maximum speed on motorway?
Discussion
Wills2 said:
dcb said:
No. In the immortal words of LJK Setright "Speed limits waste life.
They are a tool of repression".
Most UK speed limits bear little relevance to safety standards or modern day driving.
Witness the plethora of 40 and 50 limits in rural areas.
Local councils like to set speed limits at the 50% level, when science shows
us the 85% level is the safest level. Local councils are being deliberately obtuse
in picking limits known to be non-optimal.
UK motorway speed limit hasn't been changed in half a century. It's as up to date
as Ken Dodd in the pop charts and cross ply tyres and drum brakes on a Morris Minor
in a current world of radial tyres, disc brakes, ABS and the BMW 3 series being a popular car.
Being forced to drive slowly isn't the same as driving carefully.
Well said. They are a tool of repression".
Most UK speed limits bear little relevance to safety standards or modern day driving.
Witness the plethora of 40 and 50 limits in rural areas.
Local councils like to set speed limits at the 50% level, when science shows
us the 85% level is the safest level. Local councils are being deliberately obtuse
in picking limits known to be non-optimal.
UK motorway speed limit hasn't been changed in half a century. It's as up to date
as Ken Dodd in the pop charts and cross ply tyres and drum brakes on a Morris Minor
in a current world of radial tyres, disc brakes, ABS and the BMW 3 series being a popular car.
Being forced to drive slowly isn't the same as driving carefully.
Exactly this; I'd challenge the rear to name the last time they were prevented by conditions, excluding traffic, that they were unable to maintain the posted speed limit on a motorway.
An example, this evening, 2c, fairly heavy rain; Despite this, reasonably good visibility.
I was going along the A13 (A section which is for all intents and purposes motorway standard); Limits were 50mph and 70mph for the sections travelled.
Traffic was light, surfaces acceptably drained, lighting provided in most areas.
I'm driving a modern car with good quality (Summer, admittedly) tyres, ABS, ESC, Automatic braking, modern lighting etc etc.
There was no problem maintaining the 70mph limit; and I'd say there was a reasonable margin above.
If I was to travel at the maximum safe & comfortable speed; I'd probably place an upper bound at 90mph for that.
In dry conditions, I'd have no problem safely maintaining 100+ in the same section, barring a section of limited visibililty (for 100mph) - I'm sure those with higher performance cars could manage more.
Now, if I was in a ford anglia with ancient tyres, none of the above safety systems, massively worse brakes, and an engine that could about cope with 60mph, the limit wouldn't be the limiting factor; Unfortunately, the arbitrary numbers that were chosen in the 70's are now out of date:- Continental Europe, and the USA seem to manage 80 / 85mph limits (Whilst maintaining enforcement tollerance) - Why not here?
Sofa said:
Leptons said:
How monumentally bored were you to type all that out?
TL;DR
Probably a Daily Express reader judging by the RANDOM capitalisation of WORDS.TL;DR
I can't take anyone seriously that says "I've passed my fork lift test 4 times" to support their lengthy rant that "speed kills".
Fairbairn_MacGhillielaidir said:
Since I passed both motorcycle and car tests over 28 years ago (& fork lift driver tests four times) have seen 1,000's of examples of the kind of bad driving
I'm kinda disappointed there was no mention of having passed a police advanced driver course anywhere in his post. Every time someone posts a lengthy rant about driving standards and how everyone is an idiot except themselves they always manage to shoehorn that one in somewhere. PorkRind said:
Not sure if more managed motorways would be a good thing. 80 when little traffic and free flowing. Reduce it for off weather, greater wry of cars etc. Ultimately they're a means of getting from. A to. Be relatively quickly compared to a and b roads.
With the boredom and middling average speeds of many motorways, I've taken to using small A / B Roads far more often, just running in parallel with the motorway when I'm alone. Makes things far more enjoyable, and not too much of an impact on journey times - Nice to see / visit the quaint villages along the way.dcb said:
Fairbairn_MacGhillielaidir said:
Speed limits are there for a 'good reason':
No. In the immortal words of LJK Setright "Speed limits waste life.They are a tool of repression".
