I WRITE further to the letter from Chris Sparks (The Argus, May 7) saying that reducing speed limits from 30mph to 20mph means his vehicle is operating for longer to travel any given distance.

Rightly, he says using lower gears creates more pollution and uses more fuel.

What is the point of having many of these low speed limits?

I travel quite a lot along Falmer Road – the B2123 – between Rottingdean and Woodingdean, where the speed limit has recently been reduced from 40mph to 30mph.

It feels quite unnatural to be travelling at such low speeds on a road which is outside a built-up area. For the most part the pavement is only on one side of the road and there is a crossing (with lights) to cross this road as it approaches Woodingdean.

I decided to conduct my own survey: I counted the number of pedestrians using the pavement where the speed limit on Falmer Road has been reduced to 30mph.

During rush-hour evenings on Wednesday, May 2, and Thursday, May 3, I counted four people (with one sitting at a bus stop) and three people (one at a bus stop) respectively.

During mid-afternoon on Friday, May 4 and Sunday, May 6, I counted three people and one person respectively.

None of these people seemed to want to throw themselves in front of my vehicle.

I think the main beneficiaries of a reduced speed limit are the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who collects more fuel tax, and council, which will have collected excess tax to cover this. I note Brighton and Hove City Council needs to collect £1.5 million pounds in excess tax to introduce city-wide 20mph speed limits.

If 20mph speed limits come into force, they should be used to protect school pupils at Longhill School from adults driving their cars during the school run. This is normally managed by temporarily illuminated speed limit signs outside the school.

As for Falmer Road, I look forward to the day when the speed limit is reduced to 20mph so I can spend even more time searching for pedestrians.

J Holmes, Coombe Rise, Saltdean