Discussion
Question for fellow PH’s. If a road sign is NSL on a dual carriageway then speeds differ for different vehicles, if it says 30 all vehicles can do 30 same as for 40 or 50 but what if it has a sign for 70 on a dual carriageway, can vehicles restricted by NSL on other dual carriageways to 60 allowed to do 70.
When the AWPR (Aberdeen by pass, A90 starting at Stonehaven), opened it had an NSL a few months later they changed it to 70.
Two pics as you enter the road in Stonehaven taken today.
When the AWPR (Aberdeen by pass, A90 starting at Stonehaven), opened it had an NSL a few months later they changed it to 70.
Two pics as you enter the road in Stonehaven taken today.
Edited by Vipers on Thursday 27th January 21:18
I'm going for the National Speed Limit being the maximum speed that type of vehicle can do on various types of road across the nation, irrespective of any signage - so on a dual carriageway a lorry is limited to 60mph across the nation (well, except Scotland).
This is separate from the idea of a National Speed Limit sign which is simply stating that no other limits apply. The presence of a 70 in a red circle doesn't override the National Speed Limit for your type of vehicle.
The question might be why a 70 limit sign is used instead of an NSL sign, I know they're fairly rare and round here it always seems to be roads where bicycles etc are excluded, similar to the sign in the OP.
This is separate from the idea of a National Speed Limit sign which is simply stating that no other limits apply. The presence of a 70 in a red circle doesn't override the National Speed Limit for your type of vehicle.
The question might be why a 70 limit sign is used instead of an NSL sign, I know they're fairly rare and round here it always seems to be roads where bicycles etc are excluded, similar to the sign in the OP.
Ah, I've not read the whole link below, but seems it is a Scottish thing:
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...
"Special road legislation in Scotland omits the concept of a default speed limit, and so motorways and other special roads (like the restricted sections of A1, A720 etc) need to have the 70 limit explicitly signed or the road would quite literally have no speed limit."
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...
"Special road legislation in Scotland omits the concept of a default speed limit, and so motorways and other special roads (like the restricted sections of A1, A720 etc) need to have the 70 limit explicitly signed or the road would quite literally have no speed limit."
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 27th January 21:28
CraigyMc said:
It's something you see the minute you cross into Scotland from England. 70mph signs.
Looking at google maps, motorways in Scotland show NSL on approach, whether it’s same all over no idea.Having driven from Aberdeen to London on numerous occasions I can’t say I have never seen a 70 sign except on the Aberdeen AWPR.
It's not just Scotland- A55 in North Wales too:
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...
mac96 said:
It's not just Scotland- A55 in North Wales too:
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...
Ha!, I think the AWPR is special as well, I do know tractors are prohibited, all the farmers here were moaning about it, and rightly so, the A90 before or after this stretch has no such restrictions, not that this is displayed on the sign, time to contact the roads people and ask, little things niggle me.https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...
I sometimes wonder how some of the posters on here ever passed their driving tests . . . .
A speed limit sign does not allow a vehicle otherwise limited by its category to travel at a higher speed than the category is permitted to travel.
e.g. there are some 70 mph signs on the M1 (not sure if they are in South Yorks or Derbyshire), they do not make it legal for a HGV to travel at 70mph on the M1.
A 70 mph sign on a non-motorway dual carriageway does not make it legal for a van to travel at 70.
A speed limit sign does not allow a vehicle otherwise limited by its category to travel at a higher speed than the category is permitted to travel.
e.g. there are some 70 mph signs on the M1 (not sure if they are in South Yorks or Derbyshire), they do not make it legal for a HGV to travel at 70mph on the M1.
A 70 mph sign on a non-motorway dual carriageway does not make it legal for a van to travel at 70.
Vipers said:
Looking at google maps, motorways in Scotland show NSL on approach, whether it’s same all over no idea.
Having driven from Aberdeen to London on numerous occasions I can’t say I have never seen a 70 sign except on the Aberdeen AWPR.
Aha, this could explain the differing experiences as I was also thinking "I see loads when I go to Scotland", but I only ever go to Edinburgh. The London-Edinburgh route up the A1 has loads of them. The London-Aberdeen route I guess you'd take the A74/M74.Having driven from Aberdeen to London on numerous occasions I can’t say I have never seen a 70 sign except on the Aberdeen AWPR.
BertBert said:
I've seen a 60 sign on a normal single carriageway A road in England before now and wondered the difference with what would normally be an NSL sign
It means that even if the road becomes a dual carriageway for short sections, the speed limit remains 60 mph. We have several sections of roads like that round here, single carriageway, a short section of single or sometimes two lane dual carriageway, then back to single carriageway. Of the signs said NSL, the speed limits would be going up and down like a yo-yo. Vipers said:
CraigyMc said:
It's something you see the minute you cross into Scotland from England. 70mph signs.
Looking at google maps, motorways in Scotland show NSL on approach, whether it’s same all over no idea.Having driven from Aberdeen to London on numerous occasions I can’t say I have never seen a 70 sign except on the Aberdeen AWPR.
It's literally the first speed limit sign on the road once you're in Scotland.
Other citation: I'm Scottish, live in England, parents are in Scotland. You can probably surmise from that how often I drive the road.
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