memory, MBC are criminally insane and I would like to line the bastards up and push white hot pokers up their arses till they put it all back again. The only answer in the meantime is to boycott their tourist trade and hope they get voted out.

[thub]

Try SE Oxfordshire - extremely silly 30 & 50mph limits all over the place.

[AJLintern]

The A415 through Burcot - wide open road that seems to pass very few houses and continues for what seems like miles at 30.

[Deester]

You think thats bad, everytime you go through a little village in the German countryside you can be rest assured of a 30 km/h limit! Its complete nonsense.

[Byff]

In Sunderland, we have a dual carriageway with a school on it then some houses - 30mph. You then get to some traffic lights where the limit is raised to 40mph past some more houses another school and more houses. Same road, same conditions but one half is 30 and the other is 40

[bikerkeith]

Surrey seems to have banned all NSLs. Every country lane has a 40 limit, the A25 is limited for almost its entire length in Surrey and now they've slapped a 50 on the Hogs Back.

[Mr E]

quote:
50 mph on the B4040 Malmesbury - Cricklade. Mile after mile of empty countryside except for the repeater signs!

That used to be a really nice road as well.

The bridge & chicane just out of malmesbury were particually entertaining.

What really worries me are the little tiny single track roads off it through farm yards (read animals and children) that have the NSL sign 20m from the turning. No way in the world am I doing 60 down there...

[rs1952]

quote:50 mph on the B4040 Malmesbury - Cricklade. Mile after mile of empty countryside except for the repeater signs!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



That used to be a really nice road as well.

That's a bit defeatist isn't it ??!! I found it still "really nice" yesterday morning!!

On a wider issue, ridiculous speed limits, wherever they are in the country, depend almost entirely on self-enforcement. The police just haven't got sufficient numbers (or, in some cases, sufficent inclination) to enforce them all. So, in truth, whether or not you get caught when you treat such limits with the contempt they deserve depends solely on luck and the balance of possibilities.

It is possible, for example, that you might:

1. Get a puncture
2. Get struck by lightning
3. Get nicked on a quiet country road for exceeding the 50.

Suffice to say I've had more punctures than speeding tickets or lightning strikes .....

And I suppose I had better add, before someone goes off on the inevitable tangent, I am talking quiet country roads here, not belting it through built-up areas at school chucking-out time.

[dcb]

quote:
You don't need me to tell you that the country is riddled with stupid speed limits. We could all think of some in our neck of the woods. In mine, for example:

It's interesting to note that the A1, between Morpeth
& Berwick On Tweed, has lots of signs whining on about
how many folks get killed & injured per year.

Patronising gits.

If they upgraded the road to what it should be, ie
dual carraigeway, then those signs wouldn't be needed.

Luckily, folks in Northumberland are paying for
this kind of stupidity.

[Mr E]

quote:
That's a bit defeatist isn't it ??!! I found it still "really nice" yesterday morning!!

Mmmm. I know. But I hadn't been down it since they'd changed it, so therefore;

1) was looking for tax cameras
2) Stupidly assumed that there was a good reason for the change, and was looking for gaggles of school children outside the newly build school and old age pensioners crossing the road to the new bingo hall.

Having spotted nothing of the sort, I'm assuming that it was dropped to 50 because some wingeing git who holds sway locally is a light sleeper, and the police don't actually care very much.

If I find where said light sleeping git lives, I shall drive past his house 10 times a night at 3am at *exactly* 50 mph. In second.

I may even put a free-flow exhaust to enhance the experience.

[dennisthemenace]

Dont know if any of you know the B3157 Bridport to weymouth coast road but its been given a 50 limit from weymouth to Bridport why ???? what difference is 10 mph going to make in terms of safety on a main road in the niddle of know where ? None thats waht the council are just throwing their weight about F**king t*ssers nice little revenue earner for plod and the coucil , Was a nice ride on the bike and now they have gone and fcuked it up , god im friggin :angry:

[mattjbatch]

quote:
A523... There used to be a bit with a humpback bridge and a little chicane which was good for 90 if both sides of the road were clear.

Still is in fact

quote:Now having described it from memory, MBC are criminally insane and I would like to line the bastards up and push white hot pokers up their arses till they put it all back again. The only answer in the meantime is to boycott their tourist trade and hope they get voted out.

Tourist trade???
PS They'll never get voted out.

[smeagol]

One point which people haven't mentioned is that lowering the limits in stupid places makes those roads and others more dangerous.

a) There are people that will overtake but NOT break the speed limit. So a NSL straight lowered to 40mph makes overtaking more dangerous as the cars are side by side longer. (If fact the IAM has this policy, absolute madness)

b) Psycological. Shoving 40/50mph limits everywhere means that people (numpties) start to ignore the limits as plain stupid. Then you come accross roads that really should be 40mph and they carry on ignoring the limit assuming the same risk.

Of course making the roads more dangerous means there are more accidents so obviously the limits need lowering which means more accidents so the limits.......

[trefor]

quote:
Dont know if any of you know the B3157 Bridport to weymouth coast road but its been given a 50 limit from weymouth to Bridport why ???? what difference is 10 mph going to make in terms of safety on a main road in the niddle of know where ? None thats waht the council are just throwing their weight about F**king t*ssers nice little revenue earner for plod and the coucil , Was a nice ride on the bike and now they have gone and fcuked it up , god im friggin :angry:

I think there is a psychological reason for 50mph limits. When there is a NSL on country roads you never get repeater signs, whereas with other limits you get regular reminders of the limit. I think it makes people pay attention to the road instead of dozing off.

Unfortunately, the rules exist so that the worst of the numpties should have no problems understanding them and following them for their own safety. The fact that we have to put up with restrictions due to their incompetence or carefree attitude is the problem.

I say make it compulsory to retake the driving test every 5 years!

[AJLintern]

Being a bit new to performance car ownership, I find that when overtaking I tend to keep my foot down for the same length of time as I did when driving my 309 diesel - this often results in me being more than a little suprised when I glance down at the speedometer