OT: cars at traffic lights

Jun 06, 2024 Last reply: 2 years ago 108 Replies
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In the US, the purpose of road signage is not to help motorists arrive safely at their destination; it's designed to turn you into an administrative criminal by the time you get there - so they can fine you.

This process is assisted by the fact that fines for all traffic offences accrue to the local authority, unlike here where that's only true for parking.

But we seem to be approaching the same state.

Maybe I should have added that, prior to the introduction of the 20mph limit, that same journey only had two speed limits, 30 mph and 60mph and the start & end of the 60mph section was pretty self-evident[1].

That is certainly not true of the changes from 20 to 30, or 40 to 60 in place now.

[1] i.e. leaving a 'built-up area' and entering another (with only moorland between the two).

The recommendation to councils is now to keep the difference in speed limits to 20mph per change.

I've been told that the "rules" state that you cannot have a road that goes from the national speed limit to less than 30mph without an intermediate speed limit in between. This probably explains when travelling in Wales recently the signage when entering a town/village first indicated a 40mph limit and then 50 yards further on 20mph.

That's fairly logical, and also good business for the sign-makers.

The one I like for creative ingenuity is near here where different bus lanes on the same route have different times of operation. This means if a driver looks at the first blue plate, they can then get fined at the second one if they don't notice it's different.

Do you mean a minimum of 20 mph or maximum of 20 mph in a single step?

No more than 20mph per step. But it's one of those things it seems impossible to search for, especially post-Wales ...

Hence why so many drivers avoid the bus lanes even when they are permitted to use them.

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