Having read in the Ely Standard that Cambridgeshire County Council intends to
impose yet more unnecessary 20 mph speed limits, I would like to comment.

20mph limits have their place outside schools and on housing estates (though a competent driver would not be exceeding that in those areas anyway).

Imposing them on through routes is not justified. Research by experts at Queens University have shown that cutting 30 to 20 makes no difference to accident rates or injuries.

Drakeford stated a couple of weeks ago that the huge imposition of 20 mph limits in Wales would "perhaps save 2 to 4 lives a year".

No supporting evidence, and only a possibility, hardly a justification. The massive (450k signature) petition against these limits shows just how unpopular they are.

Driving for any distance at 20 mph is frustrating, especially when the road was previously a perfectly sensible 30 with zero accidents. Some of our villages are a couple of miles long.

I notice that a number of councillors had reservations about these blanket schemes, and it is a pity they didn't have the courage of their convictions and vote against them.

I note that our Prime Minister has made noises against these blanket limits, hopefully some legislation will appear. Until then, I feel that the council should put a hold on these schemes.

I would add that, if 30 mph limits were better enforced, then I suspect that requests for 20mph would die out.

My street has a 30mph limit, most of the traffic using it as a rat-run drive at 50. Noisy and
dangerous. The police have attended on occasion, but they cannot be everywhere.

We should be spending money on enforcing existing 30 limits, not introducing unrealistic 20's.

Mike Rose

Soham