speed on motorway

[mobbster]

after reading the posts on the gps tracking in thread (the end of motoring as we know it.) as that was a really good topic, could i ask you for your views on, what speed you think we should be able to drive at on the motorway in a modern car ! (by modern i mean a car with abs and in good condition) and with good driving conditions (dry,clear weather.)
thanks all.cheers

 

[guydewdney]

85 like most of europe... 70 in the wet

 

[Brian WH]

85 like most of europe... 70 in the wet

I'd be happier at that.

 

[rirhill]

80 in good weather and 70 in bad weather.

Cheers
Ian

 

[Shude]

I don't understand the reduction in speed limit for "bad weather". The problem with bad weather is partially the visibility and mostly the stopping distance. Assuming the visibility is still pretty good then there is no reason that the speed limit should be lowered, but the distance between the cars should be at least doubled!

 

[Dieselman]

I don't understand the reduction in speed limit for "bad weather". The problem with bad weather is partially the visibility and mostly the stopping distance. Assuming the visibility is still pretty good then there is no reason that the speed limit should be lowered, but the distance between the cars should be at least doubled!

How do you enforce the greater between cars?

 

[Shude]

How do you enforce the greater between cars?

how do you decide what is "bad weather"?

 

[Dieselman]

after reading the posts on the gps tracking in thread (the end of motoring as we know it.) as that was a really good topic, could i ask you for your views on, what speed you think we should be able to drive at on the motorway in a modern car ! (by modern i mean a car with abs and in good condition) and with good driving conditions (dry,clear weather.)
thanks all.cheers

But what about vehicles that don't have all the modern aids or the same level of grip anyway.

 

[Dieselman]

how do you decide what is "bad weather"?

rain and wet roads

 

[Shude]

rain and wet roads

The problem you have is that even if the speed limit is set to 45mph in bad weather people will still tailgate each other, the speed is pretty much irrelevent.

 

[Satch]

As a practical matter 130kph (81.25mph) would be fine.

That way peeps without GPS could be happy driving at an indicted 85

 

[mark.t]

speed

Personally different speeds for different times say between 7am and 9.30am a limit of 50mph + the use of the hard shoulder to ease congestion..

9.30am to 4.30pm 90mph

4.30pm to 6.30pm...50 mph + the use of hard shoulder again

6.30pm till 8.00pm 90 mph

after 9.30 100mph till 7am

 

[pluggers]

I reckon a minimum speed limit for cars

Inside lane 60mph
middle lane 70mph
outside lane 80mph

Only where possible ie in free flowing traffic

 

[mark.t]

I reckon a minimum speed limit for cars

Inside lane 60mph
middle lane 70mph
outside lane 80mph

Only where possible ie in free flowing traffic

with waggons @56mph better leave the inside lane alone

 

[pluggers]

with waggons @56mph better leave the inside lane alone

Thats why I thought minimum limit for cars,When they come across a waggon on the inside,they speed up to 70mph overtake then if they weren't going to keep to 70 they return to the inside lane,So hopefully eliminating middle lane hoggers.(the only middle lane hoggers Ive come across are the ones that stay at 60mph ish with no other traffic to overtake to warrant staying in the midddle lane)

 

[stwat]

Personally different speeds for different times say between 7am and 9.30am a limit of 50mph + the use of the hard shoulder to ease congestion..

9.30am to 4.30pm 90mph

4.30pm to 6.30pm...50 mph + the use of hard shoulder again

6.30pm till 8.00pm 90 mph

after 9.30 100mph till 7am

I dont like the sound of, "the use of the hard shoulder" where would you go if you broke down? Also, imagine merily driving down the hard shoulder at 50+mph and suddenly coming across a broken down car And have you seen the amount of crap there is on the hard shoulder? Blownout tyres, bits of exhausts rocks, ect ect.

I do think more should be done about middle lane hoggers though. Was it the AA or RAC that said not long ago that they waste/use up about 60% of motorway space by causing big tailbacks? I might be wrong on the percentage but i do remember being shocked about how much.

I think 90mph would be a good max speed. And a minimum speed should be compulsary. 60mph sound about right to me. Obviously excluding wagons, though ive been overtaken by a few when i was doing 60 in my vw campervan before

 

[Plodd]

Personally different speeds for different times say between 7am and 9.30am a limit of 50mph + the use of the hard shoulder to ease congestion..



