Speed Limit Signs

In Scotland, the introduction of 20mph zones has halved the number road accidents in scores of residential regions across the Capital, according to the city council.

Accidents around lower schools within the city have also declined by nearly a third since the 20mph speed limit was introduced.

The reduction in the speed limit was enforced to reduce the risk of severe personal injury or death if a collision took place.

The council has been monitoring the impact of the zones, showing the number of accidents in the three years before and after the new limit was imposed.

The figure was cut in half in the 29 residential areas of the city where the 20mph zones have been put into place, dropping from 149 to 75. At the 26 primary schools, the number of road accidents fell from 54 to 37.

The spots were the council focused on were Royston, which had the highest number of accidents, Broughton, Portobello, Gorgie and Lochend. Other regions are being monitored, with the council drawing up a priority list of accident ‘hotspots’ each year.

Safer place for the city

Gordon Mackenzie, the city's transport leader, said: “The council is committed to the reducing of accidents on our roads and to making our city a safer place.

“After all, any accident is one too many. A key element of our road safety plan is the introduction of 20mph speed limits in suitable residential areas.

“This assists in meeting our objective to reduce vehicle speeds and, in turn, to reduce accident numbers. These results show that we have learned from past mistakes to implement a cost-effective scheme that saves lives.”

Road safety charities have welcomed the significant drop in road accidents since the zones were introduced in Edinburgh. Brake is one of those organisations:

A spokeswoman said: “A 20mph limit in residential areas is something Brake has been campaigning for a number of years.

“We really want to urge people to slow down in residential areas and around schools because the faster they go, the more serious it is if they hit someone.

“Children are vulnerable road users and as much as we can educate them to stay safe on the road, they might walk out in front of a car.

“If people are aware of the dangers of going faster in residential areas they might be more aware of things like kids playing in the street or people walking out from between parked cars. If they are going slower, they can react quicker."

“These figures back up our campaign for 20mph speed limits and we would urge all councils to introduce these limits in residential areas.”

Reducing road accidents nationwide

Meanwhile, other areas across the UK are also enforcing new rules to lower road accidents and people killed or seriously hurt by them.

Wyre Forest has introduced electronic warning signs to improve safety near schools, and more are to be added.

The go-ahead was given this month to install the flashing signs, following a public outcry from parents about the dangers to children from speedsters.

The computer-operated signs are fitted with powerful light units and are programmed to operate at the start and end of the school day.

The signs alert drivers to their speed limit and costs around £4,000 each to install.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-injury-articles/school-drops-speed-limit-to-decrease-road-accidents-1107322.html

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Ask any driver if they truthfully stick to the speed limit at all times and chances are you won't get many people who can answer yes. We are all guilty of pushing over the speed limit at some point whether we are aware of it or not. There are plenty of reasons this can happen from trying to overtake a car in front of us on the motorway, not knowing when the speed limit changes on a road we've been driving on or simply not paying attention. Driving above the recommended speed limit in any area is going to affect the way you drive in many ways, from stopping distances to burning through your petrol at a quicker rate.

Always make sure you leave in plenty of time to get to an appointment so you are not rushing, because if you rush you are more likely to have an accident that could make you much later than a just few minutes. Not only are accidents more likely to happen but if a pedestrian were to walk out in front of you then driving at 30mph can have a 20% chance of killing them, as low as this is if you were driving just five miles per hour faster than this percentage goes up to 50%, at 40mph there is only a low 10% chance that the pedestrian will survive.

It is sometimes easy to miss road signs that tell you what the speed limit is on that road and it can be hard to know what a safe speed to stick to is. One helpful reminder is that if you are driving on a street with street lights then this usually means that the limit is 30mph unless otherwise stated. The other risks that you face when you got over a speed limit is speed cameras and police patrols with radar guns. There are so many around that there's a big chance that you'll get caught, fined and add some points on to your license.

Making sure you don't overdo it when it comes to speed can be tough but you don't have to have one eye on the speedometer for the whole journey, instead try staying in each gear slightly longer, this can encourage you to not get up to high speeds and try to make sure you only use your fifth gear on motorways. Make sure that you don't allow your car to drive at high RPMs though as this can not only be a less economical way to drive but can also cause significant wear and damage to your car's engine over time.

