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Speed Limit

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hello, i was just listen to people on the radio talking about speed limits, not i spend a long time on the motorways, i travel 110mile round trip each day to uni and i really do feel 70 is way to slow, maybe 50 years ago it was ok but now with moden cars there doesnt seem to be a need to travel is slowly? i just wanted to see what other people my sort of ages feels about this?
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I normally cruse between 80 and 90 on the motorway
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    er, risk of death and the whole stopping/thinking distance thing?

    I think it's pretty stupid that cars are able to go at like 120 or something and the limits are so much lower. The limits are there for a reason though. I don't think cars should be manufactured so that they are able to go at like 120mph.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i have to say limits are quite stupid in some places, I can understadn going through places where there is a high risk of children or what not crossing but on the motorway limits need to be raised

    Speed is a sympom of reckless driving not a cause, people need to remember that
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think the law needs to be re-vised. Those limits we have were set 20-30+ years ago when cars were a lot less advanced in terms of safety/breakng etc.

    I think motorways should all have variable speed limits, where say rush hour traffic limitied to 60mph or something similar and in the middle of the night when there's hardly anyone on them why no 90mph in a modern car??

    I personally drive quite fast on motorways, normally around 90-100mph of course only when I feel it's safe to do so, but repsect small roads and 30mph speed limits as there is a strong reason for having them set!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i always travel around a 100, and i feel as long as you give space between you and the person in front stopping in time isnt a problem, i just feel 70 is way to slow
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Territt wrote:
    i always travel around a 100, and i feel as long as you give space between you and the person in front stopping in time isnt a problem, i just feel 70 is way to slow

    will you say the same when you have a steering wheel lodged in your throat and the top of your head on the parcel shelf? :chin:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i always just floor it on the motorway to be honest. only slow down if i need toi
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    koe_182 wrote:
    will you say the same when you have a steering wheel lodged in your throat and the top of your head on the parcel shelf? :chin:

    lovely imagery there :eek:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I remember reading somewhere that a motorway is about the safest place you can drive, as everyone's going in the same direction in pretty straight lines. Personally I have a crappy car which struggles at 70 mph so if limits were raised I think I'd be the source of even more road rage than I already am (not my fault, blame my tiny engine!) However, I do think that the limits could be raised a bit more. Where I live in France there's a variable limit according to weather; if it's raining the limit decreases, and I think that's pretty sensible, especially as I've had a few incidents where someone's tried to cut across lanes right in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes pretty hard. If it had been raining....

    But then I also see a lot of nutters bombing it down the motorways at 110 - 120 mph, and to be honest it's not necessary. If you're in that much of a hurry to get somewhere you should have left earlier; it's intimidating and it does up the risk of a crash. Fair enough if you're a safe driver, but you can't guarantee that other people will be. I'd rather err on the side of safety than get to work faster.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    koe_182 wrote:
    will you say the same when you have a steering wheel lodged in your throat and the top of your head on the parcel shelf? :chin:

    a crash at 70mph could just as easily cause that to happen
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    personally im never in a major rush to get anywhere that justifies going mad speeds, dont get me wrong, i'll do decent speeds usually just dont see the point in driving like a maniac. maybe im just safe.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    just because some one drives fast doesnt mean they will automatically be driving like a maniac though
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lovely imagery there :eek:
    An interesting point though, if you crash at 70mph the momentum of anything you have on your parcel shelf will become a missle travelling at 70mph at the back of your head.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    could be a box of tissues on the rear shelf, he he he :lol:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've never noticed my dad, brother or boyfriend drive any faster then about 80-85mph, but that is only when there is no other traffic on the motoway, if its busy but moving they are quite happy just to drive along at 70mph. Even whenits really busy they perfer to just drive along at say 40mph rather then all the stop starting you get when sometimes.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Gavman wrote:
    a crash at 70mph could just as easily cause that to happen

    aye but also it gives you a lot more time to react...

    anyway im not going to get into semantics, im not gonna get involved in defending speeding...speeding kills, thats the end
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    speeding doesnt kill though, thats like saying driving kills in which case we better not drive anymore!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Currently the speed limit is 70mph but it is the norm to drive between 15 and 40% above the limit. So lets say they raise the limit to 80mph then does the "norm" mean that it's acceptable to drive at over 110mph?!?!

    I agree that 70mph does seem slow at times. Nothing worse when your on a long stretch of motorway with no cars for miles and your stuck at 70mph. IF the speed limit was to be increased though better training and understanding would need to be enforced to drivers.

