“There will always those who choose to ignore it” – Readers' give their thoughts on mandatory 20pm speed limits outside schools

Here are a selection of their thoughts, taken from our Facebook and Twitter discussions:

One of the replies that gained a few likes came from Michelle Watts, who wrote “If you had witnessed the accident this week, outside Philimore primary school, then you would be DEMANDING that stricter restrictions, be that reduced speed limits, speed bumps or no parking zones, need to be introduced as a matter of some urgency.”

And, Roy Morgan-Vincent says that “It should, but there will always those who choose to ignore it as always.”

A controversial take came from Peter Ealey, who said “But what would be the point when children crossing the road outside a school is NOT a criteria for installing a speed camera? The main criteria remains revenue not the safety of our kids.”

There were a number of comments in the ‘Yes’ side of the discussion, Michelle Louise added her thoughts, saying “Yep. But how would that work outside Parson Cross school on The A61 Halifax Rd? 40mph outside that school and the amount of drivers that drive through red lights is a disgrace.”

Diane Seymour would like to see a law dictating such a limit, but she worries that “a lot of drivers ignore the speed limit anyway.”

Naz Naz followed Diane’s comment replying with “Yes with speed cameras and fines being issued for breaking the speed limit.”

Brian Tomlinson thinks the main issue lies elsewhere, as noted when he responded with “Yes to protect the children from their irresponsible parents parking outside the school.”

Another comment that received a lot of agreement came from Vicky Gales, who wrote that “It needs a 20 mph limit around Phillimore school and surrounding roads, it is a daily race track for the idiots, and also speed humps so they would have to slow down or risk wrecking their cars… it proves that with the recent accident where a mum lost her life because of these brain dead idiots with no respect for anyone except themselves… RIP Rita”

Some people are of the opinion that the limit is less a problem, more the capacity to respond in a moment of crisis, case in point being Laura Parry who commented, “And what would when an accident still takes place? Reduce it 10 then 5? It takes ages to get to where you’re going already. The answer to it is better enforcement, harsher penalties and more pedestrian crossings outside schools.”

Andrew Kerslake isn’t a fan of the idea, he says “No. The road safety partnerships should be pushing for speed cameras and other improvements to prevent speeding, rather than sitting in lay-bys on country roads where the fines revenue is higher.”

Meanwhile, Alan Barstow is hoping that advancements in technology will change this, “speed limits could be in forced easily with today’s technology so lt limits the speed of cars when passing schools, but soon we will have driver less cars which should have this built in.”

And Ryan Cockayne says “No, if kids are running in front of cars maybe they should learn to look left and right first.”

Over on Twitter, Tuffers added his thoughts, “Absolutely but like other law it’d be totally useless without enough police to enforce it” and Graham Parker said, “Behave. Most parents dropping off kids from less than a mile away are incapable of following the Highway Code and bog standard parking restrictions.” Stuart Burton on the otherhand kept his thoughts on the topic brief and to the point, “Yes, definitely needed.”

Finally, Merrick Davis opined “Maybe when they open n close aka the hour when the kids arrive n the hour when they kick them all out. But to have it 20mph all day seems daft to me.”