How is a 30mph speed limit area, defined and marked,and what signs, how many,what is minimun size of sign ?

Question

Thanx allso far. To Police Officer, it seems strange to not have repeater signs in a 30mph area, where it is desireable to be within this speed limit, and presumably more dangerous if the limit is exceeded. To be reminded of higher speed limits with repeater signs, seems to be the opposite of what is required ?

Answer 1

In the UK. If you are driving through a "built - up area", and are unsure of the speed limit of the road you are on, check to see if there are any speed signs on roads leading off, if not, the road is 30 mph. If there are signs , the road is 40 - plus mph. There should be 2 signs of equal size and height from the ground at the beginning of the restriction, at the moment, there is no requirement for repeater signs, but they seem to be popping up more and more especially on wider roads, where drivers tend to speed up. Also, speed limits,can be painted onto the road surface at any point through the restriction.

Answer 2

If there are street lights, there's a 30mph limit unless:

* it's a motorway

* you've entered a 20mph residential zone (marked with signs and road markings at all entrances)

* there are small repeater signs on all the lamposts showing that there's a different speed limit.

When you enter a 30mph zone, there should be a sign.  But the absence of a sign is not a defence if there are lampposts.

Answer 3

Police Officer is slightly wrong, there ARE 30mph repeater signs in some areas (Adel in Leeds for example).  The speed limit is always the last Speed Limit sign you passed. repeater signs are only used when the speed limit is other than what you would expect it to be (ie, national speed Limit on a Dual Carriageway is 70 - so if its 40 on that particular road you will get a sign where it becomes 40, and repeater signs until the limit changes again)

All the info about street lights is correct to define a 30mph area, but MORE repeater signs in these areas would be helpful. maybe its a question of cost?

Answer 4

To ask this question, firstly consider if you are qualified to be on the road.

Answer 5

usually 30mph zones are built up areas which are defined by street lights most areas are 30mph except duel carrage ways motorways and any area clearly marked with a different speed limit

Answer 6

Use this site, it is very helpful....

http://www.ncdot.org/doh/PRECONSTRUCT/tr...

Answer 7

If its got street lighting its a 30mph limit unless signs indicate otherwise. If its anything other than 30mph there will be repeater signs at intervals. There are no repeater signs for 30 limits.

Answer 8

To understand the reason repeater signs are only used where the speed limit is *above* 30mph, you have to know a little history.

Years ago, there was only one speed limit - 30mph in a built-up area. Outside a built-up area, you could go as fast as you liked.

Then one day, a motorist was prosecuted for speeding in a built-up area. He defended, saying he wasn't in a BUA. The police said he was. So the judge had to decide.

The motorist argued that there was only a few buildings, just a couple of houses I think, so what was the definition of a BUA? Two houses? Three? Ten? And if it was (say) ten, how close did they have to be for the area to be described as "built-up? And is a motorist expected to stop, get out, and count the houses?"

You can see that the judge had a problem. He thought, "What is a feature of a BUA that you don't see elsewhere?" (Remember, this was a long time ago.)

He finally decided on streetlights. But the motorist said, "But how many streetlights? What if there are only two, separated by a mile? Is that a BUA?"

Finally, the judge said it was where there are streetlights 200 yds or less apart. It's been that way ever since (except it's been changed to 200 metres).

So....to get back to the repeater signs. A few years later, new speed limits began to be introduced, such as 40 or 50 mph, in BUAs. To inform the motorist that he didn't have to keep to 30 mph, even though there were streetlights, small signs were placed on the streetlights. They weren't there to slow people down, they were there to tell them they didn't have to.

To answer your original question, it's either 30 mph signs, or the streetlight thing. (Or a mixture of the two.) I don't know about sizes, though. I think there must be a size defined in law somewhere, because those "repeater" signs I spoke of are smaller, because they don't have the same legal significance.

Answer 9

For a small outlay you can find this info in a book called THE HIGHWAY CODE. it also gives you websites for more info.

Answer 10

Technically speaking, I believe a 30 mile an hour zone can be defined simply by the existence of Street Lighting!