20mph speed limits - are they actually enforceable

If I was travelling at 88mph in a 20mph zone, would I be able to travel back in time to the point before I got my court summons for doing 88mph in a 20mph zone?
 
The simple answer is that of course it is enforceable...however, it is often too costly on local constabularies to actually do so unless there is justifiable need, such as an accident black spot or near to a school etc...

We just had an application to extend 20mph zones throughout the city rejected for this reason.
 
Energize said:
You can run faster than 20mph, might as well sell your car if you live in Bristol then.
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Usain Bolt completed 100 meters in 9.58 seconds which gives him an average speed of just over 23 mph. Taking into consideration that he is a professional athlete who has trained all of his life along with him not needing to bring his lunch, wallet, keys etc. with him and that he was ony travelling a really small distance, somehow I don't think we are going to see a surge of runners in Bristol.. :rolleyes:
 
Lower the speed limit and more pedestrians will think they've got time to beat oncoming vehicles. Whack it up to 60 and they'll lose their bottle so faster is obviously better.
 
MooMoo444 said:
20mph... feels like such a crawl compared to 30.

After a few years of 20 will they say 15mph will be safer?
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Hang on - if they bring back the requirement for someone with a red flag to walk in front of the car that will solve the unemployment problem at the same time! It's all so clear to me now...
 
To those saying well ofc it is enforceable, just because there is a sign doesn't mean something is enforceable. I couldn't stick up my own speed limit signs and change the speed limit for example, and councils do get things wrong in the process for getting a speed limit changed. The wrong paperwork being filled out, signs not in the right places etc can all lead to a speed limit not actually being enforceable.

In the ACPO guidelines there is a good page or two explaining how the road should also be made to look like a 20mph zone and not just have a 3 changed to a 2 on the sign. The police are there to prosecute those obviously flouting the rules not to get everyone doing 30mph because no one realised it was a 20. Without something like speed bumps, narrow points on the road etc then everyone will just assume it is a 30, police don't want to be dealing with that.

Either way, if you see a 20 sign 99% of the time it is going to be legally enforceable and you should expect to get in trouble if you are doing 30, though you are unlikely to get caught due to the lack of policing these 20 zones. Hit a pedestrian at 30 in a 20 and you'll be in deep ****.
 
I always though unless its a red circle with a speed limit in red its not enforcible nor a legal requirement?

EG: Black circle with 20 around a school, yeah, do 20 as its a school, but otherwise standard speeds for a street are fine :confused:
 
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