The apparent disagreement between the county council and police over enforcement of the 20mph limits in Oxford is puzzling.
Thames Valley Police made it crystal clear from the inception of the scheme that officers would not enforce it. The force has been true to its word.
Now the county council says it will not extend the scheme to other parts of the county because police have refused to enforce the city scheme.
The police view is that traffic calming measures should be used in conjunction with 20mph limits to make them ‘self enforcing’.
Neither side seems willing to budge from their respective points of view and, on that basis, it appears that no further 20mph schemes will be introduced.
There also seems to be little agreement either over whether the near £250,000 spent in Oxford has had any significant benefit on road safety.
On a related topic, while police are refusing to enforce the 20mph limits, anecdotal evidence appears to show that enforcement of some other speed limits in Oxfordshire has also fallen.
In West Oxfordshire, where once mobile speed cameras were an almost daily sight in the villages, we have not seen one for months.
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