Why was the 70 limit introduced?

[BliarOut]

My local Scameraship have a new advert on the local busses. It says "speed limits are set for your safety" Now I thought the 70 limit was introduced to conserve fuel and was simply never repealed. Does anyone know categorically why the 70 limit was introduced?

I just need to know, as if they are wrong I need to drop the ASA a quick line... After all, the law is the law

[vonhosen]

The limits were introduced following a number of serious & fatal collisions on motorways. Fuel crisis happened later.

>> Edited by vonhosen on Monday 10th April 17:59

[s2art]

BliarOut said:

My local Scameraship have a new advert on the local busses. It says "speed limits are set for your safety" Now I thought the 70 limit was introduced to conserve fuel and was simply never repealed. Does anyone know categorically why the 70 limit was introduced? I just need to know, as if they are wrong I need to drop the ASA a quick line... After all, the law is the law

IIRC, it was Barbera Castle in Wilsons first government, after a Cobra was timed at some huge speed on the M1, and there had been a spate of accidents.

[r5gttgaz]

Didnt some car companies do top speed testing on public roads? E-Type and AC Cobra come to mind but I will probably be corrected!

[planetdave]

Wot they said.

A combination of Cobras, E-Types et al doing 150ish when duffers in A30s barely managed 60 led to some serious misjudgements. Tyres and brakes were also v. poor in them days.

[apache]

s2art said:

IIRC, it was Barbera Castle in Wilsons first government, after a Cobra was timed at some huge speed on the M1, and there had been a spate of accidents.

That's the one, she got a twig up her arse when the Cobra did an interesting speed up the motorway and it's been a political hot potato ever since. Now, apparently people die if you go faster than this speed and if caught your car will be crushed, your house repossessed and your kids sold into slavery cos good old Babs knew this years ago

[BliarOut]

Well if anyone can see a hole in their statement I'm quite happy to run it by the ASA If anyone can find some limits that were set for other reasons I might still have an "in"

[planetdave]

And she never held a driving licence.






Babs that is

>> Edited by planetdave on Monday 10th April 18:10

[gilbertd]

I'm not sure on this because I always believed it was a fuel saving measure. Maybe both things occured around the same time. Somewhere in my loft I've still got some fuel vouchers that were issued to limit the amount anyone could buy. If I remember right, they were issued but never actually bought into use. This would have been at the time I had my first car which would have been 1971 (ish).

Anyway BliarOut, what happened to the Fenhoon?

[s2art]

BliarOut said:

Well if anyone can see a hole in their statement I'm quite happy to run it by the ASA If anyone can find some limits that were set for other reasons I might still have an "in"

Well the 70 limit was purely arbitary AFAIK, just a guess. And that was 40 years ago when crossply tyres resembling that of a bicycle were coupled to drum brakes on cars which had the suspension and handling characteristics of a steamed pudding.

If 70MPH was safe then something like 250MPH should be OK now!

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

gilbertd said:

I'm not sure on this because I always believed it was a fuel saving measure.

As already said, I believe the fuel saving thing came later. (Temp NSL 50 mph on single carriageways & 60 on dual carriageways), late 70s.

[dcb]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

As already said, I believe the fuel saving thing came later. (Temp NSL 50 mph on single carriageways & 60 on dual carriageways), late 70s.

Blinking youngsters.

UK 70mph limit came in in 1965 - B.Castle Something must
be done. She didn't think to ask Cobra to stop testing their
chariots on the M1.

50 mph for fuel saving was IIRC 1974.
Of course, the cost of the time wasted at 50 mph far exceeds
the possible cost of fuel saved, but there again something
had to be done and asking a politico to do it is asking for
trouble.

[Andrew Noakes]

Barbara Castle didn't introduce the 70mph limit - it appeared before she took over at the DoT. She merely chose to continue its use.

