Tuesday 29th May 2001
Raise the Limit?
ABD call for motorway speed limits to be raised
Discussion
What about also ensuring that only people with a certain style of license are entitled to drive performance cars ( I know that is a can of worms )
I don`t know if I am wrong, but it seems to me that the driving test has changed and the way people were taught to drive has also changed a lot with regards to indicators and lanes on roundabouts etc.. but people are not aware of this.
Why not have intermediary tests every 3 years or so to test Spacial awareness or at least to confirm that there are Other cars with you on the roads.. (Thats the Metros off the roads at least ) PS, limiting them to 50mph is not good, most of `em don`t go above 30.....
EVERYONE knows that simply reducing speed limits will not reduce accidents, 95% of people on the roads have scant regards for them anyhow ( I`m often overtaken in a 30mph, or I have people so close to my exhausts I`m melting the front of their cars ) but they are a damn fine way to make More money for the coffers. Why is it speeding is an offence punishable by a fine & points, which in turn raise insurance premiums costing us yet more cash.
What can we do to make people Pay attention to the road instead of their cigarettes, or the radio, or just chatting to the passenger !??! Answers on a postcard.
Edited by Jason F on Monday 4th June 15:42
EVERYONE knows that simply reducing speed limits will not reduce accidents, 95% of people on the roads have scant regards for them anyhow ( I`m often overtaken in a 30mph, or I have people so close to my exhausts I`m melting the front of their cars ) but they are a damn fine way to make More money for the coffers. Why is it speeding is an offence punishable by a fine & points, which in turn raise insurance premiums costing us yet more cash.
What can we do to make people Pay attention to the road instead of their cigarettes, or the radio, or just chatting to the passenger !??! Answers on a postcard.
Edited by Jason F on Monday 4th June 15:42
The UK has one of the highest road densities in the World. Increasing motorway speed limit also increases distance between cars, thus reduces road capacity and makes for worse journey times. There is rising demand for and limited supply of road space. If road space is a commodity like any other then one would expect the price of the commodity to rise. However, users would start to demand a better road service if they had to pay significantly more for it. The solution? Private-sector toll roads! You want to drive on a nice empty-ish road? Fine, you pay. Higher speed limits on toll roads? Fine. This would price-out most HGV's, caravans, and similar (who would, of course, need to pay double), also most students, new drivers and OAPS. An extra few pence per mile on the running cost of a decent car is not going to make much difference, and think of the saving in 'track day' costs.
Will it ever happen?
Only if you all elect GasBlaster as PM!
Not a bad idea apache, but I would think most accidents occur on A and B roads, with newly qualified drivers, even ones showing P. I know 'cos it has happened to me! 
I still think the driving schools have a lot to answer for, they teach the pupil to pass a test not to drive properly that would take years. And as for these 1 weeks intensive courses how can anyone learn enough roads skills to drive safely alone in one week.....I'll stop before I start ranting more..
I still think the driving schools have a lot to answer for, they teach the pupil to pass a test not to drive properly that would take years. And as for these 1 weeks intensive courses how can anyone learn enough roads skills to drive safely alone in one week.....I'll stop before I start ranting more.. 
quote:I was told that the correct distance was 1 metre for every mph you are going. 50mph = 50 metre gap etc. So if everyone keeps the gap relative, the capacity would increase (I doubt everyone uses the 2 second / 1m per 1mph rule) Patrick.
If you drive to the recommended 2 second gap then increasing speed limit would increase road capacity measured as cars/hour past a point.
quote:That is pretty much the two second rule. 50mph = 26.73 m/s therefore 2 seconds = 53.46 metres God i'm sad/bored
I was told that the correct distance was 1 metre for every mph you are going. 50mph = 50 metre gap etc. So if everyone keeps the gap relative, the capacity would increase (I doubt everyone uses the 2 second / 1m per 1mph rule) Patrick.
Sparks
Edited by sparks on Wednesday 6th June 12:21 Adrianr
I dunno! I think sticking to the 2 second gap then at 70mph a car takes up 68.4 yards (ignoring the length of the actual car!) so a 10 mile stretch of road will accomodate 257 cars. At 80 mph each car takes up 78.2 yards so the same road would only accomodate 225 cars, the other 32 cars being stuck in a tailback.
As for passing a point in the road, if every car stuck to a 2 second gap, surely the throughput is the same - one car every two seconds.
Enough of this, I'm off to watch the grass grow!
Leaving aside the safety aspect, the fact is that over half the motorists DO exceed the 70 m.p.h. speed limit (more on the stretches of motorway I use!) If motorists were consistently and persistently prosecuted for speeding then the law would make sense. As it is a game of chance exits, where there seems to be little or no chance of prosecution if you drive at 80 m.p.h. or so (esp. in a BMW with a mobile). Therefore, the law seems to be an ass in this instance.
this is a problem that will never be resolved, sure we need a higher speed limit because car handling, braking, agility and safety have developed since that notorious Cobra episode, but just today I passed some old duffer doing 45, yes 45mph on the M11. There will always be mad old coots with all the reactions of a three toed sloth driving at "a perfectly safe" 50mph on a motorway, while Damien hurtles along in his vectra reading the address of his next client and talking on his phone to the last one. 70 is fine lets just use a bit of judgement and have the freedom to exercise it. Anyone for a pint?
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