Are Speed Limits too Vintage?

[MPG]

One interesting fact I forgot to mention (well I found it interesting) ....

If you have two drivers in identical cars, same weather, road conditions etc etc...

One driver is doing 70mph & at a given point brakes hard & comes to a standstill.
The other driver is doing 100mph & at the same point brakes hard. When this driver passes the point at which the other vehicle has stopped, it may surprise you to know that you'd still be travelling at 70 (yes seventy) mph.

Interesting.....

 

[verytalldave]

How would you feel being tailgated at 90mph by some old rusty Transit?
90mph is fine for a modern car in good condition, but its not OK for many older vans and cars which arent fitted with the latest technology and are perhaps only just MOT passes.
You have to legislate for the worse case scenario and as such 70mph is quite fast enough.

 

[robert.saunders]

How would you feel being tailgated at 90mph by some old rusty Transit?

I'd just speed up

 

[JoeMerc]

on note of the NSL. i believe it's 70mph on a dual carriage way, and 60 (?) on a single carriageway... i think :s

 

[renault12ts]

Joe we've moved on a bit...

 

[JoeMerc]

i normally only read the first page ^^

 

[BTB 500]

Virtually all the other European countries have higher motorway speed limits (typically 120 or 130 kph ... 75 & 80 mph respectively). I'm willing to bet their stats. on accidents/injuries/fatalities are not significantly different to ours.

 

[BTB 500]

A surprising number of people don't know the NSL.

Very true. Mrs BTB went on a 'speed awareness course' recently, which started with a quiz. Apparently she was the only one who knew all the various NSL figures, which is ironic considering she's German!

 

[crockers]

Don't know what all the fuss is about -- it wont be that many years before all cars are limited by remote to adapt to the speedlimit of the roads they are on and police will have only to call in the cars details for it to be stopped automatically by central computer.

Drink driving will be impossible as you will need to breath in a tube to start the car. And only people with insurance (and have supplied DNA to the insurance company) will be able to drive the car as the DNA key can not be copied...

Now is that all science fiction or just down the road????

 

[buccal]

Horrifying thought....

 

[MikeL]

You are supposed to read the whole thing. I have said 70 all along!! Anyway I found a clearer link. It constantly amazes me that people do not know this. Listen to the answers on a phone in show where this question is posed, even police don't always know the answer.

Worrying the number that don't, just watch the amount that slow down to 60 at a dual carriageway Gatso.

Mike

 

[JumboBeef]

Plus for some reason everyone seems to be driving under the speed limit on the motorways?

...because 70 is the LIMIT maybe, ie: the maximum...........?

I drive @ 60 on motorways. This is faster than trucks, and if I ever need to go out into lane 3 because lane 1 and 2 are congested then I will speed up to 70 if other vehicles are approaching from behind, dropping back to 60 once out of lane 3.

The amount of fuel I save on a long run is quite amazing and it is a much more relaxed drive (set the cruise control and relax, unlike the speeders who are forever twitching around looking for cameras or police cars). For some reason, my cars always seem to last much longer too.

Why is this a problem? I'm not in your way. I'm obeying the law of the road by not exceeding 70.

Oh, and yes, I am an advanced driver with a clean licence, never had an at-fault accident and 27 years driving experience.

The average driver (and this means almost everyone, whether they like think they are 'average' or not) cannot handle a car when it goes out of shape even at 70, let alone 90. It would be carnage on the roads if limits were increased.

 

[wemorgan]

I agree. My Smart ForTwo is surprisingly comfortable at 60mph and also
gives great efficiency. But it's rather unrefined going any faster, so that's another reason to limit my speed.

When I had a W208 I was still happy to waft along.

 

[lynall]

...because 70 is the LIMIT maybe, ie: the maximum...........?

I drive @ 60 on motorways. This is faster than trucks, and if I ever need to go out into lane 3 because lane 1 and 2 are congested then I will speed up to 70 if other vehicles are approaching from behind, dropping back to 60 once out of lane 3.

The amount of fuel I save on a long run is quite amazing and it is a much more relaxed drive (set the cruise control and relax, unlike the speeders who are forever twitching around looking for cameras or police cars). For some reason, my cars always seem to last much longer too.

Why is this a problem? I'm not in your way. I'm obeying the law of the road by not exceeding 70.

Oh, and yes, I am an advanced driver with a clean licence, never had an at-fault accident and 27 years driving experience.

The average driver (and this means almost everyone, whether they like think they are 'average' or not) cannot handle a car when it goes out of shape even at 70, let alone 90. It would be carnage on the roads if limits were increased.

Its a problem because the people who are doing 60 are in lane 2 of a 3 lane or lane 3 of a 4 lane with nothing on the inner lanes.

Whether you are an advanced driver is neither here nor there, the ops question was about raising limit and i posted my views not aimed at anyone specific

Remember advanced driving is much like the mot and the car test it/they were okay on the day of the test.

Ive got a class one lgv and a full motorcycle licence and!

I tend to drive at mostly 80mph on the motorways and never look for the police and when i do see a copper they dont seem to care but all the idiots slow down to 60mph and fall in behind the police car as they dont know the limits, much the same as the ones that drop to 20mph past cameras in a 30 limit.

Remember the saying about opinions? opinions are like ********* everyones got one.

Rant over now going to do something important like find some food and beer


Lynall

 

[Adam230K]

Everyone does 80-100 on the motorway these days.... not uncommon to see that, so it may need to be addressed.

 

[JumboBeef]

Its a problem because the people who are doing 60 are in lane 2 of a 3 lane or lane 3 of a 4 lane with nothing on the inner lanes.

Is your grip with people who drive at 60, or those who drive in the middle lane with other lanes clear? What is the problem with someone driving in lane 1 at 60?

Remember advanced driving is much like the mot and the car test it/they were okay on the day of the test.

I am continually assessed on my driving skills on a regular basis (I work for the emergency services) and the most recent reassessment I had being less than four months ago. I think I'm pretty much up to date

 

[SLKrazy]

unfortunately I have to drive some considerable distances to reach my place of work and that includes regular motorway driving. I prefer to drive fast (80/90) and if only some drivers would check their mirrors more often and consider the speed of others approaching before pulling in front of them, more people would not get irate which in my opinion this issue is all about.
Once the fast person is past you he/she poses you no further danger.

 

[wemorgan]

I drive @ 60 on motorways.

For some reason, my cars always seem to last much longer too.

I tend to drive at mostly 80mph on the motorways

I have had a bit of bother with my 210 and and am still messing with the gearbox

Lynall, I think JumboBeef may have found the cause to all your mechanical troubles

 

[SLKrazy]

The problem is not the speed limits, it's the concentration levels and in car distractions which cause most accidents.

 

[PXW]

if you raise it to 90mph, people will just do 110mph as the bar will of changed and the amount people risk will raise.

ok, you say modern cars brake better - maybe mercs etc but i have a Y reg focus at the moment and its not brillant in wet conditoons at all. all down to tyres i suspect but the car is still out there, along with many others.

keep the limits the way they are.

Quite happy to see limits stay at 70 in wet conditions; my point was about using the variable speed limit facilities flexibly in both directions. Your focus may not be the best, but it is still streets ahead of anything built in the 60s when the limits were set.