Twenty Miles an Hour.

In a previous life I was a Community Councillor for the village and was always campaigning for improved road safety. The local county councillor would have none of it, perhaps because it would have involved him in having to actually do something; in fact he could rarely be bothered even to turn up at the meetings. At about that time there were five accidents, two of them being fatal for people who “just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” In each case ; it only took the “science of the bleedin’ obvious” to realise that a car driver was guilty of dangerous driving (I use that expression in the colloquial sense as I am not entirely certain of the legal definition) but no action was taken because there were no witnesses, although the circumstances of the incidents constituted proof that the drivers were at fault.
 
Sporadically, there are reports around the country of village residents being trained in the use of speed cameras before being let loose in their community. Their evidence does not provide grounds for the prosecution of offenders, though why not is beyond me, but a subsequent visit from the police does have a significant effect. Our councillor wouldn’t countenance such a practice happening in our village, neither would he consider the introduction of reduced speed limits as it is only permissible to use them on “a route to school.” It’s a village, for goodness sake; every bit of it is a route to school for somebody.
 
When these speed restriction signs were put up about five years or so ago (remember that time for me is something of an illusion) they were promptly painted over; someone had forgotten to apply for the appropriate permission to install them and so they carried no legal status. It was another six months before the paint could be removed. No one in authority had the sense to say that they are not enforceable in practice; that they can only act as a deterrent. It doesn’t really matter if the letter of the law has, or has not been followed. Twenty mile an hour speed limits cause no harm but, they may just be of benefit to the community by making residents feel a little bit safer and may actually make them be a little bit safer.
 
Thanks to Skeena for hosting the Mono Monday challenge today and coming up with the theme of “Community.”