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  • "
    Reg Edit wrote:
    Whoah! What's the point of 20mph if people don't even keep close to 30mph, the current limit? What we need is enforcement of the 30, not another speed limit to be ignored by boy (and adult) racers. 30 is fine, it just needs enforcing. Some people will do 40 or 50 in a 30, and those are the people that need targeting, not those doing 30 or 31mph. Namby Pamby again from the green and Liberal council. Cars are designed to do 30.Roads are designed for 30. If the Lib Dems and Greens can't drive safely at 30, well that's their problem. I (and many others, I am sure - in fact the vast majority) have driven at 30 for so many years and never had an accident. For me there is no problem, why does the council therefore feel the need to bring in a solution? Have they nothing better to do than tell us how to run our lives, how to put out waste, how to recycle and now, how to drive safely? Get back in the depot Dorothy and empty the bins. THAT'S your job. When I need someone to control my mind, I'll give you a ring. Until then, mind your own business. Oh, and by the way, signs don't print and change themselves, it will cost money that we can ill afford, or haven't you heard there's a recession on?
    "Cars are designed to do 30"??? What nonsense! If you look at your speedo you'll see it goes up to well over 100 - but the speed limit is still 70.
    "Roads are designed for 30" - more nonsense. The road I live on, like countless other roads in Watford, is a Victorian terrace. It was designed for pedestrians and horses & carts!
    Maybe Reg is a Top Gear fan who thinks speed limits are for cissies and women."
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Campaign for 20mph Watford backed by politicians

5:30pm Thursday 22nd March 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Mike Wright , Chief Reporter

Campaign for 20mph Watford backed by politicians Campaign for 20mph Watford backed by politicians

A campaign to drop speed limits across Watford to 20mph has found unanimous backing among the borough’s politicians.

At meeting of the full council on Wednesday councillors lent full-throated support to the 20’s Plenty campaign and voted to take up the case with county highways bosses.

The Liberal Democrats and Green Party councillors jointly sponsored a motion saying the council will now push for the speed limit to be cut to 20mph in all "non-major" residential roads in the town.

The motion argued the move would bring a host of benefits to the town such as reducing accidents, encouraging walking and reducing emissions.

It also said that reducing the average speed from 30mph to 20mph would only increase a 15-minute journey through affected roads by one minute.

Liberal Democrat councillor Iain Sharpe put the motion to the council at yesterday’s meeting saying it aimed to change the driving culture in Watford.

He said one of the barriers to creating smaller 20mph zones was the current requirement for expensive traffic calming measures like speed humps to make them self-enforcing.

Councillor Sharpe argued a blanket zone for residential roads would simply require the changing of signs.

"We are not talking about changing the physical environment," he said, "but the climate of what people think is an appropriate speed to drive at.

"Any Jeremy Clarkson fans among us can object and point to the declining number of fatalities on the on the roads. But it is among the drivers and occupants of cars as they have safety measures such as air bags, not the poor pedestrians."

The leader of the Green Party group, Councillor Steve Rackett, seconded the motion saying: "I would like to see all parties support this and for us go to county with a united stand to persuade their portfolio holder."

The move was backed by Labour, with Councillor Asif Khan saying he had friends who had lost a young child in a road accident.

He added: "It shows our intention that things like this do not happen on our roads, that’s why we support this motion."

The Conservative group on the council also pledged their support to the motion.

Following the cross-party backing for the 20mph zone, Watford’s elected mayor, Dorothy Thornhill, said the council had to show resolve in pushing for the policy.

She said she anticipated a negative reaction to the proposal from some quarters of the town and urged politicians to make a convincing case to residents for the speed limit cut.

"If we don’t take people with us there will be a backlash," she said.

The motion was passed with an overwhelming vote of support meaning Mayor Thornhill will ask Hertfordshire County Council, which oversees highways policy, to undertake a feasibility study for the project.

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