How much respect do you have for speed limits?
Discussion
Aeroresh said:
As someone who has set countless speed limits in my career, I often take them with a pinch of salt as a road user because most of the time thier introduction on the whole these days is driven by political pressure rather than any sound road safety principals!
Its embarrassing when even the police wont support some of them as they see them as unjust and rediculous, but they still go in as its what councillors driven by nagging residents want.
Problem is the police are the ones that cop for it from the same local residents and do gooders when the limits are quite rightly ignored as drivers see no reasons for them.
Urban and village 30mph limits excluded......all the others I prefer to use common sense.
ACPO guidelines place importance on the speed limit being right for the road and obviously necessary. In other words, if it's too low and drivers can't see a need to drive so slowly, it's probably not necessary for safety. The police aren't really prepared to waste their time standing at the roadside with speed guns and they won't do their public image any good enforcing silly speed limits. Traffic police officers will be petrol heads like the rest of us and just as frustrated by it all.Its embarrassing when even the police wont support some of them as they see them as unjust and rediculous, but they still go in as its what councillors driven by nagging residents want.
Problem is the police are the ones that cop for it from the same local residents and do gooders when the limits are quite rightly ignored as drivers see no reasons for them.
Urban and village 30mph limits excluded......all the others I prefer to use common sense.
http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/uniformed/2013...
I stick to limits that have been around for a while, but I'm a little more flexible with recently lowered ones. A speed trap is a hazard like any other and you need to keep your eyes open and be capable of slowing down quickly enough to avoid being caught by one if you're confronted by it round the next bend. We're lucky in this country in that they're generally easy to spot and aren't operated from moving police cars. Good old health and safety laws require police officers to wear high visibility jackets when standing at the roadside.
Edited by Blakewater on Friday 30th May 22:35
Dog Star said:
In urban areas posted 30s and 40s I will stick to.
20s I treat with utter contempt (I see no need for these things; the sort of nobs that got them implemented in the first place ignored the 30 that was there before, they are sure as hell not going to abide by the 20 the rest of us have had to suffer), and also anything that used to be NSL that's been "creeping 30/40/50d". I'll drive to the conditions.
This pretty much tends to be my default position.20s I treat with utter contempt (I see no need for these things; the sort of nobs that got them implemented in the first place ignored the 30 that was there before, they are sure as hell not going to abide by the 20 the rest of us have had to suffer), and also anything that used to be NSL that's been "creeping 30/40/50d". I'll drive to the conditions.
But then I'm a police driver and I drive to the conditions rather than to arbitrary speed limits.
Of course, if everyone did the same, then we wouldn't need speed limits.
WRT to this:
Dog Star said:
...and also anything that used to be NSL that's been "creeping 30/40/50d"...
Some years ago, I was involved in a community policing project and my local residents got up a campaign to have the speed limit reduced and/or a camera fitted on a particular stretch of local road. And they had a point: It was like an open air lunatic asylum.
And so I made enquiries, through all the official channels, and was told in no uncertain terms that the limit would not be reduced, nor would a camera be fitted unless there was an adverse fatal accident record on that road. (Which, from memory, required something like 5 deaths in the preceding 3 years before anything would be done.)
And that was a national guideline and so presumably applies everywhere that reductions have been made.
Food for thought maybe when we're considering apparently unnecessary speed limit reductions?
(Not picking on you btw, it just that your thoughts pretty much echo mine).
DJP said:
WRT to this:
And they had a point: It was like an open air lunatic asylum.
And so I made enquiries, through all the official channels, and was told in no uncertain terms that the limit would not be reduced, nor would a camera be fitted unless there was an adverse fatal accident record on that road. (Which, from memory, required something like 5 deaths in the preceding 3 years before anything would be done.)
And that was a national guideline and so presumably applies everywhere that reductions have been made.
Food for thought maybe when we're considering apparently unnecessary speed limit reductions?
(Not picking on you btw, it just that your thoughts pretty much echo mine).
But that has all changed now, there is no requirement for there to have been any accidents certain counties have waved the 50mph wand over almost every single NSL. Villages with 30mph limits have had the limit extended by some distance and then an extra 40mph limit either side so what was once 60->30->60 becomes 50->40->30->40->50. Half the time the 40 now merges into the next set of houses so it's 50->40->30->40->30->40->40 etc. Dog Star said:
...and also anything that used to be NSL that's been "creeping 30/40/50d"...
Some years ago, I was involved in a community policing project and my local residents got up a campaign to have the speed limit reduced and/or a camera fitted on a particular stretch of local road. And they had a point: It was like an open air lunatic asylum.
And so I made enquiries, through all the official channels, and was told in no uncertain terms that the limit would not be reduced, nor would a camera be fitted unless there was an adverse fatal accident record on that road. (Which, from memory, required something like 5 deaths in the preceding 3 years before anything would be done.)
And that was a national guideline and so presumably applies everywhere that reductions have been made.
Food for thought maybe when we're considering apparently unnecessary speed limit reductions?
(Not picking on you btw, it just that your thoughts pretty much echo mine).
Once I obeyed every speed limit (at worst to ACPO guidelines) except NSL and a few 60mph DC's as the limit was set for a reason.
Now I have zero respect that the speed limit reflects the road and while I still stick to 30's and 40's in town/built up areas I'm *far* more likely to break 30/40/50's outside them.
I'm genuinely mystified by the number of people who are proud to obey low limits, but happy to exceed high limits. I assume these are the kind of drivers that brake really sharply at limit reductions and hoof it at limit increases; I love following drivers like that...
It just seems like phenomenal double standards. Either you believe in obeying speed limits for their own sake or you don't.
If low limits were used consistently, and I didn't often find myself driving through open country in a 30 limit I might treat them with more respect.
