I'm the first to call attention to the potential pitfalls of inappropriately low speed limits that, for example, have recently mushroomed over the A525 south and east of Rhuthun/Ruthin towards Wrecsam. That doesn't mean I am pro-speed. Au contraire. There are parts of Rhuthun that would benefit from a 20 mph limit. And everyone in town should at least respect the established 30 mph limit.
Talk to almost any community and they aspire to have lower speed limits. Why is this? Often, there is a safety concern yet, just as often, there are no or few casualties or even accidents. It's about perception. How often have you heard the term "an accident waiting to happen"? It goes far beyond safety, though. It's as much about humanising & civilising road space so communities can begin to enjoy their surroundings more, with less noise or pollution. In other words, professionals tend to take a narrow view about safety alone; but there's more to it than that.
That's why we would prefer to see all estates in Rhuthun—all distributor and local roads—under a blanket 20 mph limit.
There are those who say that speed is never a cause but only a factor in crashes. Tell that to the communities of Gwyddelwern & Corwen who have just lost three of their young to a road traffic crash. One was a pupil of Ysgol Brynhyfryd. The driver killed themselves and the occupant of another vehicle, seriously injuring a second. Informed sources suggest that the young driver cornered too fast and lost control. Who knows, the driver may have been within the legal speed limit but it does appear that he was not driving at an appropriate speed. Such a tragedy—there’s no other word for it—could've been avoided.
Meanwhile, two days beforehand, the police began to ask for volunteers to operate community speed cameras. Yesterday, this made its way to the front page of no less a newspaper than The Sun (above and below), whence the idea was well and truly ridiculed.
Would you feel strongly enough about speed to volunteer to do something about it? It's likely you will turn into an ostracised pariah or worse be verbally abused but it has proven useful elsewhere as a deterrence in reducing speeds (e.g. Pentrefoelas from 2009). As speed reduces, so safety improves and additionally the community at large benefits from less noise and nuisance.
We should therefore welcome more active speed enforcement, howsoever delivered. It is unacceptable for boy racers to buzz around town at any speed they like, without giving any consideration to residents or the law. It's equally unacceptable for older motorists to have zero perception of speed to the point where they are driving beyond their abilities. Likewise, we should not have to put up with the speed, noise and antics of summer bikers who use North Wales as a playground. And neither should we condone firms that use speed to subsidise their business by expecting their drivers to exceed limits. All this shows a lack of concern for the communities in which they live and serve.
At the heart of the debate is our unwillingness to accept that speeding is both illegal and illogical, not to mention selfish, inconsiderate, dangerous and the cause of distress. Speed is something of an addiction. People who go on speed awareness courses (as an alternative to three points on their licence) generally leave with a dramatic change of attitude towards speed.
It was once said that speeding would be as unacceptable as drink driving. That never happened. The classic grumbling is about being caught at "just" 3 mph over the 30 limit changes. Yet, would we accept someone 10 per cent over the drink drive limit?
The newly sited speed activated warning sign at Glasdir. Others are on Denbigh Road and Mold Road
Talk to almost any community and they aspire to have lower speed limits. Why is this? Often, there is a safety concern yet, just as often, there are no or few casualties or even accidents. It's about perception. How often have you heard the term "an accident waiting to happen"? It goes far beyond safety, though. It's as much about humanising & civilising road space so communities can begin to enjoy their surroundings more, with less noise or pollution. In other words, professionals tend to take a narrow view about safety alone; but there's more to it than that.
That's why we would prefer to see all estates in Rhuthun—all distributor and local roads—under a blanket 20 mph limit.
We should therefore welcome more active speed enforcement, howsoever delivered. It is unacceptable for boy racers to buzz around town at any speed they like, without giving any consideration to residents or the law. It's equally unacceptable for older motorists to have zero perception of speed to the point where they are driving beyond their abilities. Likewise, we should not have to put up with the speed, noise and antics of summer bikers who use North Wales as a playground. And neither should we condone firms that use speed to subsidise their business by expecting their drivers to exceed limits. All this shows a lack of concern for the communities in which they live and serve.
Speed and traffic counter outside Ysgol Brynhyfryd earlier this month—here, there is an occasional police motorcyclist but that only appears when the weather's fine
At the heart of the debate is our unwillingness to accept that speeding is both illegal and illogical, not to mention selfish, inconsiderate, dangerous and the cause of distress. Speed is something of an addiction. People who go on speed awareness courses (as an alternative to three points on their licence) generally leave with a dramatic change of attitude towards speed.
It was once said that speeding would be as unacceptable as drink driving. That never happened. The classic grumbling is about being caught at "just" 3 mph over the 30 limit changes. Yet, would we accept someone 10 per cent over the drink drive limit?