Most UK speed limits bear little relevance to safety standards or modern day driving.
Witness the plethora of 40 and 50 limits in rural areas.
Local councils like to set speed limits at the 50% level, when science shows
us the 85% level is the safest level. Local councils are being deliberately obtuse
in picking limits known to be non-optimal.
UK motorway speed limit hasn't been changed in half a century. It's as up to date
as Ken Dodd in the pop charts and cross ply tyres and drum brakes on a Morris Minor
in a current world of radial tyres, disc brakes, ABS and the BMW 3 series being a popular car.
Being forced to drive slowly isn't the same as driving carefully.
4 wheel drive and similar vehicles are an absolute menace locally, charging around with total non awareness of the hazards of such country roads;
The thing about fixed speed limits is that they are only vaguely related to safety. A safe speed is one that is appropriate to the conditions. Many a time, driving anywhere near (under) the speed limit can be incredibly unsafe and irresponsible. Vice versa, exceeding the limit, when conditions allow. Driving dumbed down definitely feels unsafe, not to mention concentrating on nothing other than a number on a clock. Just back from Mauritius. Nice country nice roads but possibly the most mind numbing driving experience. Stupidly most very, very narrow, very urban and busy roads are marked 60kmh (40mph), driving at which speed would be unbelievably reckless, but that is not the problem. Some reasonably long stretches of dead straight country roads are 60(40) too, and police with speed guns are everywhere, so by and large, everyone trundles along at brain dead speeds.
Jimi.K. said:
I do the same. I enjoy making progress on more interesting NSL roads, but the motorway is boring whether you're doing 60mph or 80mph so I'll usually just sit with the cruise at 65mph, relax, and enjoy the extra 15% MPG.
Does your MPG on your megane really decrease by 40% between 65mph and 80mph though!? It must have the aero dynamics of a brick!
Yeah, it's quite annoying. Sat at 65mph means the turbo is barely spooling yet at 80mph it's spooling a lot more resulting in my awful mpg. It's had a few mods done to it so it's to be expected really. The other day I had it down to 11mpg. Does your MPG on your megane really decrease by 40% between 65mph and 80mph though!? It must have the aero dynamics of a brick!
996TT02 said:
The thing about fixed speed limits is that they are only vaguely related to safety. A safe speed is one that is appropriate to the conditions. Many a time, driving anywhere near (under) the speed limit can be incredibly unsafe and irresponsible. Vice versa, exceeding the limit, when conditions allow. Driving dumbed down definitely feels unsafe, not to mention concentrating on nothing other than a number on a clock. Just back from Mauritius. Nice country nice roads but possibly the most mind numbing driving experience. Stupidly most very, very narrow, very urban and busy roads are marked 60kmh (40mph), driving at which speed would be unbelievably reckless, but that is not the problem. Some reasonably long stretches of dead straight country roads are 60(40) too, and police with speed guns are everywhere, so by and large, everyone trundles along at brain dead speeds.
Why would driving at 40 through 'very very narrow, very urban, and busy roads' be reckless?
996TT02 said:
The thing about fixed speed limits is that they are only vaguely related to safety. A safe speed is one that is appropriate to the conditions. Many a time, driving anywhere near (under) the speed limit can be incredibly unsafe and irresponsible. Vice versa, exceeding the limit, when conditions allow. Driving dumbed down definitely feels unsafe, not to mention concentrating on nothing other than a number on a clock. Just back from Mauritius. Nice country nice roads but possibly the most mind numbing driving experience. Stupidly most very, very narrow, very urban and busy roads are marked 60kmh (40mph), driving at which speed would be unbelievably reckless, but that is not the problem. Some reasonably long stretches of dead straight country roads are 60(40) too, and police with speed guns are everywhere, so by and large, everyone trundles along at brain dead speeds.
Unfortunately there is no such thing as a `safe' speed except perhaps 0 mph if that could be described as a speed. therefore speed limits must be regarded as the best compromise possible between making worthwhile progress on the roads, and keeping RTA`s between all road users to the minimum society as a whole deems acceptable.Ironically if people were to travel at the posted limits everywhere they went, they would find that they can get to most places they want to be, in reasonable time frames. Having driven very early in the mornings when traffic is relatively light I have found that even when adhering to all the posted limits, very good progress, and reduced journey times are easily achievable without breaking traffic law.
