Pointless exercise

R Whitwell (Letters, 13 January) suggests the new 20mph limits in Edinburgh could be a smokescreen to cover waste ­elsewhere.

Like the many restricted turns and no-entries the council has ­installed, the limits are likely to be unpoliced and so ineffective. ACPO guidelines say limits should be appropriate to the road, the need for compliance obvious to all; if confusing or ­unclear, they will not be ­routinely enforced; and that ­enforcement should not be used to set speeds.

Every day I see cowboy drivers flouting the current prohibitions. They will ignore the new limits too. These will serve only to ­disadvantage the law-abiding, who pose little risk to others.

The council always has money for wheezes, none for maintaining what we have. It would do better to remember that the point of roads is to make the ground smoother – and fill in the potholes.

George Byron

Comely Bank Avenue

Edinburgh