If the average speed cameras will be set at 80...why not just sat at the 70 we've up until now been happy with and not even think about them?

I don't understand those on the motorway who get themselves in a tizzy trying to stay exactly on 70mph. I very rarely even hit 70 on the motorway.

80mph limit + 10% allowance for speedo error + 2mph = realistic 90mph limit. Similar to mainland Europe. Works for me.

I agree. Driving fast on a motorway is not fun or exciting. I leave my spirited driving to other roads and stick to 70 on the motorway.

I'm suprised you noticed on that stretch, the bottom end of the M1 seems to have had a 50mph limit through the roadworks for longer than 12 years

Behold the 'speed tourist' will return to Francais!!! And the new socialist government will be rubbing their hands together as the cars roll off the boats.

But in all seriousness, there are still plenty of roads you can go and have fun on, hell, get up early in the morning if you are that desperate.

In all honesty there are very few times i have opened up any car i have owned to be doing upwards of instant banable speeds on the motorway....quite simply, it's not safe, there are not the opportunities and in general the people i have seen doing it drive like complete twunks.

Even at night and crusing at 100mph, how much quicker are you going to get to your final destination rather than doing 80?

Anyhow, this is all irrelevant as the money is simply not there to install all of these cameras, test them etc.

The thing is, you'll never be able to cruise at 100mph except at the dead of night in a stealth car. To get a 100mph average any other time you'd need to be doing VERY silly speeds in between other people pulling out to pass things.

I know that if I set the cruise at 70mph, I'll realistically cover 60 miles every hour, maybe a little more if I'm lucky. I arrive at the destination a little later, with more fuel in the tank, and not wired and looking like an epileptic nun who's had her first ever Red Bull.

Since a lot of the longer drives I seem to do are to the Mother-In-Law's, I'm not too worried about getting there 10 minutes earlier.

louiebaby pretty much answered the question on this one if i'm honest mate. You won't be able to drive at 100mph all the way and even if you did you really are tempting trouble by going at that speed for that long....I'm not anti-speed, far from it, i've got points, but at the same time that is asking for a ban.

I'm not a regular motorway driver but when I am I find motorways boring so the 80mph limit makes much more sense to me if you want to crack on. Given the 10% speedo error that they will have to build on then it seems likely that if you keep it under 90 then you'll not be bothered by the Old Bill.

I love the French autoroutes where you can zip along at 90 for hours on end, as there are few HGVs and lane discipline is great. Sadly in this country our motorway network is woeful and hugely congested. Taxing foreign wagons would be a start, more no overtaking zones for HGVs to stop elephant racing (the single most piss boiling occurrence on a long journey for me) and crack down on middle and fast lane dawdlers. Perhaps a much faster moving lane 3 will help force the 58mph socks, sandal and Kia Magentis brigade into lane 1 and keep them there!

that was exactly my gist!

Questionable maths. I make it 45 minutes, which for Mr Joe Bloggs
on £10 an hour, is a time saving of £7.50. Bargain.

Mr Posh Bloke, on £100 an hour, and presumably in his top of
the range car, gets to save £75. Outrageous bargain and most
of another tank of petrol.

The numbers add up, in the middle of a recession.