More 20 mph zones planned!

[Shadeyman]

More 20 mph zones and bus lanes could be put in place in towns across the country under Government plans to cut carbon emissions.

The proposals will form part of the Local Transport White Paper which will be unveiled today by Norman Baker.

Mr Baker, the local transport minister, will invite councils across the country to bid for a share of a £560 million pot put aside by the Government for sustainable transport initiatives for the next four years.

The cash is intended to promote what ministers regard as “green transport” as well as local economies.

However it will be left to councils to decide what schemes they wish to promote, rather than being expected to comply with a detailed Whitehall blueprint.

The bus lanes and 20 mph zones are two of a series of initiatives the Government believes could work.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8267626/More-20-mph-zones-planned.html

 

[Focus Owner]

so driving slower = more mpg?
odd drive at 55 in mums car i get 70mpg drive at an average of 22 get 30 mpg.

more bus lanes = less room for cars more complex junctions more traffic lights = slower flow = more time with engine on.

wouldn't 560 million do better on filling in potholes?
less time driving to garages to get repairs= less co2 and other gases
= less power used to manufacture new parts
less parts having to be disposed of

 

[Shadeyman]

:yeahthat:

 

[SeanW]

They built loads of bus lanes here when I was a child...there were so many complaints, they ended up putting signs up stating they are only bus lanes for a couple of hours a day.

I hate 20mph zones. I agree to an extent outside of schools, but even then - only at set times.

Crawley has a set up like that - large chunks of the town centre are 20mph zones only at school opening and kicking out times. Scunthorpe (or one of the nearby villages) has a 20 sign in a green circle - and another sign politely asking drivers to slow down at school opening/closing times.

As for reduced fuel consumption - yeah, I agree, 20 mph is murder on it! It's a stupid idea and should be scrapped - spend the money on the potholes!

 

[Eklipze3k]

Have to agree with the above as well, pottering back and forth to work hitting every traffic light in Hudds, barely getting above 40mph I struggle to get 230 miles from a tank, whereas chucking along the motorway at (some number larger than) 70mph I can get well in excess of 300 miles, sometimes even up to 400 miles. And have to also agree with the state of the roads, painting some numbers on them that money could be much better spent smoothing them out.

 

[MadMan0]

the 20mph zone around the sixth form collage that i went too where rarely used at 20mph.

SOME - not all - students would race each other daily at over 60mph. The locals who lived in the 20 zone often did 40mph.

Only by the primary school up the road did people do 10-15mph

 

[Eklipze3k]

I would love to see an experiment done where speed limits in an area (say a medium sized town) were removed for a period (say a couple of months), along with speed cameras. It would be interesting to see how people would drive and whether there would be more or less accidents, deaths etc. Of course, it'll never happen because people's lives are more than just statistics but it'd be interesting nonetheless.

 

[custard]

comparing 70mph zones with 30/20 zones with regard to fuel consumption is pointless.
you can only compare the likes of 20 with a 30 zone.

 

[Focus Owner]

comparing 70mph zones with 30/20 zones with regard to fuel consumption is pointless.
you can only compare the likes of 20 with a 30 zone.

does anyone have a nice gear ratio for 20 mph?
ie small amount of revs and plenty of acceleration?

 

[Shadeyman]

"Basic rule of thumb"
The lower the gear, the more fuel your using to cover a set distance.

If they want low emissions and fuel economy lets change all the speed limits to 56 mph as most cars are efficient at around that speed. :devil:

 

[MadMan0]

Haha, 56mph...

I was walking out of a shop the other day and they was a young female driving texting on her phone NOT looking in front going about 20mph. i was soo tempting to jump on the bonnet and make her think she had hit someone

I have to say i have a MAJOR hate for people using Phones while driving, i was almost killed in VERY close high speed crash due to a lorry driver on there phone, didn't even see me

It doesn't really matter if they reduce the speed limits, the careful drivers - those you generally don't cause crashes will be the only ones keeping to the new limits. Everyone else - who tends to be the cause of many crashes will not pay much attention to them

 

[SeanW]

does anyone have a nice gear ratio for 20 mph?
ie small amount of revs and plenty of acceleration?