Driving in France gives a sense of this, because the roads are relatively lightly trafficked, so just by sticking to their (more sensible) 80 mph dry road mptorway limit great distances can be covered easily. (a bit like a ship which might only do 20 mph, but it can do that, hour in, and hour out, such that at the end of a day great distances can be covered effortlessly)
Sometimes when in traffic I find myself doing the equivalent of making hay whilst the sun shines (e.g when the road is clear), to help compensate timewise for the almost inevitable (on UK roads) miles of crawling traffic that have to be got through to finally reach ones destination.
Driving in France gives a sense of this, because the roads are relatively lightly trafficked, so just by sticking to their (more sensible) 80 mph dry road mptorway limit great distances can be covered easily. (a bit like a ship which might only do 20 mph, but it can do that, hour in, and hour out, such that at the end of a day great distances can be covered effortlessly)
Sometimes when in traffic I find myself doing the equivalent of making hay whilst the sun shines (e.g when the road is clear), to help compensate timewise for the almost inevitable (on UK roads) miles of crawling traffic that have to be got through to finally reach ones destination.
Pica-Pica said:
..as for those who use less when they should use fewer..grrrh!
Off-topic just as much as your response, but I hope you can drive as well as you lecture English, we are supposed to be engendering polite, friendly & healthy discussion of the topic here, -not merely being picky, please respond to the topic, or not at all, thank you.nonsequitur said:
996TT02 said:
The thing about fixed speed limits is that they are only vaguely related to safety. A safe speed is one that is appropriate to the conditions. Many a time, driving anywhere near (under) the speed limit can be incredibly unsafe and irresponsible. Vice versa, exceeding the limit, when conditions allow. Driving dumbed down definitely feels unsafe, not to mention concentrating on nothing other than a number on a clock. Just back from Mauritius. Nice country nice roads but possibly the most mind numbing driving experience. Stupidly most very, very narrow, very urban and busy roads are marked 60kmh (40mph), driving at which speed would be unbelievably reckless, but that is not the problem. Some reasonably long stretches of dead straight country roads are 60(40) too, and police with speed guns are everywhere, so by and large, everyone trundles along at brain dead speeds.
Why would driving at 40 through 'very very narrow, very urban, and busy roads' be reckless?Pan Pan Pan said:
Ironically if people were to travel at the posted limits everywhere they went, they would find that they can get to most places they want to be, in reasonable time frames. Having driven very early in the mornings when traffic is relatively light I have found that even when adhering to all the posted limits, very good progress, and reduced journey times are easily achievable without breaking traffic law.
Driving in France gives a sense of this, because the roads are relatively lightly trafficked, so just by sticking to their (more sensible) 80 mph dry road mptorway limit great distances can be covered easily. (a bit like a ship which might only do 20 mph, but it can do that, hour in, and hour out, such that at the end of a day great distances can be covered effortlessly)
Sometimes when in traffic I find myself doing the equivalent of making hay whilst the sun shines (e.g when the road is clear), to help compensate timewise for the almost inevitable (on UK roads) miles of crawling traffic that have to be got through to finally reach ones destination.
The variable speed limits posted on motorway gantries. The traffic does keep moving steadily as I recall. Very few back -ups.Driving in France gives a sense of this, because the roads are relatively lightly trafficked, so just by sticking to their (more sensible) 80 mph dry road mptorway limit great distances can be covered easily. (a bit like a ship which might only do 20 mph, but it can do that, hour in, and hour out, such that at the end of a day great distances can be covered effortlessly)
Sometimes when in traffic I find myself doing the equivalent of making hay whilst the sun shines (e.g when the road is clear), to help compensate timewise for the almost inevitable (on UK roads) miles of crawling traffic that have to be got through to finally reach ones destination.
Vipers said:
Solocle said:
What I'm waiting for is for one of those lower speed limits "for air quality" to be broken by a guy in a Tesla. It would be interesting to see that play out in court.
No contest, still be exceeding the speed limit.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff