As part of the parish council's review of traffic parking within the village, Hampshire County Council has performed a speed survey on Wolf's Lane. The results of the survey indicates that the current speed limit is generally at 40-50mph.  The full response from HCC is listed below

HCC has now had a chance to review the speed data collected for Wolf's Lane in connection with the speed limit assessment. Although the recorded speeds indicate that a 40 mph limit would not be out of place on this lane, they also suggest that it would have minimal impact on speeds or driver behaviour. The vast majority of motorists appear to be travelling at or below 40 mph with approximately only 30 vehicles out of a daily 1000 travelling at over 50 mph. No vehicles were recorded at over 60 mph.

The lane is essentially being driven on appropriately by most motorists and a 40 mph speed limit could be deemed as superfluous whilst increasing sign clutter in a rural area. The Council is under great pressure to reduce / minimise the amount of signage where possible and this is a typical site where it could be argued that the signage is unnecessary as its impact on motorists is likely to be negligible.

 

When Chawton Parish Council queried the response, we received the following, fller explanation of the rationale behind this :

The important figures are the overall mean and 85th percentile speeds, chosen by the Department for Transport. The mean is obviously the average, and is the new method in helping to decide appropriate speed limits - it used to be 85th percentile speeds. A suitable speed limit is usually the same as (or a proportion below) the recorded mean speed of vehicles, i.e. a recorded mean speed of 49 mph normally indicates that a 50 mph speed limit would be appropriate. Mean speed has been chosen because it reflects what the majority of drivers perceive as an
appropriate speed to be driven for the road and most motorists drive sensibly.

The 85th percentile speed is the speed at which 85 % of motorists are driving at or below. (There is usually a loose relationship between the two methods and the difference in speed is normally about 6 or 7 mph).  It is accepted that a small proportion (15%) of motorists will drive as they please regardless of the measures / restrictions imposed on them, hence they are effectively ignored. This leads me to comment on the Parishes desire to target the upper 5% of speeders - I'm afraid it is unlikely that you will ever change this section's behaviour, even with targeted enforcement. Perhaps a bit defeatist but realistic. It is usually more productive and effective to concentrate on measures for the majority, hence the use of 85th percentiles.

"Speed data was recorded for Wolf's Lane between the dates of 15 to 21 October 2007. The data was collected electronically 24 hours a day for 7 days in each direction and also recorded an estimated volume. The average mean speed over the 7 day period was recorded at approximately 37 mph and the 85th percentile was 44 mph. There is roughly a total of 1000 vehicles per day using the lane. On an average daily basis, less than 30 vehicles were recorded as travelling at over 50 mph and none were recorded at over 60 mph.

Taking into account the recorded speeds, minimal development and the rural nature of the lane it would appear that the current derestricted status is suitable and motorists are driving appropriately and to the prevailing conditions. Installing a 40 mph speed limit would have little or no impact on speeds whilst introducing undesirable sign clutter."

As you are probably aware by now, speed limits are introduced where the environment warrants them. A number of factors such as current speeds, accident data, type and number of users, frontage development etc are
taken into account. There are a relatively low number of pedestrians and cyclists using the lane, no personal injury accidents have occurred in the last three years and there is no frontage development. Therefore,
there are no pressing factors to justify a change in speed limit at this location.