[vonhosen]

Andrew Noakes said:

Barbara Castle didn't introduce the 70mph limit - it appeared before she took over at the DoT. She merely chose to continue its use.

Correct.
It started out only as a trial, but was never removed instead being made permanent.

[gilbertd]

So when were the fuel ration vouchers issued> Or do I have to crawl through the loft to see if they have any date on them?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

gilbertd said:

So when were the fuel ration vouchers issued> Or do I have to crawl through the loft to see if they have any date on them?

Some were issued in 1975, but never used.

[WildCat]

Barbara Castle introcduce around mid 60s after they timed a Cobra und E-type Jag.. und there had also been worst crash ever in the fog on UK motorway/


In 1972 - ish when Heath government was fighting your miners in a strike und the oil producers were holding West to ransom at same time.. three day week was introiduced und UK motorways were limited to 50 mph to conserve the fuel Limit returned aas soon as crisis over.. thank goodness

Remember as we were on holiday over here .. Papa had to drive rather slowly und we missed our ferry

Ist in a book on recent commercial und economic history which was "current" when I sat my Abi papers in Current Affairs..

Pah! You Englisch! You do not even know your own 'istry!

[TripleS]

s2art said:

BliarOut said: Well if anyone can see a hole in their statement I'm quite happy to run it by the ASA If anyone can find some limits that were set for other reasons I might still have an "in" Well the 70 limit was purely arbitary AFAIK, just a guess. And that was 40 years ago when crossply tyres resembling that of a bicycle were coupled to drum brakes on cars which had the suspension and handling characteristics of a steamed pudding.

Obviously it is true that tyres and brakes have improved greatly during the past 40 years. Even so, I think we could give a bit more credit to some of the tyres that were in use in the 1960s. I don't think they were quite the rubbish that some people seem to suggest.

For example the standard tyre fitting on new Jaguar 3.8 Mark 2 saloons was Dunlop 'Road Speed RS5' - a cross ply tyre with nylon casing reinforcement, and these were rated for continuous safe running at the maximum speed of that car - approximately 125-130 mph. The 150 mph E-Type was also fitted as standard with the same tyres, but I seem to remember that the road test people took the precaution of putting Dunlop R5 racing tyres (also cross ply, I think) on the E-type for their high speed test purposes. In fact I believe that cross ply tyres continued to be used on many racing cars long after the time that road cars had generally moved onto radials. If any of this is incorrect by all means let us know.

Incidentally, I wonder what form of construction is used in current Formula One tyres? Another thing I note is that whereas the trend on high performance road cars has for many years been towards very low profile tyres, Formula One tyres have extremely high sidewalls. I wonder why this different approach. Presumably the relationship between tyre behaviour and suspension design, with the tyre providing more of the suspension effect on an F1 car?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[vonhosen]

s2art said:

Well the 70 limit was purely arbitary AFAIK, just a guess. And that was 40 years ago when crossply tyres resembling that of a bicycle were coupled to drum brakes on cars which had the suspension and handling characteristics of a steamed pudding. If 70MPH was safe then something like 250MPH should be OK now!

The vehicle is least likely to be the weak link in the chain & most limiting factor.

[Fat Richie]

dcb said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said: As already said, I believe the fuel saving thing came later. (Temp NSL 50 mph on single carriageways & 60 on dual carriageways), late 70s. Blinking youngsters. UK 70mph limit came in in 1965 - B.Castle Something must be done. She didn't think to ask Cobra to stop testing their chariots on the M1. 50 mph for fuel saving was IIRC 1974. Of course, the cost of the time wasted at 50 mph far exceeds the possible cost of fuel saved, but there again something had to be done and asking a politico to do it is asking for trouble.

Sure it wasn't 1976? Passed my test that year and I'm sure the limit was in then. Remember being pulled over by the Beak (along with several others) for a tyre spot-check just after coming off the M1 - was bricking it as my speedo cable had gone ping while on the M1 and the needle stuck at 75!