I drive at what I consider a safe/considerate speed, or a speed that I think I can get away with, whichever is the lower.
It just seems like phenomenal double standards. Either you believe in obeying speed limits for their own sake or you don't.
If low limits were used consistently, and I didn't often find myself driving through open country in a 30 limit I might treat them with more respect.
I drive at what I consider a safe/considerate speed, or a speed that I think I can get away with, whichever is the lower.
I drive to the road in both sense. Some roads are woefully overstated as NSL in the sticks, really would be far better to have 40mph up in the areas that are blind and too tight for two cars, then have NSL signs up for the straighter bits. No one with any sense hoons around those sorts of roads, you get too many clueless grey rep-mobiles refusing to use all of their side so you end up have big brake moments if you actually went 60.
I have far more respect for them now, than I had in the past forty years plus of driving. I had a somewhat casual approach to speed limits for many years! This attitude changed when I picked up three 'tickets' in less than a year. All of them were, as far as I remember, 35-38 in 30mph zones, fixed cameras for two, and mobile for the third one.
My insurance company then added to the premium for good measure. I know the points come off after three years, but I was lead to believe the penalty from the insurance company is for several years longer.
My insurance company then added to the premium for good measure. I know the points come off after three years, but I was lead to believe the penalty from the insurance company is for several years longer.
Ever been in the car parks with the 5mph sign? Ever tried to stick to it? Near impossible. Not only will it take 10 mins to get to the front of the supermarket after a late shift, then id have to drive another ten to the back of the car park where theres not 200 disabled spaces with nobody parked in them.. otherwise i stick to the limits, 70 ish on a motorway though.
I aim to keep to all limits on public roads. I seem to be the only one out there doing that.
But I must say some signs are pretty hard to see, e.g. they put them right on a junction, when generally you need to be looking at other things, and 75 to 100 yards into the new road would be a much better place to have the change of limit.
But I must say some signs are pretty hard to see, e.g. they put them right on a junction, when generally you need to be looking at other things, and 75 to 100 yards into the new road would be a much better place to have the change of limit.
Part of the problem is a lack of consistency in speed limits. At one time, you could reckon a residential area would be a 30mph limit. A road with a few houses set well back would be a 40mph limit. You might get a few good roads with lots of shops and garages and suchlike along them which were 50mph. Otherwise, NSL would apply. Everyone knew where they stood and sticking to the right speed was quite natural for the vast majority of drivers with a desire not to crash.
Nowadays, wide open roads with few or no buildings can be 50mph, 40mph or even 30mph. Plenty of wide open A roads and dual carriageways have been cut from the NSL by 10-20mph. The speed limits aren't applied to the scenarios they were originally intended for and that drivers have been taught they correspond with. Of course, every time you drive along a road where the limit has been cut from NSL, you have every little road and track off it marked with NSL signs because no one has seen fit to bother lowering those limits.
Exceeding 50mph on this dual carriageway, which used to be a 70mph limit until a couple of years ago, will make you a dangerous maniac. Turn down this road and you can legally do 60mph right past the front gate of the school that's down there. It might be a narrow road but a biker or slightly bold and reckless driver could do it.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.765907,-2.623152,3...
Nowadays, wide open roads with few or no buildings can be 50mph, 40mph or even 30mph. Plenty of wide open A roads and dual carriageways have been cut from the NSL by 10-20mph. The speed limits aren't applied to the scenarios they were originally intended for and that drivers have been taught they correspond with. Of course, every time you drive along a road where the limit has been cut from NSL, you have every little road and track off it marked with NSL signs because no one has seen fit to bother lowering those limits.
Exceeding 50mph on this dual carriageway, which used to be a 70mph limit until a couple of years ago, will make you a dangerous maniac. Turn down this road and you can legally do 60mph right past the front gate of the school that's down there. It might be a narrow road but a biker or slightly bold and reckless driver could do it.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.765907,-2.623152,3...
king 20mph zones ffs 
Built up areas I'll adhere to. Don't fancy having an accident with a pedestrian or god forbid a child burnt on to my conscience forever. Simply not worth worth the risk. Other than that's it's drive to the conditions and as long as you're not the fastest on the road you're not going to be the one getting pulled doing 80 when someone else is doing 100.
In this country at least there's no option or sooner or later you won't have any points left.It's reached the point where I've reduced the journeys that I would have done with my quick car by just not bothering with many events etc that I would probably have gone to previously.Which has the win win result of reducing the odds of getting nicked during the course of the year and saving the petrol money for more continental runs instead.My other mileage here is mostly local runs done with a 1.8 shopping car which is very easy to keep within ,or at least close enough to,the ridiculously ever decreasing limits.So far it seems to be working well with only 3 points in 2007 in over 35 years of driving which just ( luckily ) happened to be driving the shopping car in a 70 mph limit at 82 mph.
Although the few runs that I do make here over the summer with the quick car is always a worry for a few weeks just on the chance that it might have been over the limit just enough to get nicked by a camera as before except it's much easier in that case to reach those types of speeds.
Although the few runs that I do make here over the summer with the quick car is always a worry for a few weeks just on the chance that it might have been over the limit just enough to get nicked by a camera as before except it's much easier in that case to reach those types of speeds.
Respect 30/40 limits. Use my own discretion on NSL roads, but 60mph is often far too fast for country lanes and so I drive accordingly.
Too many idiots speeding inappropriately in residential areas IMO and when I'm doing 30 I seem to be the slowest thing on the roads, but I don't speed up for f*cking tailgaters...
Too many idiots speeding inappropriately in residential areas IMO and when I'm doing 30 I seem to be the slowest thing on the roads, but I don't speed up for f*cking tailgaters...
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