Last October, UK Transport Secretary Philip Hammond suggested increasing the national highway speed limit from 70 to 80mph (112 to 128 km/h). His argument was that laws should reflect today’s reality and that cutting journey times would have a positive effect on the environment.
Apparently, this comes at a price. In exchange for supporting this plan, 27 local authorities want to enforce a 20 mph (32 km/h) on all roads passing through residential areas, with the exception of major through-routes, by 2013.
The Daily Mail reports that Diane Greenwood, an owner of a BMW 320d, says that if the 20 mph limit is imposed in her home county of Lancashire, she will sue the local council for damages caused to her car!
“In fourth gear, my car tries to push 22 mph, so I have to change down to third, which uses more fuel and puts more of a strain on the car”, said the mother of two children.
“I’m all in favour of 20mph limits outside schools, but the roads around here are nice and wide, so not only is it pointless but it actually negates what they’re trying to achieve. It’s all very well saying I should get a smaller car, but I’ve only had my BMW for a year and it’s my pride and joy – why should I buy a small car if I don’t want one?”
“If anything happens to my car, I’m going to sue the council and force them to cover the costs – it’s a matter of principle as far as I’m concerned”, Greenwood added.
The manager of the “20’s Plenty for Us” campaign, Anna Semlyen, said that Greenwood’s objections were based on prejudice and not facts: “If she’s a BMW driver, she’s not that interested in the environment, is she? BMW drivers generally have them for status reasons.”
So, Greenwood is prejudiced but BMW drivers generally have them for status reasons? That’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black…
Semlyen added that “BMWs are made in Germany where many towns have a speed limit of 30 km/h, which is 18.6 mph, so if they can’t cope with 20 mph it doesn’t say much for the German car industry. She’s just ignorant and she wouldn’t win even if she did try to sue.”
The campaign claims that 20 mph zones can cut casualties by more than a fifth and reduce emissions by 12 percent, while average journey times would be increased by just 40 seconds.
On the other hand, the Department for Transport found that a voluntary 20 mph speed limit imposed in Portsmouth in 2007 resulted in average speeds dropping by only 1 mph, while deaths and injuries actually increased.
