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Speed Limit Review
My comments are purely from a personal point of view and, to put them into perspective, I have been driving in Jersey for well over forty years and thus can hardly be regarded as a boy racer.
General
Do not decrease the limits further. In some areas they are already too low. Comments
Fortunately there have been relatively few fatal accidents in recent years. Unfortunately many of the fatal accidents that have occurred have been caused by a combination of drink driving, gross driver error, speeding, defective vehicles, passengers failing to wear seatbelts and overloaded vehicles. I would ask how many have been caused by drivers travelling at the legal limit and not falling into one of the above groups; ie has any evidence been presented to you to show that any of those accidents would have been prevented by a reduced limit.
Green lanes
I agree that the four existing speed limits should be reduced down to three, 20mph, 30mph and 40mph by making the speed limit in Green Lanes 20mph, but still maintaining priority for pedestrians, horses etc. I accept that in these times the costs of changing the limit in green lanes to 20mph could be significant and is probably not appropriate for the next couple of years. Thus, consider making the limit in Green Lanes part time by increasing the limit to 30mph between say midnight and 7am or perhaps between dusk and dawn.
Comments
The Island has 4 different speed limits, two of them only 5mph apart!
The Green Lanes policy may have its benefits, although I do have my doubts, as few people keep to anywhere near the limit and simply drive appropriately when pedestrians, horses etc are on the road. We live in a green lane and I am frustrated when driving late at night or early in the morning down a straight road with good visibility at 15mph. In many cases they do not produce the interconnecting routes envisaged and in some areas the Green Lanes policy has been used as a traffic calming measure, for example Valley des Vaux where a simple limit would be appropriate. Green Lanes should be used solely for the purposes of producing scenic walks where pedestrians and horses have priority and not as a fourth speed limit.
30mph Limits and 20mph Limits
Apply the 30mph and 20mph limits in a consistent way. Speed limits should not go below 30mph on arterial roads and only below 40mph in built up areas.
Comments
The frustration for most motorists is in an illogical implementation of principles which carry broad support.
The problem is that, in the main, those that reply to such reviews or attend public meetings are the vocal minority who want a reduced limit on a particular road. It always seems that everyone wants a reduced speed limit in the area near their house or school, as long as it does not apply to them! Conversely they object to reduced speed limits everywhere else. Those that create the greatest fuss seem to get the limits they want introduced and thus the limits are not applied in a consistent way. A couple of years ago, after residents complained of speeding in their green lane, a speed trap was set up by the honorary police. They caught seven people of whom three were the residents who complained!
When the JEP had an internet opinion poll, a large majority, I recall 90%, did not want to see limits reduced further. Perhaps a similar electronic pole would produce a balanced indication of Island opinion.
It also seems that if cars are regularly driving at say 60mph in a particular area, the residents want the limit reduced to 30mph. Whereas, logically, existing limits should be enforced more strictly.
Good examples of the implementation of an inappropriate 30mph limit are:-
St Martin s Church to Gorey, the top of Mont Felard, St Peters Valley and quite a few others
In St Peter sVillage the 20mph zone is too slow for an arterial road.
Once again, reducing the limit to 20mph within the ring road is inappropriate as it is almost impossible to travel at over 20mph for most of the time due to the high level of traffic. At those times of the day when traffic subsides, 30mph is probably a safe and reasonable speed. Traffic calming measures would be more appropriate within the ring road.
There are times when it is safe to do 50mph in a 40mph area and likewise it is often unsafe to do 20mph in a 30mph zone. In an ideal world drivers should be able to assess the correct speed for the given circumstances, but in an imperfect world how far should limits be reduced and reduced further. After all any moving vehicle has the potential to kill someone and thus a limit of zero would mean no accidents.
Chris McFadyen