Martin Underwood wrote:
Paul Terry wrote in
ine:

In message , James
writes

Since the Tower Bridge limit has apparently been there for half a century,
I think it unlikely:

I too thought that until recently (maybe about five years ago) the lowest
*enforceable* speed limit was 30, which was why councils splattered roads
with speed humps and chicanes to try to impose a physical as opposed to
legal restriction.

But I know that 20 limits are now enforceable. The main road from
Beaconsfield to Slough is mainly 30 but has 20 limits for about 50 yards
either side of every traffic light junction over a half-mile stretch - I
think there are four of them. It's tedious driving along a road which is
wide and straight, and has service roads either side so through traffic and
stopping traffic is kept separate, so even 30 is a bit slow and 20 is
painfully slow. I cannot help thinking that traffic which has priority is
being penalised for the sins of pedestrians and othe drivers who fail to
observe the traffic lights - but this seems to be morally acceptible in this
Brave New World.


20mph speed limits have always been enforceable but were very rare
until the "20mph zones" started to appear in residential areas in the
early 1990s (until that time speed-limits lower than 30mph needed
special authorisation by the Secretary of State for Transport). The
government guidance (Department for Transport) is that 20mph zones
should be largely self-enforcing through traffic-calming measures or,
in the case of new roads, designing a low-speed carriageway layout.

However, Tower Bridge is not a 20mph zone. This 20mph speed-limit is
there for structural reasons - the bridge may be damaged, or worn out
much faster, by constantly higher speeds. Road-humps presumably can't
be used because lorries going over them would vibrate the bridge and
cause the same damage. Rotherhithe Tunnel is another example of a
20mph speed limit without traffic-calming.

I do not believe there are any speed limits of less than 20mph on
public highways in the UK. I doubt the police can specifically enforce
the lower limits that are often signed on private roads and in car
parks, although they might well be able to arrest you for something
else if they saw your fast driving as dangerous.

I do not believe there are any speed limits of less than 20mph on
public highways in the UK. I doubt the police can specifically enforce
the lower limits that are often signed on private roads and in car
parks, although they might well be able to arrest you for something
else if they saw your fast driving as dangerous.

Breaking the speed limit is not an "arrestable" offence (unless various
other conditions cannot be met, such as being of "no fixed abode"). However,
being stopped by the police has arrested your high-speed motion :-)

--
MatSav

In message , at 08:55:14 on Mon, 28 Nov
2005, MatSav remarked:

Breaking the speed limit is not an "arrestable" offence (unless various
other conditions cannot be met, such as being of "no fixed abode").

I thought there was a recent change in the law to make *all* offences
arrestable.
--
Roland Perry

I thought there was a recent change in the law to make *all* offences
arrestable.

Correct, see: -
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2005/50015--k.htm#110

MatSav wrote:
I do not believe there are any speed limits of less than 20mph on
public highways in the UK. I doubt the police can specifically enforce
the lower limits that are often signed on private roads and in car
parks, although they might well be able to arrest you for something
else if they saw your fast driving as dangerous.

Breaking the speed limit is not an "arrestable" offence (unless various
other conditions cannot be met, such as being of "no fixed abode"). However,
being stopped by the police has arrested your high-speed motion :-)


I didn't say speeding was an arrestable offence, only that they might
be able to arrest you for something else which coincides with your
speeding! Police, of course, can stop or direct traffic for just about
any reason whether or not an offence has been committed.

On 27 Nov 2005 13:09:04 -0800, said:

I do not believe there are any speed limits of less than 20mph on
public highways in the UK.

There is at least one *19* sign in the god-forsaken ****-hole of
Cambourne just off the A428. It looks just like a proper speed limit
sign and there is no indication that it's a private road. I suspect,
however, that someone is Having A Laugh.

--
David Cantrell | http://www.cantrell.org.uk/david

In message , at 20:07:13 on
Tue, 29 Nov 2005, David Cantrell remarked:
I do not believe there are any speed limits of less than 20mph on
public highways in the UK.

There is at least one *19* sign in the god-forsaken ****-hole of
Cambourne just off the A428. It looks just like a proper speed limit
sign and there is no indication that it's a private road. I suspect,
however, that someone is Having A Laugh.

The road is probably not yet adopted (or the sign is left over from when
it wasn't). The sign was clearly installed by the developers, and
there's a suggestion that the "19" is a clue that it's unofficial (no
such official sign exists). Whereas putting up an unauthorised "20"
might have landed them in trouble.
--
Roland Perry

There is at least one *19* sign in the god-forsaken ****-hole of
Cambourne just off the A428. It looks just like a proper speed limit

Any chance of putting this on your www site ?

Richard [in PE12]

In message
eranews.com, at
12:11:16 on Wed, 30 Nov 2005, Endymion Ponsonby-Withermoor III
remarked:
There is at least one *19* sign in the god-forsaken ****-hole of
Cambourne just off the A428. It looks just like a proper speed limit

Any chance of putting this on your www site ?

There's a picture he

http://static.flickr.com/7/8836946_b8b863d4e9_m.jpg

(The road doesn't look very adopted to me...)
--
Roland Perry