Safe Speed Forums

For many years, virtually all the Runcorn Expressway system of about 12 miles (A533/A557/A558) was NSL, but with no repeaters whatsoever on the roads themselves, and in my recollection many NSL signs missing on the entrances.

The roads in question were reduced to 60 in 2001 and properly compliant terminal signs and repeaters installed (plus a few Gatsos which were rapidly vandalised )

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Actually, it's probably fair to say that pretty much any road with a speed limit higher than 30 mph, where that speed limit has not resulted from a reduction in the past ten years, and where repeaters should be present, is deficient in them to a significant extent.

Very often, the only way you can confirm that the suburban dual carriageway you're on is a 40, and not a 30, is to check that there are 30 signs on the side turnings - this is very true, for example, of the A5058 Queen's Drive in Liverpool which is about ten miles along and forms a half-loop around the city.

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

The road between Shirley and Solihull (through Monkspath estate) used to really get me. All approach roads to the roundabout were 40mph, and the only signs were placed 3 yards from said roundabout, almost immediately afterwhich was a second roundabout where you need to turn right. After that it was 3 to 4 miles of single carraigeway road with wide verges, then pavements on only one side or other and then hedges or walls before any houses, oh and 6 gatsos.

The problem is that as a driver unfamiliar with the route, and having had to negotiate a tricky roundabout, ("is this a gap, yes, accellerate, change gear, oh no I need to be in the right hand lane"), I (and many others I am sure) had totally failed to see the only speed limit signs that said this stretch was 30 mph. The signs are clear enough, they are just incredibly badly located such that they can only be seen at a point in the road when the driver has a hell of a lot to do, and for some reason I believe that blending with traffic coming (often quite fast) from the right is more important than reading every distracting sign. Then you crawl along a road that says "I am safe at 40 or even 50" trying to work out what the limit is, and getting very angry because the punishment is in clear view, but nothing tells you what the limit is.

Given that the limit is obviously too slow for the road, and that cameras are everywhere (especially just behind badly trimmed bushes) and the incompetant location of the signs, the only conclusion is that this set-up is deliberate with the intention of trapping people not familiar with the road. Fortunately the situation has been improved - there are a couple of small (20cm) repeater signs saying 30 underneath the equally small Speed Camera warning signs, but at least these are located in positions where the motorist has a chance of seeing them.