I was told when i was learning to drive that you got 10% grace regards to speed limits, to counter for inaccuracies in speedometer.
ie, you wouldn't get done in a 30mph area unless you were doing over 33mph.

Is this bollocks?
( RR I love you ... in a way, Wed 13 May 2009, 9:48, archived)

I thought this too, to be honest

( spangolin - the odds are good but the goods are odd, Wed 13 May 2009, 9:49, archived)

It's not bollocks.
But it's not a legal defence. Your speedo is allowed to be 10% inaccurate and it always reads 10% over, pretty much (except my MG which reads 25% under but that's another story)

therefore, to be sure you are doing less than 30, you should drive with the speedo on 27. That's the legal counter-argument.

having said that, police guidlines are 10% plus 3 mph. so 36 in a 30, 47 in a 40, 80 in a 70. But that doesn't mean they can't do you for doing less than that.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 13 May 2009, 9:53, archived)

To be honest though, why you'd need to do anywhere near 30 in a 30 zone is beyond me.

(rnuk http://flickr.com/rnuk, Wed 13 May 2009, 9:56, archived)

Are you saying you don't need to go as fast, or that you should go faster?

(Bazongaloid, Wed 13 May 2009, 9:58, archived)

All speed limit signs should be
X x 10¹⁰
(rnuk http://flickr.com/rnuk, Wed 13 May 2009, 10:00, archived)

do you mean slower or faster?
if you mean slower, because out of THAT LONDON (yes there are places you know) most 30s are small villages and are a complete waste of time. 20 years ago I was caught doing 49 in a 30 on the edge of a little village in Staffordshire. Nowadays you might get banned for that, regardless of context. Then I was let off because, and I quote Her Majesty's Constabulary "It's the most stupid 30 zone in the county, but we have to police it because the rich locals complain unless it's them speeding. Have a nice day"

Context is the problem. We broadly apply speed limits and then enforce them for revenue, not safety reasons. It's stupid, pathetic and counter-productive in safety stakes.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 13 May 2009, 10:01, archived)

Never mind THAT LONDON
I gave up driving when I got here. I drove around small East Yorkshire villages, and it was a bugger to drive safely past 20.
(rnuk http://flickr.com/rnuk, Wed 13 May 2009, 10:03, archived)

that's because half of them have never seen a car before

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 13 May 2009, 10:05, archived)

There is this.
When buses drive around Barnsley, the locals come out and punch it because they think it's a big metal cow.
(rnuk http://flickr.com/rnuk, Wed 13 May 2009, 10:11, archived)

Used to be.
The fines used to go to the Safety Camera Partnership, or the local constabulary or something, so if they were feeling a bit poor, they'd bang out a few extra fines. Now it's retained by central government, so should be a bit better. That's the theory anyway.
(rnuk http://flickr.com/rnuk, Wed 13 May 2009, 9:55, archived)