Lambeth joins Southwark in setting 20 mph speed limit

A worthy gesture but nothing more, I fear, unless the boys in blue can be persuaded to enact at least a little enforcement. I've seen zero evidence of any at all in Southwark, and unsurprisingly the limit is generally ignored. (IIRC, the police more or less stated at the time that they would not enforce the new limits.)

30's Slow Enough

I am outraged by the way the councillors and out-of-town traffic planners make the lives of ordinary residents ever more miserable and unhealthy. It is the residents who suffer from the constant attempts to clog up our streets and slow down traffic. We all need the benefit of transport. Through traffic might be able to find alternative routes but the residents and those that serve us cannot.

Our council's policies create more and more pollution. They waste vast amounts of time. Everything takes longer. Longer journey times mean higher prices, worse services, slower ambulances, buses that are stuck, pollution levels above healthy levels. People don't want to live here.

If, like the residents of SE1, you live at the centre of London you are faced with really long, slow journeys to get anywhere out of town. I think it's safe to assume our traffic planners don't spend half their lives stuck in the traffic jams they have caused.

You would think that in a world where developments in roads, vehicles and education have led to huge improvements in safety over the years, people would be looking to increase speed limits in those few places where traffic can move freely on major routes. The 20 mile limit will only encourage more traffic onto back streets where we don't want it.

As to communication and signage - I have been baffled recently where 20 mph signs on Kennington Road have been taken down, suggesting the experiment was over, but there are advertising banners saying 20mph, in one case alongside the speed limit sign saying 30mph. Kennington Road is a major, wide road with four broad lanes and crossings. It is not somewhere children should play. There is no benefit in slowing down traffic on roads such as this. It just harms the residents and our environment.

S i m o n wrote:

30's Slow Enough
I am outraged by the way the councillors and out-of-town traffic planners make the lives of ordinary residents ever more miserable and unhealthy. It is the residents who suffer from the constant attempts to clog up our streets and slow down traffic. We all need the benefit of transport. Through traffic might be able to find alternative routes but the residents and those that serve us cannot.

etc etc

As to communication and signage - I have been baffled recently where 20 mph signs on Kennington Road have been taken down, suggesting the experiment was over, but there are advertising banners saying 20mph, in one case alongside the speed limit sign saying 30mph. Kennington Road is a major, wide road with four broad lanes and crossings. It is not somewhere children should play. There is no benefit in slowing down traffic on roads such as this. It just harms the residents and our environment.

Glad you've got that off your chest, Simon. Comforting to know there are still some people living in the past (c. 1960, when the motor car was king of the road (and there was road space to spare)).

Kennington Road - surely this is one of TfL's red routes and was never affected by Southwark's 20 mph speed limit restriction, which only applies to the roads the council controls? The advertising banners refer to the otherwise borough-wide ban; the speed limit sign refers to the road you're driving on. Sorry about the confusion, but presumably a motorist is expected to be able to tell an official road sign from an advert.

'It is not somewhere children should play'? There are certainly places children shouldn't play, like railway tracks and airport runways and building sites - but do you suggest putting up warning signs on the pavement of Kennington Road confirming it as a no-go area for the under elevens?

The average motor speed in town is below 20mph - so driving above this speed simply involves accelerating to lights/junctions, then waiting stationary at red lights.
increasing net emissions.
The majority of residents in Southwark don't own cars - just about all of them walk.
The chance of surviving getting hit by a 20mph is massively more than getting hit at 30mph.
It's time for the oil lobby to move on, they have had a century of dominating our cities, and our legislature - our cities are poorer for it.

It amazes me that anyone has a problem with this. Traffic doesn't move freely on any route in London because there is so much of it and so many traffic lights. I cycle to and from work every day, Bermondsey to Farringdon. I regularly get passed by cars travelling at 30 mph who I then catch again within 20 seconds as they wait at traffic lights down the road. I often wonder why they were in such a hurry to get there.

It can't be slow enough for me, to be honest. The other day I tried to cross the street on Long Lane, just opposite Wild's Rent. Cars were speeding like mad. Guy's Street is entirely right: as a cyclist I always 'meet' the speeding cars at the traffic lights. It just doesn't make sense.

Seems mostly academic, going on my recent experience of driving around SE1. Opportunities for exceeding 20mph are few and far between

PeteStaples wrote:

Seems mostly academic, going on my recent experience of driving around SE1. Opportunities for exceeding 20mph are few and far between

Depends on the day of the week and time of day, Pete.
Travelling home on Long Lane in the evenings - after the rush hour traffic has abated - I would say almost all motor vehicles were exceeding 30 mph, some by a considerable margin. This would include C10 buses, which is a disgrace. It did make me wonder whether public service vehicles have any speed recording equipment fitted, and if not, why not?

Sandgrown Dave wrote:

It did make me wonder whether public service vehicles have any speed recording equipment fitted, and if not, why not?

Buses will be fitted with a tachograph which records speed.

I find the Lambeth speed limit rather confusing. I did wonder whether I can actually do 50mph:

It is a matter of time to see a tragic accident happening in Long Lane off Wild's Rents. Cars easily speed at 30mph and more, especially when taking the soft curve nearby Simon the Tanner. On top of installing speed limit signs along the street, Southwark Council should reduce the traffic speed and improve pedestrians safety by installing a pedestrian crossing nearby Fine Foods, for instance.