Bazj Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 I see another local councillor is throwing around unsubstantiated comments without quoting any actual facts when it comes to road safety and 20mph speed limits in Warrington. As long as they "believe" then I'm sure it will be true though!! The full quote from Councillor Friend reads: “We believe the new 20mph speed limit roll-out will be a key factor in improving safety.” Well that's OK then.... as long as THEY think it is a key factor (without any concrete proof of course) then that must be OK..... Councillor Billy Lines-Rowlands said: “Issues raised include football teams parking on grass verges in Crab Lane, parking that prevents access for wheelchairs and buggies, parking that blocks drives and prevents emergency vehicles from driving down residential roads.“We are also seeking action to stop mini-mopeds and motor bikes being ridden on pavements.” Now forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought that parking on grass verges was only illegal if there is a local bye-law that prevents it. If there is such a bye-law in place in Warrington; then it is illegal and the offending cars can be ticketed. Riding mini-motorbikes on the pavement is also illegal. Pavements alongside the road are part of the road. Even pushing a motorcycle along the footpath is counted as it being on the road. This means it should still be street-legal, with lights, brakes, brake lights, speedometer etc. all being in working order. The person pushing it must be licensed and insured to ride it. Seems that the car bashers are alive and well and living in the Town Hall! http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/articles/18033/1/Councillors-press-for-road-safety-measures/Page1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey_man Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 They ran a long, extensive and expensive pilot scheme that proved the 20 mph signs do nothing in terms of road safety, So he has the facts with which to make an informed decision. But, of course, when 'belief' comes into it, evidence is not needed. They have also asked the police what they thought but the police couldn't summon up the will to answer. Possibly because they've seen enough council 'consultations' to realise that the decisions have already been taken so it's all a waste of time. What this is all about is the quaint theory that you can encourage a modal shift by making it so annoying and time consuming to use a car that you'll travel to Tesco's for the weekly shop for your family on a bike instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted April 7, 2014 Report Share Posted April 7, 2014 What this is all about is the quaint theory that you can encourage a modal shift by making it so annoying and time consuming to use a car that you'll travel to Tesco's for the weekly shop for your family on a bike instead. And when that happens then the government will introduce tax,mot etc. for cyclists to get some of the money back that they will lose in car tax. Given that when peel start operations in earnest that actually managing to get up to twenty will be a rareity in itself i do wonder why they are bothering with the signs. All they need to do is open the bridges every two hours and that will solve the problem of car accidents in town or anywhere within three miles of the ship canal for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee Posted April 12, 2014 Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 As I said previously, I can't wait for the 20MPH speed limit to come in as I am sure it will stop these doing 50, 60 and even faster, especially now the motor cyclists are out every weekwend. The other day I was nearly knocked down by a car driving on the pavement on Poplars Avenue, but I guess it would have been OK as he was only doing about 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted April 12, 2014 Report Share Posted April 12, 2014 Putting in these limits is fine if people stick to them, but most drivers don't even bother to look at road signs let alone stick to speed limits. (mind you it never ceases to surprise me how many don't even look at the road in front at times). As a motorcyclist myself (and I will add a responsible one) I do stick to speed limits withing the accuracy of my speed indication device, very rarely creep up the inside or the outside of traffic queues, preferring to wait in the normal traffic flow. the biggest problem I have is with the twenty limits whilst on the bike. it has a five speed box and twenty mph is a first gear speed for my bike. in second it struggles to stay at such a low speed. not sure what speed i need to get to to put it on fifth as it struggles a bit at thirty in fourth.( maybe I am an exception to te biker mythos or maybe I am just getting too old to take risks these days). keeping to the speed limits, especially the twenty ones, does have its compensations and it's drawbacks though. One of the compensations is that if you stick to the twenty limit you can really annoy the driver behind who is in a rush and cannot get past you. drawback is that the occasional driver will try to bully you by driving close enough to read the chassis number (even applies to busses as I found out yesterday whilst chugging through the twenty limits in town with a bus trying to park on the rack on my bike had I had to brake suddenly he would have been charging me the fare to stockton heath as i would have ended up on the front seats). At one time I would have been very annoyed at such antics but these days cannot be bothered to get angry or even and just content myself that I am not in a rush and tootle along regardless of what is behind me (unless it has blue flashing lights, a blaring multi tone siren and is approaching at motoway speeds that is). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Well if the type of person who enjoys annoying people I guess it is an advantage. My car at 20mph needs to be in second, although it is reving quite low at that speeds in second Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Where speed humps a sited, it is not possible to exceed 5mph (unless you want to wreck your suspension); so these 20mph signs seem rather superficial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15975720 I have been meaning to post the above link but each time I log in I forget! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Good link Coffee. One thing I noticed about Warrington though when I zoomed in was that virtually all of the 103 people who sadly died on our roads were on main roads not the smaller side roads where the 20's are being rolled out.Maybe they should leave all the smaller side roads as they are and reduce the main roads speed limits to 20 mph instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted April 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 A good link, but the majority of the accidents shown around Warrington are over 10 years old. The latest I could find was 2011... If it is pretty much up to date, it does show that Warrington has quite a good road safety record in comparison to a lot of places Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey_man Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 According to the council report over the 20 mph trial period there were very few accidents before the trail and very little during it, although in fact in some places the numbers of collisions increased. Traffic speeds only dropped by 1.4 mph because most people drive very sensibly and significantly well below 30 mph anyway. The trials appeared to have cost £119,000 and told us that they achieved nothing whatsoever. http://www.20splentyforus.org.uk/the_20mph_city/Warrington%2020mph%20PTRC%20presentation%2017%2005%2011.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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