There are plenty of valid reasons for keeping to or below the speed limit and when you take in to account the risks you take when you drive too fast there is really no excuse for speeding.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/beat-the-speed-demon-inside-of-you-and-stick-to-the-speed-limit-2252576.html

It's hard to imagine that when cars first made it to market, there weren't many traffic laws.  In fact, speed limits weren't even developed.  Without speed limits and proper traffic laws, roads became chaotic and dangerous.  Today, however, our world couldn't exist without proper traffic control.  Traffic speed is most often controlled by the implementation of speed limits and speed bumps, to ensure that cars are traveling at safe speeds.  To reinforce these traffic control mechanisms, speed limit signs and speed bump signs are necessary.

<h2> Speed Limit and Speed Bump Traffic Signs </h2>

If you've ever been pulled over for speeding, you know that one of the first questions law enforcement will ask you is if you saw the posted speed limit signs.  Whether you saw the signs or not, those signs are posted in order to alert you to what has been determined to be a safe speed at which you can travel on that particular road.  In addition, if a speed limit changes as you are traveling, these traffic signs inform you of new speed limits.  Not only are speed limit traffic signs important for controlling traffic speeds, but they also end up keeping drivers safer. 

Another great way to reinforce traffic safety is to use speed bumps.  Although you won't find speed bumps on any highways, you will find them on side streets and even some main roads.  Speed bumps are designed to cause drivers to slow down in order to pass safely.  Although the speed bump itself is used as a method to calm traffic, without proper warning of an upcoming speed bump, there might be more damage caused than without the speed bump.  This is because speed bumps create a lot of noise and damage to cars if they don't pass over the bump at a slow speed.  That's why speed bump traffic signs are essential.  With proper warning of a change in upcoming road conditions, drivers will slow down to a safe speed.

It's easy to understand why proper traffic control is needed in order to prevent accidents.  Speed limit and speed bump traffic signs are just two ways to ensure that everyone travels your roads at the safest speeds.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/ways-to-control-traffic-speed-with-traffic-signs-4098539.html

A traffic sign designed to reinforce speed limits and safe driving.  Find out more about how traffic signs keep reduce the number of potential accidents on roads

If you have ever walked through a busy parking lot while trying to make your way to the building entrance when someone came whipping by you in a car, you know just how deadly a parking lot can be. Sometimes, in their rush to get the best spot, motorists forget that a parking lot is full of pedestrians as well as cars. Many parking lot owners are taking the safety and security of their patrons into their own hands and installing safety features, such as speed limit signs and speed bumps to encourage motorists to drive responsibly through their lots.

Speed bumps are a great way to control the speed of vehicles driving through a parking lot while keeping them moving. Some lots have opted to use stop signs but find that this creates more congestion as cars are repeatedly forced to stop and go or some motorists ignore the sign all together and just keep driving. Constructed of molded plastic, rubber or even concrete, a speed bump forces motorists to slow down and be aware of their surrounding which is ideal for safeguarding pedestrians. Many models of speed bump can also be easily removed when you have a need to plow your lot during the winter months.

Historically, the first known use of speed bumps was in Chatham, New Jersey, in 1906. The town of Chatham raised the level of all the cross walks in town, effectively turning them all into speed bumps. Although the average speed of vehicles at that time was only 30 miles an hour, even then cars posed a serious danger to pedestrians. With the crosswalks raised, traffic had to slow before crossing them, furnishing pedestrians with a greater opportunity to cross the street unscathed. Since that point, this traffic tool has grown in use and can be found in parking lots and even on some roads where a guarantee of low speed is needed.

There are those that will argue that speed bumps are too steep or have too sharp of an angle for a low profile vehicle to cross over at a high speed and therefore a nuisance and danger to vehicles traveling over them. Of course, the whole point of a speed bump is to discourage high speed, so even that argument seems to support the effectiveness of this traffic controlling device. Champion America has a great selection of well made, effective speed bumps available, as well as signs to warn motorists that these tools are being used in your facility. Visit www.champion-america.com today.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/speed-bumps-enforcing-a-speed-limit-effectively-in-a-parking-lot-1137800.html

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