Safe Speed Forums

Just heard an advert on local radio by Fife Council trumpeting their speedbump-ridden 20mph zones

It says the zones are there " to make it safer for children and to help the environment"

Surely this is a blatant lie? Any research I've ever read says that humps cause pollution because cars are constantly slowing down and speeding up to cross them, thus creating extra emissions.. not to mention the extra resources used up in the manufacture of suspension components prematurely worn out from constantly going up and down bumps!

Anybody any ideas how they could have come to the conclusion that a 20mph zone saves the planet?

Yes. They're idiots.

sounds good though.
It must be double think.

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Oct 11 Birmingham Half Marathon. I am running for the British Heart Foundation.
http://www.justgiving.com/Rob-Taylor

I just found it really annoying because it's so blatantly just utter lies.

Everything these days the government or local councils bring in that is grossly unpopular is just labelled as "saving the environment"

Thats annoying enough, but when its actually the opposite of th truth, it really winds me up!

And liars!

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

When will the british motorist ever learn that the simple process of extracting money from the motorist is a "National Pastime" applied by all councils under the pretext of "saving the planet" when all it is actually doing is to pay for the bloated salaries of all the non-jobs at local councils and all the quangos that we keep reading about

These cash strapped councils have to get the money for their fanciful and ridiculous hare brained schemes from somewhere and who else but the motorist as they are a permanent mobile cash machine

Once we do away with all these buffoons who run the councils and replace them with people who KNOW how to get "value for money" for council tax payers we will never get anywhere

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"There But For The Grace of God Go I"

"He Who Ain,t Made Mistakes Ain,t Made Anything"

Spannernut

A council will never be value for money.
The definition of a council is: "an inefficient organisation existing to provide well-paid pensionably careers for those who would otherwise be unemployed and unemployable" Read your council tax breakdown "where the money goes" Disect it.
Most goes on salaries.
I live in Bedfordshire.
Almost at the top of the "highest council tax list"
For size, in area and population, it is near the bottom of the list.
Yet it "boasts" so many councils it is hard to believe it has any unemployment.
Borough council
County council
Mid-Beds council
Not to mention the councils covering Luton and Dunstable, also separate.
USE PARK-N-RIDE signs everywhere. Yet what are the biggest organisations in town ?
And whose staff adamantly refuse to use PARK-N-RIDE ?
Yes, the various councils !
The mid beds council has just moved to its new purpose-built offices...out in the countryside. And has had built footpaths from the nearest town to its offices. While its staff all drive there !
Of cpurse, the various schemes to tax car-parking spaces will not apply to councils.
Whoever thought they would ?

http://www.tnn.co.uk/IndustryNews/plone ... 6393606212



This quote is from Ryders, the van rental firm.

Now, I do not know enough to know if this is feasible. My gut reaction is that in some cases lower speeds might increase pollution. Is this possible?

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

1. I've never seen a "high speed truck" on the road - assuming that by "truck" they mean an artic.

2. So by forcing their drivers to travel at an artificially, electronically limited low speed they will reduce stress???? Oh great. Said driver gets held up in a jam, needs to increase average speed to meet a delivery time, but can't due to a poorly thought out "safety" measure.

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Simon

How much slower do they want to go ?

Trucks: 40 single carriageway, 50 dual, 60 m/way
Vans: 50 single carriageway, 60 dual, 70 m/way

Someone ought to ask them to put some numbers on it....!

They mean 7.5 tonne, so the smaller to medium sized vans, I think.

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

Though the graph on this page is also a gross oversimplification, it is one order of magnitude less of an insult than the above lie which has been boldfaced for your convenience.
The best fuel economy is achieved by most nonhybrid vehicles in an overdriven gear at constant speeds between 40 MpH and 60 MpH.

Stop&Go driving is much too complicated to make decent fuel economy guesses without realtime instrumentation. However, it's obvious that changing speeds are not as economical as steady cruising.

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The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:
1) No one gets hurt
2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#1
3) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not
4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone's
Do not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others
5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

Vested interests?

Using more fuel makes more money for the government.
Breaking our vehicles with their road humps also means more tax paid on new parts.

Driving a van slower means it's rented out for longer.

Anything which uses less energy (or causes less energy to be used) should cost less. Not more.

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Andrew.

Nice to know it's not just our government over here that thinks we're all stupid! With aircon being much more common in the US, I'm surprised they didn't have a sweeping generalisation for how much extra that uses too!

This is utter rubbish. Exhaust emissions are dependent on ENGINE RPM & LOAD not ROAD SPEED.

Take 3 identical cars. One car does 35mph in 4th gear, one does 18mpg in second gear (since staying in a very low gear is the only way to reliably hold a vehicle at such a low speed) and one "surfs" speed humps, speeding up then slowing down for each hump, speed not important.

Then measure the total exhaust emissions from each car over the same distance. If the 35mph vehicle does NOT turn out to be the lowest, I will run down Oxford Street naked shouting "I'm a teapot" at the top of my voice. That's a promise.

I'm sorry, but anyone who does not have even a basic understanding of how an internal combustion engine works is not qualified to make a comment, public or otherwise, regarding the impact of motor vehicles on the environment.

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“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken

But you're forgetting, most people equate speed with cost. The faster you go, the more it costs [they think]
It is obvious, to a majority of people, that a car doing 20 uses less fuel than a car doing 30/40/50.
The council is preaching to the stupid.
You need to educate the masses.
It's going to be hard.

Interestingly, this was in The Times and the Daily record today... also mentioned on Steve Wright's show on Radio 2..

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/li ... 248132.ece

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/newsf ... -20296907/

I feel a nasty letter coming on

20 mph limit STRICTLY enforced by average speed cameras, no humps required.

I drive through 20 limits all the time. The van can either go at near full rpm in first, at 20. Or at slightly above half max rpm in second, at 20.
I usually go at just above tickover....in second...at 14/15 mph. I don't really care much....the van is not bothered either. The buses are though, since they never drive at 20....more like 30+.

Oh, and I hear that the Carlsberg brewery junction/s in Northampton are soon to have 20 traffic lights regulating traffic flow...yes, 20 !