Details of actual speed reductions in speed limit consulations.

Alex Hosking made this Freedom of Information request to South Gloucestershire Council Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

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Dear South Gloucestershire Council,

Why do consultations on speed limit reductions from South Gloucestershire Council not contain any data on what difference dropping the speed limit is expected to make to levels of compliance or actual free-flowing traffic speeds?

I raise this concern as the data provided is almost always just what difference the limit is to be changed by, without giving data on what, if any, presumed traffic speed drop is likely to occur.
This is misleading, without it, many respondents may presume a drop in speed limit is likely to lead to an equal or close to equal drop in traffic speeds and/or they may presume that if the limit is lower, those who drive genuinely unsafe speeds will only drive 5 or 10mph over the posted limit.
Data you've provided me in the past seems to consistently show the latter not be the case.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Hosking

Freedom of information, South Gloucestershire Council

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Dear South Gloucestershire Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of South Gloucestershire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Details of actual speed reductions in speed limit consulations.'.

The response to your request has been delayed. By law, the authority should normally have responded promptly and by 26 April 2022

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...

Yours faithfully,

Alex Hosking

Freedom of information, South Gloucestershire Council

Thank you for your email.

 

This is an automatic response confirming receipt of your email.

 

Where a response is required we will aim to acknowledge your email within
5 working days and we will advise you of the next steps for dealing with
your request.

 

You can now apply, report or request a service using our online forms on
[1]www.southglos.gov.uk. Using our online forms is often quicker and
easier because they feed directly into our systems and automatically pass
information to the teams responsible; you will receive a confirmation
email with a reference number, along with a timescale for us to resolve
your enquiry.   

 

To find out how South Gloucestershire Council uses and protects your
information visit [2]www.southglos.gov.uk/privacy for our Privacy Notice.

 

Kind regards

 

Customer Care

 

_______________________________________________________________
 
South Gloucestershire Council    Achieving excellence for our residents
and their communities, ensuring South Gloucestershire continues to be a
great place to live and work

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Dear Freedom of information,
You can not respond, but be aware you non-response is on record as I did this through the whatdotheyknow website.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Hosking

Marc Cashmore, South Gloucestershire Council

1 Attachment

Dear Alex,
Please find attached a response to your enquiry and apologies for the delay in issuing such.. We are experiencing a number of staffing issues that have contributed.

If you require further information or a discussion to explore how we may better provide the information you require from consultations in future please do not hesitate to make contact after the 29th August.

Kind regards

Marc

Marc Cashmore
Senior Engineer
Design & Place Engineering, Department for Place
South Gloucestershire Council
T: 01454 863398
[mobile number]

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Dear Marc Cashmore,

I still think it's misleading to not provide any data on the expected drop in actual traffic speeds and levels of compliance since you should be able to provide an estimate based on previous experiences. Far too many people will assume a 10mph drop in limit equals a 10mph drop in speeds when it's often a fraction of this and in some cases, speeds can even rise after a limit has been lowered.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Hosking

Marc Cashmore, South Gloucestershire Council

Dear Alex,
It may be just as misleading to make assumptions as each site is subject to individual circumstances. No two being the same.

As you say an "expected drop" may not be borne out in reality; research however and the laws of physics will lead you to conclude that reduced vehicle speeds lessen the force of an impact in the case of a collision and that will correlate to reduced severity of any injury that may result. That of course is in addition to having reduced vehicle speeds affording greater time to react to situations, shorter braking distances and so on which will engender an overall safety benefit as we travel around.

I am not aware of any schemes where we have reduced a speed limit and as a consequence seen consequential increases in speeds unless some other factor were at play.

I will heed your concerns however when drafting statements of reasons and other consultation material for future speed reduction schemes.

Kind regards

Marc

Marc Cashmore - Senior Engineer
Place Operations (Streetcare)
Department for Place
South Gloucestershire Council
Tel: (01454) 86 3398
[mobile number]

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Dear Marc Cashmore,

I'm not sure how physics is the only safety aspect if there's a massive increase in non-compliance for a minimal reduction in speeds, and there's also the aspect that pedestrians may no longer be given a realistic expectation of the speed at traffic is going, meaning they may take less care crossing.

To your last point, it's happened a few times.
The most recent place I've seen it happen was after a limit was reduced on Alcester Road in Stratford Upon Avon. The average speed increased 1mph and the speeds of the faster drivers increase by 3mph.
According to a Department of Transport, report (circulars 1/80) after 40 limits were first introduced
"A before and after study carried out at 20 locations through Kent, where the limit had been raised from 30 mph to 40 mph, showed a fall in speed, or no change, in 80% of the measurements taken, and a small increase in the others. The total number of accidents fell by almost 20%."

You've also previously provided me data that showed several roads with 40 limits have lower speeds than others in the same town that have 30 limits.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Hosking