I did a stupid thing today.

[cinek]

...70 on a dual - central reservation or not.

Big oops and all







Which makes the A38(m) Aston Express, coming off junction 6 M6 a very peculiar road indeed.

Its the only single carriageway-motorway in the country.

 

[RWDpetrol]

Why was he being stupid in your view?

Stupid because he was being arrogant thinking "I'm not going to let the BMW pass me", and driving dangerously by accelerating hard when pulling in. A bit like the Audi driver in original post.

 

[camerafodder]

600psi anyone?

 

[furlong19]

hypothetically..say the OP sat behind the audi in the outside lane doing under the speed limit and a bored traffic officer came past, who would get the £100 fine, the lane hogger or the tail gater or even both?

 

[W4E300]

A brilliant "Wife of Dave" story, witnessed over the weekend.

New credit card arrived for Wife of Dave [WoD] who quite rightly took it straight off the paperwork and signed the back of it, then dug the old card out of her wallet. WoD then went to the kitchen drawer and got a pair of sturdy scissors and promptly cut the NEW card into lots of neat little pieces......

Sent from my iPad using MBClub UK

 

[Giantvanman]

My understanding is that the national speed limit is 60 on a single carriageway and 70 on a dual - central reservation or not.

Is it me or you that falls into your idiot category?

EDIT - it looks like it is me

I always thought a dual carriageway was just two lanes - I never knew there needed to be a central reservation.... wondering how lucky I must have been not to get a ticket on the A303 now.

A dual carriageway is any carriageway with two or more lanes in each direction. A motorway is a dual carriageway with 'special' designation.
A central reservation does not mean there has to be a barrier (armco)……there has to be some sort of separator though (grass, paved area etc) but NOT only white lines.
So you are correct (as you know) in believing that the National Speed limit sign at the beginning of a dual carriageway which has a central reservation has a 70mph limit, the same as motorways.

 

[Giantvanman]

Big oops and all







Which makes the A38(m) Aston Express, coming off junction 6 M6 a very peculiar road indeed.

Its the only single carriageway-motorway in the country.

Unless posted otherwise, slip roads joining or leaving dual carriageways and m'ways have the same speed limit as them. In this case, A38 M and M6, the clue bing the M.
This is why when entering a dual carriageway or motorway from say a roundabout in a semi-urban location with a 30/40/50 mph limit, the speed limit sign is at the beginning of the on slip and end go the off slip. Simples.

 

[Ted]

I would have done pretty much exactly what you did.

On another note MY mate Dave, who is a most excellent driver went to Kent on Saturday. Roof down both ways and he assures me that even Mrs Dave enjoyed the journey,
On the way down there were some roadworks and as the lanes narrowed Dave completely misread the (badly painted) lines, and remained in the middle lane which had now become the outside lane.
As Dave realised this he looked into his mirror to see a Volvo right on his tail. Dave had clearly cut him up.
He doesn't think it is clever, and is suitably chastened, but it HAS played on his mind to be more aware in future as it was a stupid and inattentive piece of driving.

Needless to say, Dave's return journey was without event.

 

[krisby]

Last Thursday, I was driving north on the M1 doing exactly 70mph (70mph on speedo, 69mph on SatNav).

I was in the outer lane as there was a queue of vans and LGVs travelling in the middle lane at a lower speed.

In my rear-view mirror I could see a small 1-Series BMW coming at speed, he then sat on my rear bumper about three feet behind me, lights flashing an all.

I had no room to move to the left, I did not want to slow down and fall behind the vans - not with Mr. Impatient on my back, and I definitely did not want to accelerate beyond the NSL.

So I used my hazards to try and fend him off - which left no impression on him. I suppose a sudden application of the brakes might have brought him around but I am not playing games on the road.

I ended up moving to the left as soon as a suitable gap appeared. The Beemer zoomed past - he was not happy.

Not sure what was going through his mind while sitting on my tail. Did he have a realistic expectation that I will crash into the vans in the middle lane to make room for him? Or did he really think that if he drove close enough to my bumper my car will disintegrate into thin air?

A little confused here, you don't state what was in front of you, why wouldn't you speed up when this ar$e came roaring up behind you? Don't tell me you would not exceed 70 because that is the limit? If so then I would say you were in the wrong too. That lane is for overtaking, therefore, if you were just sat there doing 70mph and not overtaking, I'd be pretty miffed too, not 3ft off your bumper miffed, but certainly an icey stare when I do get passed.

Sorry if I misunderstood and you were genuinely being held up.

 

[camerafodder]

A little confused here, you don't state what was in front of you, why wouldn't you speed up when this ar$e came roaring up behind you? Don't tell me you would not exceed 70 because that is the limit? If so then I would say you were in the wrong too. That lane is for overtaking, therefore, if you were just sat there doing 70mph and not overtaking, I'd be pretty miffed too, not 3ft off your bumper miffed, but certainly an icey stare when I do get passed.