    Does anyone (without looking at websites or books) know the stopping distance for a car in dry conditions at 70mph? 80mph? 100mph? Add the thinking distances on top of that. So at 50mph with someone driving so far up your tail you can't even see their reg plate is dangerous enough but for it to happen at 70mph is crazy. And without greater teaching to drivers how crazier it is at 80, 90 100mph I don't think we are ready for an increase.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    but maybe if they increase the limit, people will just drive even faster than previously. i think the limit on motorways is perfectly fine. having said that i don't find it very easy to stick to it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Anyone who does more than 100mph is stupid, if your caught its an instant ban, if you're going to go fast limit to 95, that way you'll only get loads of points and a fat fine.

    And anyway, if we all kept to the speed limit we could use a different type of stone on the motorways and they'd virtually never have to be re-surfaced. But this type of stone is quite smooth and its too easy to aqua-plane on it at over 70.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    My last job involved doing over 1000 miles a week, of which the majority of miles were spent on the motorway. The speed limits are certainly outdated. In fine whether, at quieter times of the day and with the cars we have now 100mph really isn't that dangerous. At busier time sof the day however, and with in poor whether 70mph is too fast.
    Variable speed limits are the way to go. Like they have in Germany.

    It's not speed that kills, it's driving in excess of what the conditions require that's dangerous.
    Weekender Offender 
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Gavman wrote:
    just because some one drives fast doesnt mean they will automatically be driving like a maniac though

    Not at all. But I'd rather people who do drive like maniacs did it at 70 mph than at 110 mph.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Skive wrote:
    It's not speed that kills, it's driving in excess of what the conditions require that's dangerous.

    Agree 100%. But the problem is is that there are too many people on the roads who don't currently adhere to this advice so by increasing the limit and not addressing this issue surely we will run a greater risk of death and injury?
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    Agree 100%. But the problem is is that there are too many people on the roads who don't currently adhere to this advice so by increasing the limit and not addressing this issue surely we will run a greater risk of death and injury?

    Look at Germany with it's varibale limits. The speed limit is determined by road temperature, humidity, precipitaion, traffic levels etc and I think you'll find it works far better than the outdated system we have here.

    With the change in technology should have come a change in speed limits.
    Weekender Offender 
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It would only work if people listened though... The speed is dropped to 50 on some rare stretches of motorway because of say fog, when there clearly isn't any, and hasn't been all day. V frustrating.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I know its common sense but just keeping loads and loads of room between you and car infront especially in the wet. Speed is relative when everyone around you is going at similar speed until the car infront of you hits something:)
    Some people cruise in the middle lane reading their favourite book. Once i saw a sign on this womens dashboard that read "DONT FORGET THEY DRIVE ON THE LEFT"...scary.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The stopping distance at 70mph is about 24 car lengths. People driving in the outside lane of the motorway (usually doing about 90mph) leave about 2-3 car spaces between themselves and the driver in front. If someone were momentarily to lose control (either in your lane or in the outside lane going in the other direction) and you were leaving that little space between you and the car in front, you wouldn't be able to react in time.

    In countries like Germany, the motorways are designed for people to travel at higher speeds on them - eg. longer slip roads, allowing people to have more time to think and react.

    I can understand how easy it is to break the speed limit, hell I've even done 80 sometimes and my car doesn't even have a 1 litre engine. But travelling a 160 mile trip to uni several times a week, I just think that there are too many drivers that are not equipped to drive at such speeds. I get scared enough by the things people do when my average speed is only about 55!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Skive wrote:
    With the change in technology should have come a change in speed limits.


    I'm don't disagree. But the mentality of the British driver is different to others. I've driven all over France and (we're not talking about city driving or country driving cause I believe they are worse than us!!) on the motorway the outside lane is used for overtaking. Once your past the car you pull back in leaving the outside lane free. Here everyone drives in the outside lane leaving the inside lanes free. Causing people to drive right up the arse of the person in front or undertaking and such.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    FireFly85 wrote:
    I get scared enough by the things people do when my average speed is only about 55!

    I'm sure most people 'average speed' is well below that, but that speed is dangerous on a motorway or a straight dual carrigeway which has the nation speed limit - too slow.
    Here everyone drives in the outside lane leaving the inside lanes free.

    :yes:

    I think this has to be one of the most dangerous things omebody can do. People that hover around in the middle lane are fucking idiots. A frustrated driver is the one of the most dangerous thing on the road. There need to be a police campaign against those that sit in the middle lane regardless.
    Weekender Offender 
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Middle-lane cruisers are very irritating. Lorries overtaking I also think are particularly dangerous.
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