SpeedLIMIT

Promoting better, safer roads and sensible traffic law enforced with discretion

"Blame for accidents seems to me, as a traffic engineer, to be at best irrelevant, and at worst actively harmful."
(J. J. Leeming)

Speed Limits and Enforcement

Speed Cameras: Camera sites in and around Greater Manchester
Speed Limit Reductions: Examples of speed limit reductions in the Greater Manchester area, few of which are justified or conform to official guidelines
The New Stealth NSL: The Highway Code says the default limit on rural single carriageways is 60 mph, but in more and more areas it is rapidly becoming 50 mph
Speed Cameras Revisited: An update on recent developments in speed enforcement, following on from A Nice Little Earner?
Speeding by Design: Why do we allow cars to be sold that can do twice the motorway speed limit?
Hide and Seek: Would a return to hidden speed cameras improve road safety?
After the Cameras: How should traffic law be enforced once most of the cameras have gone?
Fabulous Forties: The rise and fall of the suburban 40 mph speed limit
Is Twenty Plenty?: How a misguided safety policy is increasing pollution and slowing our towns to a crawl
30 mph Villages - the Hidden Threat: The superficially appealing concept that is likely to lead to inappropriate and dangerous speed limits on rural roads
Towards a Rural Speed Hierarchy: Another concept that may sound appealing in theory but in practice would be highly problematical to implement and potentially dangerous. Page recently revised (March 2003)
Why We Need Speed Limits: Scepticism about current British speed limit policy does not mean that we should dispense with limits altogether
Limiting Speed, Limiting Safety: How the totalitarian threat of external vehicle control threatens a road safety disaster
Socially Unacceptable Speeding?: Why speeding will never become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving
Turning the Screw: How inconsistent, politically-motivated speed limit cuts are compromising safety on our roads
Guide to Speed Limit Setting: My views on how speed limits should be applied to UK roads - which are closer to official government policy than the approach of many local authorities
Speed Limit Markings: A brief guide to the current legal position on speed limit signs and markings
Lower Speeds by Stealth: The Highways Agency and local authorities are taking the law into their own hands in imposing unjustified blanket speed limit cuts (updated May 2001 for new developments)
A Nice Little Earner?: Will the proliferation of speed cameras really raise millions for Treasury coffers?
The Slow Pace of the Country: The pitfalls of "slower speeds on rural roads"

General Issues

Petrol Prices: The facts about how they have moved over the past 20 years (recently updated for March 2007 figures)
Transport and Road Safety Manifesto: A list of proposals based on the overall themes of this site, concentrating on modest and achievable ideas rather than blue-sky thinking
Traffic is Killing Our Village!: Many rural villages feel swamped by speeding traffic. So what is the solution?
Is the Price Right?: Is road pricing the solution to the gridlock on our roads? (recently revised and updated)
Tracks to Tarmac?: Is rail-to-road conversion an unheralded idea whose time has come?
Hogging Attention: Do middle-lane hoggers deserve the bad press they get?
Getting the Hump: How "traffic calming" is making our roads more dangerous, not less (recently updated)
Down the Hatch: The confusing and ill thought out lining scheme that is blighting our roads
How to Improve Road Safety: Following the publication of the government's Road Safety Review, a few alternative ideas on how to go about reducing road casualties
Horses for Courses: There is huge scope for enhancing public transport, but it's important to concentrate on what it does best
Poll Taxes on Wheels: Motorists are threatened with congestion charging and a workplace parking tax - but, in reality, will Blair ever allow them to be implemented outside London?
Protect Horses- Drive a Car: How life without the car would literally be a pile of shit
Funky Bangers: Why environmentalists choose to drive some of the most unsafe and polluting cars on the road

Local Issues

(which may have a general significance)

The Great Manchester Con Charge: Greater Manchester is now threatened with unfair and extortionate congestion charging
Road Projects Needed in North-West England: A summary of new roads vital to relieve congestion and improve the local economy, that in many cases have been on the drawing board for decades
Red Card for Road Builders: Were Beckham's and Cole's bans as much a symptom of bad roads as bad driving?
Road-Hump Madness Comes to the Heatons: Quality of life in one of Stockport's more pleasant areas will be seriously compromised by ill-considered traffic schemes (updated December 2000 for the latest developments)

Miscellaneous

Frequently Asked Questions: The answers to some of the queries most often raised by readers of this website.
Photo Gallery: A selection of photographs showing various aspects of roads policy, covering speed limits, speed cameras, traffic calming, bus lanes, cycling facilities etc.
Britain's Best Driving Roads: Suggestions from Internet users on this country's most enjoyable roads to drive along, legally (or sometimes otherwise)
Annoying Things People Do on the Roads: A list of my pet hates, many of which are not only highly irritating but downright dangerous too
Letters to the Editor: Letters I have had published in the press on road safety-related subjects
About this Site: How did I come to create this website, and what's the background behind it?
Transport and Driving Links: Links to other sites concerning transport and driving issues that I have found worthwhile
Anti-Car Links: Collection of links to various organisations campaigning to restrict the use of private motor vehicles - for some of which you may need a strong stomach
Feedback: Comments received from readers, and my response to them

PePiPoo - Helping the motorist to get justice

Have Your Say!

If you have any comments or questions on this website, please either fill in the form below, or send me an e-mail.

You may like to take a look at the Frequently Asked Questions page before submitting your query.

For general discussion of the issues raised on this site, why not also take a look at these on-line forums (of both of which I am an active member):

Safe Speed - covers driving and road safety, with particular reference to speed enforcement
SABRE - looks at road policy, design, construction and signing

Note: I have no legal qualifications and am not in a position to advise on individual cases where people have been charged with motoring offences. In such cases, I recommend getting in touch with a good solicitor - there several links on the FAQ page. I will answer questions relating to the specifics of speed limit signing, but beyond this am not prepared to comment on legal issues.

IMPORTANT:

This website is designed and maintained by Peter Edwardson.

All material on the site is � Peter Edwardson 2001-2008. Text may be quoted and photographs reproduced on other websites provided that the source is acknowledged.

This is a personal website, and while every effort has been made to ensure that all information given is correct, clearly it is not possible to guarantee that everything is entirely accurate or up-to-date. If there is anything you feel should be added or amended, please let me know using the contact details above.

The opinions expressed are entirely personal and do not represent the official policy of any organisation. Nothing on this site is intended as an encouragement to break any road traffic law or to behave in a dangerous or irresponsible manner on the roads.

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