Bristol's 20mph speed limits reduced fatal road injuries by 63%
injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2019/0...Posted Aug 3, 2019, 7:14 PM UTC
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injuryprevention.bmj.com
But... how? The only time I see people *actually * doing 20mph is when there’s a speed camera van or there’s a copper behind them! Also, this study shows that reductions in fatalities was city wide, not just in 20mph zones, so why does the study hypothesise that the lower limits are responsible for this!? The author of this study seems biased in favour of the limits, if you ask me.
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From the study:
[..] previous analyses found that average speeds in Bristol decreased following the intervention from 27.1 to 23.7 mph, with postintervention mean speeds of 22.5mph in 20mph roads and of 25.9mph in 30mph roads.
The fact that such a solid reduction was observed on city level, rather than on 20mph roads only, might be explained by the fact that average speeds decreased overall in Bristol following the intervention, and not only in 20mph roads. Preintervention average speed in 30mph roads was relatively high, and the reduction in speed may have contributed to reducing fatal injuries in these roads. This is similar to findings from Brighton, where reductions in collisions were observed especially in major strategic roads. This also suggests that the reduction in injuries is due to a general change in driving behaviour related to the city-wide nature of the 20mph speed limit, with slower driving speeds also in 30mph roads, where speed tends to be higher than in 20mph roads.
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Because if the person in front of you is doing 20 you also have to do 20 as well.
But the real value comes from preventing people doing 40 on the roads since a) getting caught doing 40 in a 20 zone would make you automatically loose your license and b) it tricks people into being extra careful when driving in case a camera catches you which was the motivation to reduce the speed limit in the first place.
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Our work vans are speed tracked, they are one of the few vehicles that actually do 20 in a 20 zone. The amount of abuse that our drivers take is shocking.
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Well on the whole people tend to drive around 25/26 on Bristol’s roads because that the minimum you can go without feeling sluggish. But that’s fine as it ultimately means everything drives below 30. We’ve all watch the old advert about the difference between 10 mph makes a huge difference.
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Are you advocating to scrap speed limits or for better infrastructure to enforce them?
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Neither, just an observation really. I despise them on roads where it’s inappropriate, support them on appropriate roads. The ‘blanket’ approach doesn’t work. It just encourages people to think that 20mph limits are pointless.
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Where is it inappropriate, not seen that yet...
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Numerous wide a roads with pedestrian guard rails preventing pedestrians from entering the carriageway.
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Parry's Lane is almost 20 all the way down. It's a wide road and seems no more perilous than any other 30mph road.
I have no idea why it's a 20, but it's rubbish when you're going down it because you constantly have to be braking to stay under 20mph. It's so slow that using low gearing in the car still doesn't help.
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Not even the police abide by the 20 limits, nor do they enforce them.
1†
Sounds like they don't have to.
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"This is because reducing road injuries is a priority for public health; as such, injuries are among the leading causes of death and disability worldwide"
...because reducing injuries is a priority, road injuries are among the leading causes of death...
Sounds like communist propaganda to me
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1.3 million people die globally each year in traffic collisions. Millions more are seriously injured. Collisions are the main cause of death for young people.
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You know the real benefit of 20mph zones. People now speed at 30mph. When we had 30mph zones people would speed at 40mph. It's much much safer now even with people not doing 20mph.
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I honestly think it feels mental doing 30 around residential streets.
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Agree. Don't know who thought that was a sensible limit.
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But I thought all they did was make people late for work?
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Punctuality is down but attendance is up as people haven't died on their way to work.
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They've studied a large number of commutes before and after, and the difference is negligible. Which makes sense -- most traffic is bottlenecked at junctions during rush hour.
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I am glad there is evidence out there, posts about 20mph limits seem to be full of whiners. Even if people don't (and some claim can't) stick to it 100%, it is safer. Completely anecdotally but in my local streets that are quite narrow and has the occasional speed camera parked up, it is just a lot calmer. You can cross the road more easily with kids, you can see when to pull out side roads, and may have dickheads driving down at 35+, but better than the 45+ they may have done when it was a 30 zone.
Bear in mind for those complaining about long, wide roads being 20 - it is for pedestrians as much as cars. It may seem like a slog but it helps people crossing the road and adds to the calmness. And if you can't do 20, you may need to get your car or driving checked.
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Does the 20 mph limit apply to cyclists? Genuine question.
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Unless there is a specific byelaw enforcing it, I don't think so. I would encourage cyclists to be responsible, though they are considerably less dangerous in collisions than cars are.
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No. The bit of the Highway Code that describes speed limits only mentions motorised vehicles of different types. There’s no speed limits for bikes, horses, runners or any other non-motorised road user.
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If I could run over 20mph there's nothing that could stop me
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I think Usain Bolt did 25mph...but not for a long amount of time.
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If you've ever tried to cycle at over 20mph on flat ground you'd know that it's very unlikely to matter
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I’ve been behind multiple cyclists down my over 20mph, pretty common
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[deleted]
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Yes
-5
How about nonfatal injuries though?
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Reduced in all areas of Bristol apparently. The only thing I would say is that the confidence interval in this study is very large.
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Most people don’t drive at 20, and I don’t think you’re likely to be penalised for doing over 20. But, this limit seems to make people keep it under 30, which is a reasonable speed, so it seems to be effective!
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Increase traffic by 37% haha
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Last week i was barked at by a cop for doing 35 in a 30 on my bike then had him casually pass me doing 30 when i was sat at 20 in a 20 zone.
load of bolloks.
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The rare times I see police on the road you'll damn well know they ain't doing 20 in the zone.
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I swear a police car was doing AT LEAST fifty down our 20mph road yesterday. Had it’s lights on n that but how can they so casually weigh up importance of what they’re doing vs killing someone. The paths are very narrow and uneven. One trip whilst gawking at the fast noisy thing and it’s over.
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How, when no-one actually abides by them.
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to play devils abdicate... how much if any fatalities due to worsen air quality from cars being driven less eco friendly to conform to the limits.
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That’s not how it works: http://www.20splenty.org/do_emission_increase
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thanks thats what i needed to know :)
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Devils abdicate. That’s a great one.
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I don’t think anyone obeys them
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Well you are obviously wrong because the article states pretty clearly that people do drive more slowly because of them.
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Ahhh bless another sucker that believes in everything they read....bless.
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lol. Keep justifying your shitty driving if you want to.
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Ain’t nothing shitty about my driving. I ride a bike, if you rode one it’s pretty obvious that no fucker pays attention to this law. The 20mph zones have been a huge waste of money and the council can’t reverse it, as the cost is unjustified. By creating reports like this it justifies its existence. It’s really simple to understand. It’s just simple minded clowns like yourself don’t understand media manipulation.
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And they're great fun to drive at when the car behind is a BMW, Audi or Mercedes.
Speed limiter set to 20. Love looking at the face of the driver behind.
I have actually had people overtake me when I have been doing 20 in a 20.
Same here, some twat kept getting right up my ass then overtook by golden lion area... always a great moment though when you keep catching up with them at all the traffic lights.. like well done dude, ya got one car ahead. Top marks
I overtake cars doing 20 on my bike all the time...