Statutory 20 mph zones a bad mistake by North Lincolnshire Council suggests columnist Hugh Rogers
I see that in the coming fiscal year £25,000 has been earmarked by the Council for the provision of further 20 mph zones outside schools. If these zones are to be of the non-obligatory type, this initiative is to be welcomed as a safety measure which is there when it is needed and does not impede drivers when there are no children about.
If, however, we are to be saddled with still more of the absurd year-round obligatory limits, where drivers must, upon pain of prosecution, slow down to 20mph in order to pass a school which is closed - for instance at weekends and for extensive periods of the year - then I must register my opposition to such a scheme which, to my way of thinking is analogous to having lollipop ladies ply their poles on a Sunday!The statutory 20 mph zones were a bad mistake by the Council. They are an irritating and unnecessary nuisance to the majority of drivers, including myself, who would in any case drive especially carefully past schools disgorging children, but who see no reason to decelerate to such a snails' pace when there are no children about -during school holidays for instance. The limits are therefore widely ignored. I do make an effort to comply with the lower limit even when there seems no need to do so, but on more than one occasion I have been harassed by following drivers who do not share my respect for the law.
When I raised this matter in official quarters, I was advised that these "experimental" statutory limits were to be replaced by non-statutory 20mph when the lights systems - an eminently sensible compromise which, however, appears to have been implemented only in Belton (why Belton ?) where it works well from everyone's point of view.
I am perfectly aware that I have been banging on about these statutory 20 mph zones for some time. The only reason I am re-visiting the subject now is that the initial promise to Belton-ise all the zones has still not been fulfilled, which is disappointing. Perhaps the relevant councillor or the Highways Dept (or whatever fancy name they give themselves these days) would care to comment.
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