50mph nonsense

Hampshire County Council is proposing to impose a 50mph speed limit on sections of the currently derestricted A272 and A32 at West Meon specifically

(i) A272 between a point 100 metres west of its junction with A32 at Meon Hut and a point 70 metres east of that junction, an approximate distance of 170 metres.

(ii) A32 between a point 310 metres north of its junction with C28 High Street at West Meon and a point 50 metres north of its junction with A272 at Meon Hut, an approximate distance of 2,012 metres.

because "Following a review of speed limits on A and B roads in Hampshire, a number of roads have been identified as having excessively high speeds. Based on the number of accidents occurring along their length and given the nature of the roads it is proposed to reduce the speed on each road to help reduce the accident rate and increase overall safety."

This is nonsense.

These are both straight stretches of road, no "difficult" bends, no blind spots, no tricky elevation changes, no side roads, no houses, no walkers. The national speed limit for cars and motorcycles on these roads is 60mph but HCC would have us believe that the danger is eliminated by reducing it by 10mph - who are they trying to kid?

I have no idea what the total accident statistics are for these two stretches of road but  the BBC offers us a map of every road death and none occur on either of these sections.

The "review" must have been conducted by a gaggle of little old ladies sitting in a darkened room without the benefit of police traffic officers, highway engineers or anyone who's driven faster than 30mph.

This is yet another example of "control" for the sake of it, it's a waste of public money and we should all strenuously object.