20mph is coming to Rogate!
The village centre, incorporating West and East Streets on the A272, and North Street and Haben Hill, has been selected by West Sussex County Council (WSCC) Highways to have SPEED LIMITS REDUCED TO 20MPH.
Our Community Highways Scheme (CHS) submitted last July to Highways has been scheduled for design in 2024/25 with potential construction in 2025/26. Getting this far has been a long haul. In 2012 a petition was submitted to WSCC for 20mph with 96% support from parishioners. The Neighbourhood Plan also strongly highlighted the need for Traffic Calming measures. Therefore, the outcome for this scheme is for all in the village.
Some may question the effectiveness of 20mph in the village centre and whether it will be enforced. There are three considerations that covered this point in the CHS:
1. Cost effectiveness – There will be a review process to assess the performance of the scheme. Specifically, to gather data on vehicle speeds before and after the implementation.
2. Local support – Once the scheme is in place it is incumbent on parishioners to drive within the speed limit thus ensuring the general flow of traffic does the same. This tactic can be observed by those who drive the A272 between Petersfield and Winchester. The ‘locals’ all know there are mobile speed cameras and fixed average speed/ acoustic camera and drive within the limit.
3. Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) – From July 2022 all new cars have been fitted with a ‘Black Box’. The car receives position information via GPS and current speed limit from a digital map. This information is combined with a video camera sign recognition device. The speed limit is displayed on the dashboard. The car automatically helps the driver not to speed when the speed limit is reached. Of course, for safety reasons this can be overridden by the driver. Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) is another feature now being introduced for road safety. The ‘Black Box’ data even today is being used for analysing road traffic accidents.
Taking the third point further one can imagine further developments using telemetric data:
Firstly, with the advent of electric cars, the Government is going to lose tax revenue from fuel duty on petrol and diesel cars and therefore road tax pricing by usage is a likely outcome for electric vehicles.
Secondly, another scenario is that telemetric data will be capable of determining a history of excessive speeds or improper driving. Even today insurance companies offer drivers a ‘Black Box’ which monitors driving and helps careful drivers qualify for cheaper insurance.
The 20mph zone in Rogate is in preparation for the new way that compliance with the Road Traffic Regulations will be encouraged, and maybe – enforced.
James Stock
