Local residents have welcomed the lower limit on a South Bristol road where thousands were fined after the speed limit changed. They say that road safety is a long-standing problem on St John’s Lane and nearby streets, but motorists have rallied against the tiny new 20mph signs.
Figures revealed last week, after a freedom of information request, show that the number of fines received by drivers shot up after the limit changed from 30mph to 20mph. The affected stretch of road, outside the Brunel pub, now has fewer and much smaller speed limit signs.
Last November, 1,648 drivers were fined for speeding past the pub, compared to just 27 in November 2023. Enforcement began towards the end of last October, when 440 offences were recorded. Bristol City Council previously defended the new signs, which transport chiefs say comply with government rules.
Local residents welcomed the lower speed limit, but also added that “poor signage doesn’t help”. Kirsty Armitage lives on the bottom of Redcatch Road, just around the corner from St John’s Lane, and said more should be done to tackle dangerous driving in the area.
She said: “There are no 20mph signs on Redcatch Road and there are daily bumps, near misses and the zebra crossings are lethal. With the increase in traffic using the roads due to York Road being closed and the increase in residential homes in Hengrove, a look at speed and any measures to increase safety would be welcomed locally.
“I’ve lived at the bottom of Redcatch for the last 15 years. We are subjected to daily abuse trying to pull in or out of our drives, if we have one, and regular scrapes to vehicles parked up as people fly round the corner.
“I know traffic is a huge issue across Bristol but the poor signage and general disregard to driving with due care and attention round here is what drives most of us mad. I think it’s a wider issue with frustrated drivers. They crawl along St John’s Lane then fly up Redcatch. I think 20 is plenty in such a built up area.
“There are schools, families, and people accessing the park. You often feel you are taking your life into your own hands at the crossing. Poor signage doesn’t help. There seems to be little awareness about the amount of drives on the bottom of Redcatch, too. My children have heard some choice language over the years.”
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Another resident, Richard Baker, added: “I used to live on St John’s Lane. Considering there is a school on that road, it didn’t seem to stop some people using it as a drag strip.”
But since the figures were published, many more drivers have echoed complaints that the signs are too small and hard to spot. Chris Goodfellow lives in Knowle and was fined two days after the change began to be enforced. He “drives as safe as possible” and is happy for the limit to be lowered, but found getting fined “pretty frustrating”.
He said: “I was driving on St John’s Lane at about 8pm going to Lidl, and I just had no idea. I was caught doing 28mph. I took the points plus a £100 fine. They’re supposed to advertise the change, and the goal is to encourage safer driving rather than catch people out. If I had known, I would have adhered to the limit.
“I live locally and I have kids, and I drive as safe as possible around there, so to get caught out is pretty frustrating. There’s no opportunity for recourse or to argue your case. It’s absolutely unfair.
“It’s probably an overstretched council not having the capacity to put in the effort they need to. In other areas where they changed the speed limit, they put signs in place to advertise changes in the speed limit. I don’t think it was deliberate or a plan to raise cash. I’m happy for it to be 20mph, I’m not against the change. If it’s 20mph all around there, that’s fine.”
Carolyn Hecker, who lives on Windmill Hill, added: “I’m very careful about speed limits. However, I got caught by this camera doing 29mph on an evening, and took the speed awareness course, which I have to say was very good. However, I’m not at all happy with the circumstances under which it happened.
“Firstly, I had no idea the speed limit had changed — I’ve lived on Windmill Hill for 25 years and so it’s autopilot to go at 30mph when I turn right onto St John’s Lane, and I hadn’t noticed the new, small signs.
“It would have been helpful for people living on Windmill Hill to have had some kind of notification through our letterboxes that this was due to happen, as Brendon Road is one of only three exits out of Windmill Hill — and I am aware of many other people on neighbouring streets who have been caught by this and are not happy.”
Many other drivers have said they were caught driving at 27mph or 28mph, thinking the limit was 30mph. Some said the new, smaller speed limit signs are placed in such a way that an oncoming lorry or bus can block their view.
Several mentioned that sat navs and Google Maps still indicate that stretch of road is 30mph. The cost of either paying the fine or for the speeding course is a struggle to afford for some drivers, and getting points on your licence often means the cost of renewing insurance goes up.
Jenn, who asked not to include her surname, said: “I was caught there doing 28mph coming back from my kids school Christmas fair, not even doing anything exciting. And £100 to do the speed awareness course when there’s no signage to say it’s changed — I want my money back please.
“It is frustrating. As a single mum, I couldn’t afford the course. I had to go into more debt for it, and had to take a day off work to attend it. There was no signage to say the speed limit had changed. I normally cut through the back streets as the traffic is so bad, but because it was a Sunday I went down the main road and got caught.
“I work in Southmead Hospital, which takes me an hour to get to every morning because of the traffic. To then be caught speeding, when it’s the only time I actually moved at any sort of pace, added insult to injury.”
Government guidance on speed limits says that changes should be “signed correctly and consistently”. Any new limit should be accompanied by publicity and, where appropriate, engineering changes to the road itself. The guidance states: “Without these measures, the new limit is unlikely to be fully complied with.”
Simon Williams, head of policy at RAC, said: “Most drivers don’t deliberately set out to break the law, so we suspect this is a case of people simply not realising the speed limit had been reduced. When changing speed limits, councils have to follow certain rules including publicising the change and ensuring signage is prominent.”
Last week the council defended the new speed limit and its signs, which comply with government guidance. New 20mph signs could be painted on the road, although the council isn’t required to do this.
Green Councillor Ed Plowden, chair of the transport committee, said he had asked the police to review enforcement of the stretch of road. While the council is responsible for the speed limit signs, Avon and Somerset Police is responsible for enforcing the new lower limit.
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