4.30pm to 6.30pm...50 mph + the use of hard shoulder again

And where would the broken down cars go? (beat me to it stwat)

Plus whatever limit was set some would drive at their own pace regardless.

And with the weather provision, when I met up with Jimmy a while back the weather on my return trip was foul. Patchy fog and quite thick in places but I still had the idiots overtaking me at 90+ with their fog lights blazing. If it's bad enough for fog lights is it really sensible to be travelling at over 90mph?
I know the reasoning that if people think the limits are reasonable they will be more likely to keep to them but unfortunately not all drivers are reasonable.

Just a thought.......

 

[mercedes lover]

If there has to be a limit, I would say 100mph in good weather or 80 in bad weather. But in all honesty I think 80mph is too slow. Or take the speed limit off at night say from 10pm to 5am

 

[glojo]

Motorways are deemed to be the safest roads in our country. The problem arises when vehicles slow down.

By slowing down one vehicle can cause a ripple effect which sometimes leads to either accidents or huge hold ups.

I am against blanket speed limits and in this modern age it must be possible to have flexible speed limits controlled by perhaps 'cameras'. Once the motorway starts getting congested then limits should come down and as they get less congested let the speed limit rise. Until perhaps during the early hours of the morning why have a speed limit? Who is in danger?

Most drivers drive at a speed that feels comfortable, sometimes that comfort is vehicular others might elect to drive at a 'comfortable' speed.

During bad visibilty.
Again I would recommend my flexible speed cameras. Modern technology can quite literally calibrate the cameras to raise or lower speeds as conditions dictate. My only problem here would be perhaps thick fog at night. Can modern technology in the public domain cope?

Rant.....
I object most strongly with the orange flashing speed limits on motorways. These can be switched on by Police patrol cars that pass by them, or activated by motorway control rooms. My beef is they CONTINUALLY FORGET to switch the blessed things off. If you or I drive with our rear fog lights on, in good visibility, we get prosecuted. If the Police forget to switch off temporary speed limits, then so what. Grrrrr I know of instances where these limits have been left on for days, because everyone forgot why they were put on in the first place!!!

So,
Speed limits on motorways to be flexible from de-restricted right down to poor visibilty of a suitable safe speed determined by calibrated cameras spaced at intervals designated by experts.

Rjegards,
John The Rant

 

[stwat]

Motorways are deemed to be the safest roads in our country. The problem arises when vehicles slow down.

By slowing down one vehicle can cause a ripple effect which sometimes leads to either accidents or huge hold ups.

I am against blanket speed limits and in this modern age it must be possible to have flexible speed limits controlled by perhaps 'cameras'. Once the motorway starts getting congested then limits should come down and as they get less congested let the speed limit rise. Until perhaps during the early hours of the morning why have a speed limit? Who is in danger?

Most drivers drive at a speed that feels comfortable, sometimes that comfort is vehicular others might elect to drive at a 'comfortable' speed.

During bad visibilty.
Again I would recommend my flexible speed cameras. Modern technology can quite literally calibrate the cameras to raise or lower speeds as conditions dictate. My only problem here would be perhaps thick fog at night. Can modern technology in the public domain cope?

Rant.....
I object most strongly with the orange flashing speed limits on motorways. These can be switched on by Police patrol cars that pass by them, or activated by motorway control rooms. My beef is they CONTINUALLY FORGET to switch the blessed things off. If you or I drive with our rear fog lights on, in good visibility, we get prosecuted. If the Police forget to switch off temporary speed limits, then so what. Grrrrr I know of instances where these limits have been left on for days, because everyone forgot why they were put on in the first place!!!

So,
Speed limits on motorways to be flexible from de-restricted right down to poor visibilty of a suitable safe speed determined by calibrated cameras spaced at intervals designated by experts.

Rjegards,
John The Rant

I think thats the best idea ive read so far. Its all about being flexible. Sadly i cant ever see it hapening. Think of all the revenue they would miss out on. And the cost of the technology, and even changing the max speed sign's all costs money.!!!!!!!! And at the end of the day, thats what its all about. The government like to tell us, and lie to us with stats, that its all about safety, bollocks!!! Its all about how much money they can fleese out of us!!!!!!!

Stu

Stu