Would you like to see more 20 mph zones created on our roads in Suffolk? Well drivers are bracing themselves for more of them after the Transport Secretary gave councils the green light to bring more restrictions in.
Louise Haigh said that town halls have her “support” in creating more low-speed areas and added that traffic speed limits would be “entirely up to local areas to decide”.
We have some 20 mph zones already here in Suffolk around our schools which I think is perfectly acceptable, but do we need more of them?
In Wales, there is a blanket 20mph scheme in place which, according to YouGov polling this week, is opposed by 70% of voters.
I can remember many years ago Suffolk County Council bringing in a blanket 30mph limit through all our villages. It is accepted now but at the time it was very controversial.
I can remember many a debate on my old BBC Radio Suffolk breakfast show between those for and against which got quite heated at times. Now, though, it’s just part and parcel of living in Suffolk.
Most people stick to it, but some drivers seem to think it doesn’t apply to them and tailgate you trying to hassle you to go faster.
In Ipswich, we recently had traffic wands put in place around the Colchester Road area of town designed to separate the cycle lane from the main lane but again there was so much anger from motorists about them. Now, after complaints, they’re gone.
We’ve seen some rat runs closed off with flower planters, again upsetting motorists. We moan about speed humps, but these measures are only brought in to improve road safety.
In Wales, where the blanket 20mph limit is in place, they’ve already seen a reduction in incidents, so should we ignore the angry motorists and get on with it?
I live in a residential road close to the seafront in Felixstowe. It’s used by some motorists like a racetrack at times and I know there are many other places where this happens too. A child could easily run out in front of a car or anyone else for that matter could step out. With the speed these cars go at they’d stand little or no chance.
I’d certainly like my road to be 20mph and I can think of a lot of other places that could do with it too.
The real reason we’re talking about these measures is the crap driving by some motorists which I and I’m sure you see every day; everybody seems to be in such a rush all the time.
Every morning, I see drivers speeding past me but by the time I get to the next junction I’ve caught up with them. Texting behind the wheel now is at epidemic levels, so many motorists are looking at their phones.
Then you’ve got the traffic light jumpers. So often I move off on a green light to have a vehicle cut across in front of me, clearly jumping a red light.
You’ve got motorists sitting in yellow boxes or blocking roundabouts, all causing congestion on the road and making people angry.
The thing is when I was young, I was always getting pulled over by the police for something or other like a bulb out and having to produce my documents at the local nick.
Now all sorts of bad driving are going unpunished. This is not me having a go at the police, far from it. I just think we need more of them to police the bad driving.
If we all slowed down a bit and looked out for cyclists and pedestrians and other road users, perhaps we wouldn’t need to reduce limits or bring in traffic calming measures.
What do you think?
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