Sorry if I misunderstood and you were genuinely being held up.

70mph is the limit, its a personal choice if you wish to break the law. Mark's choice was to abide by it.

 

[developer]

My understanding is that the national speed limit is 60 on a single carriageway and 70 on a dual - central reservation or not.

Is it me or you that falls into your idiot category?

EDIT - it looks like it is me

I always thought a dual carriageway was just two lanes - I never knew there needed to be a central reservation.... wondering how lucky I must have been not to get a ticket on the A303 now.

No mention of central reservation here :
https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits

 

[J532KTT]

People of all vehicle ownership see my 230TE as a target for this sort of thing... I travel at 60-65 on most NSL roads as it's what the car is comfortable with. I can't stand people slowing down/speeding up just to make a point. If I'm passing a row of HGV's, I will keep my pace of 65 (Maybe 70 if I'm a bit late) and fold my rear view mirror up if people start being twattish.
I never really rush and people behind me should be grateful I don't overtake at 56.4mph passing a vehicle doing 56.27mph.

That winds me up.

 

[IanMSpencer]

No mention of central reservation here :
https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits

Dual carriageway is understood to be divided in some way - it does not require crash barriers, it could be two single lanes (as these days there are roads where they have painted out a lane). People confuse dual with multi-lane.

So a dual carriageway is by definition something with a central reservation. What is not defined clearly is what a central reservation is! I would say it is either when the tarmac is clearly not continuous across the road or else there is a clear physical barrier between the road. I guess the test really is, ignoring paint on the road, could you pass on the other lanes.

 

[krisby]

70mph is the limit, its a personal choice if you wish to break the law. Mark's choice was to abide by it.

I guess so, my point is that just pee's everyone off, and it is acceptable to exceed the limit for overtaking purposes, the HC may not specifically say that, but no cop is going to pull you for doing 75 whilst overtaking on the motorway.
And we've all had the stories as well that cops won't even pull you doing 85mph, so long as it is safe and you are not being an ass about it, atleast that is the pub talk I've had with 2 cops.

 

[Sp!ke]

People of all vehicle ownership see my 230TE as a target for this sort of thing... I travel at 60-65 on most NSL roads as it's what the car is comfortable with. I can't stand people slowing down/speeding up just to make a point. If I'm passing a row of HGV's, I will keep my pace of 65 (Maybe 70 if I'm a bit late) and fold my rear view mirror up if people start being twattish.
I never really rush and people behind me should be grateful I don't overtake at 56.4mph passing a vehicle doing 56.27mph.

I tend to try and ensure that I am not a nuisance to anyone in that that no one has to change speed or direction because of my presence

This generally means that I wouldn't attempt to overtake HGV's if it meant I would be slowing other traffic. I would either wait until it was clear or I would get up to the same speed of the cars in the lane I was intending to enter before doing so.

 

[Dryce]

In my rear-view mirror I could see a small 1-Series BMW coming at speed, he then sat on my rear bumper about three feet behind me, lights flashing an all.

1-Series are odd things. Majority on the road are totally innocuous - they attract the Juke and Qashqai brigade if people I know of who have them are anything to go by. But there is a solid core of them driven by complete plonkers - of whom a high proportion are IME female. The 135 in particular is a right wee beast in terms of roadgoing agility - and I suspect is often responsible for egging on of its own drivers.

 

[cinek]

Just to clarify this beyond any further doubts:



"dual carriageway road means a road which comprises a central reservation and "all-purpose dual carriageway road" means a dual carriageway road which is not a motorway"



"central reservation" means -

(a) any land between the carriageways of a road comprising two
carriageways; or
(b) any permanent work (other than a traffic island) in the
carriageway of a road,

which separates the carriageway or, as the case may be, the part of the carriageway which is to be used by traffic moving in one direction from the carriageway or part of the carriageway which is to be used (whether at all times or at particular times only) by traffic moving in the other direction"



"single carriageway road" means a road which is not a dual carriageway road"


"motorway" means a special road which -

(a) in England or Wales (save as otherwise provided by or under regulations made under, or having effect as if made under, section 17 of the 1984 act[15]) can be used by traffic only of Class I or II as specified in Schedule 4 to the Highways Act 1980[16]; or

(b) in Scotland can be used by traffic only of Class I or Class II as specified in Schedule 3 to the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984;

 

[Dryce]

Just to clarify this beyond any further doubts:

So basically from that summary a motorway can be a single carriageway road if it can only be used by class I and II traffic.

So that clears things up perfectly

 

[developer]

Thanks for that - I was thinking that the Gov site I showed ought to be a little clearer.

If you google UK speed limits, it's the top result.

 

[cinek]

So basically from that summary a motorway can be a single carriageway road if it can only be used by class I and II traffic.

If it has special designation, then, yes it can. It is not exactly common practice though.