Speed restriction signs are something that we perhaps take for granted.

When you are taught to drive, your instructor might tell you to look out for street lights as an indication that the limit is likely to be 30mph.

However, when driving on a rural road – of which there are many in Cumbria – or in an area that you are unfamiliar with, it is sometimes that bit more difficult to know what the limit is.

The Government has decided to scrap the statutory requirement for signing speed limits, with the new regulations due to be brought on Friday.

The changes were outlined by transport minister Robert Goodwill in a document published last year. He said then: “Even in this technological age, traffic signs remain the only method of communicating to all road users what they need to know to complete their journey safely, efficiently and within the law.

“Traffic authorities now have the freedom to place the appropriate level of traffic signing on their road network. Key to this is striking a balance between what is – and what is not – necessary to sign at the roadside.”

He cited concern at research claiming “a doubling” in the number of traffic signs over the past 20 years, and said the new legislation would strip out the rules.

“While safety must never be compromised, having introduced these changes I expect traffic authorities to play their part,” said Mr Goodwill.

However, the decision has drawn criticism from some organisations, including the Alliance of British Drivers (ABD).

It argues that the decision will cause both danger and confusion to motorists and says that “the law mandating councils to erect and maintain traffic signs at the entry and exit points of speed limits and use of intermittent, regular repeater signs has been deliberately and totally revoked”.



John Hodgson John Hodgson, a member of Brampton Parish Council, is also a co-ordinator of the town’s Speedwatch campaign.

The group, which is made up of volunteers, work in pairs, with one person holding a speed gun and another noting both the speed the vehicle is doing as well as its registration number. The results are then sent to the police.

“In Brampton, we’ve got about nine different entrances into the town,” he says. “At the moment we’ve got signs showing the speed limit so people know what it is as they enter the town. But I suppose in some places, if there aren’t any signs there then how are you going to know what the limits are?

“Within our nine entrances there are enough signs to warn people, but I suppose that in some areas where there aren’t already signs, it’ll mean that there’s less chance of them being put there.

“People will just have to take caution.”



Ian Bell Ian Bell, a driving instructor from Seaton, near Workington, says he hopes that in Cumbria signs are still put up in areas where they are needed most.

“A lot of learner drivers, and those that have just passed, are quite naive,” he explains.

“We try to teach them to use their initiative when they’re driving, for example to look for street lights when they’re coming in to a built-up area and that they need to slow down, rather than a visual sign.

“In bigger areas like Carlisle and Barrow, then it’s probably a bit easier to see and you’re more aware of the speed you should be doing. In some cases it’s probably too congested to speed anyway.

“But for people like us out in west Cumbria, it can be a bit more difficult to determine the speed that you’re doing. For example, in Workington, near Asda, there’s a section of road where it suddenly drops from 40mph to 30mph so a sign is most definitely needed.”

Mr Bell hopes that the council in Cumbria will opt to continue placing signs where necessary, if only as a reminder to motorists about the speed they should be doing.

“I think it could give people an excuse if they’re caught as well,” he continues. “For example, if they’re pulled over and asked why they were going 10 miles over the limit, they can say that they weren’t aware of the speed they were supposed to be doing because there weren’t any signs.”



Kevin Beaty Last year, Kevin Beaty, leader of Eden council, backed a campaign by the road safety group Think! that saw potential road hazards turned into impossible-to-ignore warning signs.

The ‘helpful hazards’ included sheep sprayed with Sharp Bend Ahead slogans.

“I would say there are certain areas where there are possibly too many signs and it can be confusing,” he admits. “For example, when you leave the motorway at Kendal, there’s about 30 or 40 different signs on a certain stretch of road.

“I do think that one sign which tends to stand out that bit more is more effective than having lots of signs.”

However, Mr Beaty, who is also a dairy farmer in Ivegill, says he is in favour of anything that will help to try and reduce speeding drivers on Cumbria’s rural roads.

“I was speaking to the farmer who owns the farm next to mine quite recently, and he was saying that there’s drivers going past at 70mph or more quite regularly,” he says.

“I support anything that is being done to try and reduce the speed that some people drive at on rural roads in Cumbria, and that will reduce the number of deaths, especially among young drivers.

“However, there are signs in place at the minute and they’re being ignored so maybe there are other things that should be considered, such as the layout of roads when they’re being built.”