Twenty is not always plenty

Sir, – I refer to the plan by Mark Ruskell MSP to roll out 20mph speed limits in residential areas throughout Scotland.

An obvious question, is how will such limits be enforced when Holyrood has presided over continuing cuts to local policing in favour of centralisation of services?

He takes his idea from the Fife Council practice of erecting 20mph signs in towns and villages and seems to advocate a voluntary code of adherence. I can tell your readers, since I live and drive in Fife, that such adherence is patchy at best, and ignored by drivers who see little point in reverting to horse and cart speeds when modern vehicles have much enhanced braking systems.

A further question is, if we have 20mph limits, why do we also need speed bumps, such as those in the village of Largoward?

I could agree with such constructions in the immediate area of the village school, but in this case the bumps are throughout the village main road and, of course, are ignored by HGV, high-clearance vans and 4x4 vehicles that are comfortably able to drive over them at 20-30mph.

Instead of holding up Fife Council as a shining example of road and traffic management, Mr Ruskell might be better employed in persuading the authority to improve the dire state of Fife’s road surfaces, which by themselves are a trafficcalming measure because of potholes, flooding and lack of proper surveillance of road works carried out by utility companies whose contractors regularly bodge the restoration of road surfaces. Derek Farmer. Knightsward Farm, Anstruther.