Sunday, October 7, 2012

20mph is plenty for Deal....



20 is plenty for Deal.....


Alan's Letter in this week's EKM:
"
How right Mr. Finney* is in calling for a 20 mph speed limit on all residential roads in Deal.

There has grown up in Deal a culture of quite reckless speeding – a blight on our town, and a real danger to cyclists, pedestrians – and motorists themselves.

Thirty years ago I saw a young cyclist knocked down and killed by a speeding motorist. Regularly, memories of that day come back to haunt me. If I cannot forget, what dreadful sorrow and regret must overshadow both the family of the dead child, and the motorist?

Every age of history, civilised in most ways, has its own moral blind-spot, based on the mistaken pseudo-philosophy of: “Well, everybody else is doing it.”  Remember the use of slaves in the American cotton-fields, and Victorian child chimney-sweeps.  Today, we allow many motorists, largely unchallenged, to drive among us at speeds that spell almost certain death for any cyclist or pedestrian who makes a single false move. Motorists, too, are capable of mistakes, with potentially fatal consequences – perhaps for themselves.

I do understand the problem from both sides. I sometimes drive a car too, and in the past I have not always rigorously obeyed speed limits. But in my best, rational mind I know that it is right for life-saving speed limits to be imposed, and rigorously enforced. Now is the time to remove our blind spot.

I am seeking to form a pressure group to campaign for the introduction of 20 mph speed limits on all the residential roads in Deal. If you would like to join in, please contact me using the email address: alangleave@yahoo.co.uk. 


Alan Gleave

* Mr. Finney’s letter was published in last week’s paper."

 http://www.20splentyforus.org.uk/

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