Apparently the Welsh government are about to change the default speed limit on their roads to 20mph. Which is absolutely fine, I guess - I'm not particularly a fan, but I don't have any enormous objection.
But...
The law is being changed to make this the default the speed limit on all "restricted roads", which are defined as those where the lamp-posts are less than a certain distance apart.
At which point the whole thing goes from being a reasonable change that I don't particularly like to being one that is utterly insane. Because drivers won't be, and indeed shouldn't be, aware of the exact distance between lamp-posts as they drive through an area. Not only is it an inappropriate distraction from what they should be paying attention to, it's also something that people aren't going to be able to estimate - if there's a row of lamp-posts on the road ahead of you, your estimate of the distance separating them is going to itself be affected by the speed at which you are travelling!
By all means, reduce the speed limits. But for goodness sake, clearly and explicitly indicate the speed limits that apply! We have perfectly good, indeed extremely clear, signs that can be used to indicate the speed limits. Use them.
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