Increase Speed Limits - Online Petition
The standard of driving remains the biggest factor in road safety . Apart from that there are many 10+ year old vehicles in daily use and will continue to be indefinitely .
The article is perfectly relevant .
Presumably not in a relevant discipline then .
That is hubris , and we all know what cometh next ....
A greater flow of information certainly keeps one more alert and while it is possible to drive at higher speeds in safety , a high speed differential between one vehicle and the majority of other traffic , the drivers of which may not be expecting it , does give rise to a potential hazard .
I would be most interested to hear your theory as to how the load on an engine propelling a car along a city road ( usually limited to 30 mph ) would be greater than propelling the same car along a motorway at 70 mph !
Again , simple physics dictates that more energy is needed to accelerate a mass to increasingly greater speeds and to overcome friction and air resistance , both of which increase in proportion to speed .
No , it's just that most of us have difficulty in tolerating arrogance and nonsensical bluster borne out of ignorance and an inability to comprehend what everyone else is saying .
You are talking AT people instead of talking WITH them .
I don't .
We never were : that's why they are called MOTORways .
John Jones Jr
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You can spin it anyway you want. I'm just giving you the facts from my perspective and experience. Anyway, there's always a speed differential especially on motorways thankfully, which automatically creates a potential hazard.
So, really in my mind your point carries little relevance as you don't know what real world bearing an increase in the motorway speed limit would have. For instance, in my case it could mean there's less chance of me having an accident.
Just to clarify, I saying that not because I feel I'm better driver than the average, merely that I am far more alert etc as per my initial post.
Granted it's just my viewpoint backed up with my first hand experience but it does carry validity and I'd never be swayed differently.
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Hmmm , I rather think that my 1957 Ponton , which , if desired , could cruise along the Autobahn all day at 100mph , could still show a thing or two to 'the most basic cars' of today .
70 mph is still fast enough to do a lot of damage if you hit something going a lot slower , or even stopped .
Those proposing increased speeds for some cars ought to consider that the majority will continue to drive at their present choice of speeds , often a lot less than 70 , that trucks will continue to drive at 60 or less ( many can't manage any more , especially up gradients ) similarly those towing trailers or caravans , and when traffic jams or even standing traffic is encountered , the stopping distance from higher speeds is significantly greater .
Without a universal increase in driving standards , higher speeds are just not compatible with today's congested roads .
If yo want to speed - go to the racetrack .
The forever ongoing 50MPH stretches on the M1 are mind numbingly tedious. I find my mind wanders and concentration is lost. I have to keep bringing myself back to reality and concentrate harder. Very tiring.
At higher speeds I am much more focused and concentrated on the job at hand.
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I'm pretty sure it was much later than that : what we now know as the National Speed Limit was still described as a 'temporary speed limit' well into the eighties , if not the nineties , at which point it was passed into statute .
I also remember the reduced NSL in the seventies .
Well , to see what real world bearing an increase would have , you would most likely get a fair indication by looking at other countries with different limits already in force .
I'm not trying to 'spin' anything in any direction whatsoever , but at present the majority of motorway traffic tends to flow between 50 and 70 mph , with a number of trucks at times going slower than 50 to climb gradients , perhaps overtaking with marginal speed differences and holding traffic up behind , and a few vehicles traveling faster ( the motorway part of my journey tonight , with my maintaining the posted limits in dark but dry conditions I passed a fair number of slower vehicles of all types but was only passed by , from memory , three speeders who were significantly above the limit ) .
While I know , and agree , that speed is not in itself dangerous ( although some of the Judiciary here in Scotland might disagree , even though it is written in Roadcraft ) and that an advanced driver might well be alert and capable of controlling his car at high speed , the danger remains the unpredictable reactions of Joe Public who wasn't expecting him or his rate of approach . Observation and planning can obviate most risks on the road , but the danger always remains that someone will do something completely unexpected or stupid , or both .
If something is going to go wrong , heaven forbid , then the consequences of it going wrong at 100 mph are that much greater than if the speed were 'only' 70 mph , or some other lower figure .
Anyway , it's late ; I have work in the morning , and as Zebidee says ........
Agreed - driving too slowly for a set of conditions can have that effect - I drove through those roadworks a few weeks back when going down to Nottingham for my exhaust system .
I did find it tedious too , but appreciate that the lower limits are needed to protect workforce and to allow drivers more of a chance to adapt to temporary lane changes or deviations , cope with narrow lanes and just to avoid each other in places .
Anyway - time for bed !
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Giantvanman
MB Enthusiast
With respect, I fear you have drawn some wrong conclusions.
To cover this fully would take a lot of space and would bore the pants of most so here is a summary of my thoughts and such:-
The advances in vehicle safety take no account whatsoever in something that has not changed at all over the years, namely reaction time. This is made up of seeing a problem, identifying it as a problem, deciding to take action and taking that action. In other words, reaction time has not decreased in parallel with vehicle advance, it has stayed the same.
This wrong correlation or thinking is not helped when morons like the TG crew do such things like that braking test whilst in Australia. In case you missed it, it was a braking test and not a reaction test because the position in space and time when the brakes would be applied was known and marked by a start line and bollards, just like every accident is! They were pr1cks for doing that antic on national TV.
In planning a road, the Traffic Management people expect that the majority of drivers will exceed the posted limit by about 10mph on average. That is why many roads seem to have an unrealistically low limit.
Every person has a degree of risk they are willing to accept and the level varies from person to person and from day to day or more accurately, by mood/feelings/emotions. What this means is that, as cars became gradually safer, some unconsciously seek to meet their inbuilt risk level and start to drive faster or more closely or corner harder etc etc.
This is called the Risk Compensating Factor and it is relevant in combination with the above paragraphs/ speed limits and vehicle safety. People don't stick to limits for many reasons…there has been lots of rationale spouted over the years about why an individual should not be so tightly constrained BUT this makes no sense for this reason; this thinking takes no account of the less able drivers on the road or all the other carriageway users from pedestrian downwards.
In other words, do we really think everyone is capable and if they are not, will they will exercise restraint from speeding in the new higher limit? Why would they when they don't do it now?
There is a great deal more to the science behind all of this which is worth investigating if you want informed decision making. Safer cars have lead to fewer deaths on the road in THIS country so why negate that net gain by increasing the velocity with which they travel which in turn will neutralise the gains made?
OP, have you even looked at the casualty figures in Germany and compared them with ours? As I said at the beginning, I respectfully suggest that you have reached some misguided and short-sighted conclusions.
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Deleted96908
Guest
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Deleted96908
Guest
Likewise the 20 odd miles on the M3 north of Winchester - but on the other hand I find the variable limits on the M25, often 60 or lower, quite relaxing when traffic is almost bumper to bumper.