At 30, I can sit in 5th quite comfortably on the longer stretches of road (nicely flowing) and 4th for trundling round the town centre - engine sits quite nicely humming along to itself. At 20, I'm either in 3rd with the engine saying "Ugghh...I don't like this, gear up" or 4th and "Noo...go back!!"

 

[MadMan0]

does anyone have a nice gear ratio for 20 mph?
ie small amount of revs and plenty of acceleration?

3rd

Actully i can use 3rd from 15mph - 60mph

 

[Adrian Bravo]

More 20 mph zones and bus lanes could be put in place in towns across the country under Government plans to cut carbon emissions.

Wether or not this is true I can tell you what I would like to see. Filling the potholes (properly) improving the road surface. On a smooth road you can glide along so easily without giving any input to the accelerator. With the bumpy potholed roads taking out all your momentum you have to constantly accelerate, brake, and swerve.

I was about to make a thread, talking about how much concentration you have to use to keep your car in a straight over the bumpy road surface. With the roads getting so bad here recently I feel like a lot of my concentration has shifted to the road surface not on the road ahead.

 

[claymore]

so driving slower = more mpg?
odd drive at 55 in mums car i get 70mpg drive at an average of 22 get 30 mpg.

more bus lanes = less room for cars more complex junctions more traffic lights = slower flow = more time with engine on.

wouldn't 560 million do better on filling in potholes?
less time driving to garages to get repairs= less co2 and other gases
= less power used to manufacture new parts
less parts having to be disposed of

:yeahthat:

 

[Hellcat]

I would love to see an experiment done where speed limits in an area (say a medium sized town) were removed for a period (say a couple of months), along with speed cameras. It would be interesting to see how people would drive and whether there would be more or less accidents, deaths etc. Of course, it'll never happen because people's lives are more than just statistics but it'd be interesting nonetheless.

Oooooh a favorite of mine!

Remove the speed limits and people will drive within their ability, the capability of the car and the prevailing conditions and location. It would most likely be a little under 30 for residential streets, around 30-35 along the larger streets, around 40ish along inner-town dual carriageways getting faster as you head to less populated areas. Then you could use the signposts to warn of dangers to which people would adjust their speed.

Give people a speed limit and they drive at it - as they presume its a safe speed to be driving - regardless of conditions and location.

 

[maddogmorg]

pretty sure cars cooling systems are designed to work from 30mph, ie below that fans are needed, which increases engine load, so reducing speed to 20mph for carbon emissions is ridiculous.

 

[Focus Owner]

also, do remember this is a car from so everyone is bi est. think of it from a pedestrian view.
more cars behind each other meaning it takes longer to cross.

cars seem stationary.


also less cars though traffic lights mean more late Amber's or early green pedestrian lights.

eventually we will be overtaken by cyclists.

i admit most i have had my bike up to was 35. (down hill)
Reasonable experience, medium (say 40 miles): average speed 16-19 mph

and another thing down hill i dont have a nice hang gear for 20mph meaning i have to use breaks
a cyclists doing 19mph and yourself doing 20 makes an impassible object. = more death cause cyclist will fulster and fall

 

[Rigby]

I would love to see an experiment done where speed limits in an area (say a medium sized town) were removed for a period (say a couple of months), along with speed cameras. It would be interesting to see how people would drive and whether there would be more or less accidents, deaths etc. Of course, it'll never happen because people's lives are more than just statistics but it'd be interesting nonetheless.

That would be a great experiment, however no doubt all of the chavs would ruin it by just going flat out everywhere.

Even if speed limits were taken down I still wouldnt do stupid speeds, sure I would go faster than the current speed limits but thats mainly because the speed limits are stupid.

 

[Radlet6]

"Basic rule of thumb"
The lower the gear, the more fuel your using to cover a set distance.

If they want low emissions and fuel economy lets change all the speed limits to 56 mph as most cars are efficient at around that speed. :devil:

Thereby making sixth gear on my Croma redundant. It is nearly as efficient at 75 in 6th, as 56 in 5th.