The Best Way to Survive 20mph Speed Limits

One of the most pesky battles against the motorist in the past few years might be the 20mph speed limit — a restriction rising in popularity in cities across the UK and blanketing London.

I’m all for safer roads, and the commentors on social media will say, “Just stick to 20, it’s not hard”. The reality is very different. A 20 limit can often feel like tightrope walking. You’re juggling buses squeezing past, cyclists filtering through, pedestrians stepping off the kerb glued to their phones, delivery vans stopping wherever they fancy, traffic pulling out from side roads… and in the middle of that assault of hazard perception, at least one eye needs to stay missile-locked on your speedo to avoid creeping up to a reckless 23mph.

That’s the real problem. At 20mph, the difference between compliant and “flashed” is often the slightest roll of the throttle or a split second avoiding a bus. Many roads still look like 30s, muscle memory kicks in, and the signage isn’t always obvious. I recently drove down Park Lane, a dual-carriageway as wide as a motorway, where sticking to 20mph felt like a genuine effort. Add in average-speed sections and strategically placed cameras and it’s easy to spend more mental energy worrying about creeping to 23mph than actually reading the road..

And that’s backwards. The safest driving happens when your attention is out of the windscreen, scanning hazards and anticipating what everyone else is about to do — not locked onto your dashboard doing mental arithmetic.

This is just one of the scenarios where the OOONO Co-Driver NO2 has earned its keep with the Supercar Driver team and countless members recently, as well as the millions who already use them. Rather than being another distraction, it quietly sits in the background and gives you timely alerts for speed limits and camera zones. That reassurance means you’re not constantly second-guessing yourself or obsessing over a needle. You can simply concentrate on smooth, sensible progress and keeping yourself safe from the bombardment of hazards in today’s cities, knowing you’ll get a nudge if you’re entering a risk zone. No screens. No distractions. Just subtle audio and light alerts for speed cameras, road hazards, and the option to include exceeding local speed limits.

20mph limits seem like they’re here to stay, and in the right places, I get it. Some roads just aren’t built for going any faster, but the way they’ve blanketed relatively normal roads can make sticking religiously to them seem like more of a hazard than actually looking where you’re going and creeping over. A small bit of intelligent assistance takes the stress out of it, helps protect your licence, and lets you get back to what actually matters: focusing on the road ahead.

Thanks to our partnership with OOONO, over 100 members already received a Co-Driver NO2 completely free of charge via our Advent Calendar in December, but if you missed out, don’t worry. There’ll be opportunities to pick one up throughout the season at selected events and through member drops. If you’d rather get your hands on one ASAP, Supercar Driver members get an exclusive 20% discount.

If you're a member, you can find your discount link via the benefits section of your member app.

If not, click here to find out more and join today to open up a whole new world of experiences and valuable benefits.