Speed Restrictions to cut gas emissions

[jamiet]

www.autotrader.co.uk/CARS/news/news-centre/news-template.jsp?dbid=31171

[Stealth69]

Sorry, I just have to have a moan about this......... Don't you just think that the goverment are a bunch of old has-beens stuck in the past ?!?!?! They have no idea of real life or changing times and it get's my goat!

Cars now are producing less Co2, Are desighned to go faster, go fast safer, and lots of new techonology to help drivers etc etc...

It annoys me that they are still trying to keep the speed limit at 70mph... something that was set back in the age where only a few cars could break this sort of speed.

Road surfaces are better, Cars are MUCH MUCH better and people (in general) are better drivers due to the changing tests etc..

IMHO the speed limit on motorways should be 90mph, this would cater for all cars... lets face it most people do this sort of speed now where possible because they can...... EASILY!

Back in the day cars were topping out at 70-80mph... Now the modern motor is only just getting in to it's stride at 70-80 and will hapiily sit at this speed doing 3K rpm with tyres rated to 140+ mph, with all the driving aides you could ever need.

Looks at the Germans.... now their roads are fantastic, smooth running never get the cr4ppy congestion that you get on M25 on a day to day basis. It just means when there is an accident it is normally quite a big one!

driving at 70mph now is more dangerous that driving fast due to people getting complacent and not paying attention to waht they are doing, 70mph feels slow in the modern car and life is a lot faster paced than it used to be.

SORRY RANT OVER!!!!

[Stealth69]

oohhh this doesn't mean however I am against 30mph limits in built up areas..... I'm extremly for this because it only takes one daft kid to run out in the middle of the road without looking ebcause he's chaing his football.

[rev-erend]

I like the idea the French have of a higher speed limit on motor ways than ours but the speed reduces if it rains / reduced visibility.

[mmm-five]

So if I normally drive at 80mph in 6th, does this mean I can drive at 70mph in 4th and reduce my emissions - don't think so. Kill all the cows instead as they produce way too much methane. Or how about planting millions of trees alongside the motorway network? I could always carry a few pot plants in the back of the car to balance my emissions.

[jazzyjeff]

Stealth69 said:

Looks at the Germans.... now their roads are fantastic

I think you just answered your own question ;-)

The Germs have much better roads than we do.. Try doing 155mph on some of our motorways and you'd be off into the central reservation before you could say Vorsprung Durch Technik...

JJ

[jazzyjeff]

mmm-five said:

So if I normally drive at 80mph in 6th, does this mean I can drive at 70mph in 4th and reduce my emissions - don't think so. Kill all the cows instead as they produce way too much methane

I take it your car has cloth seats then and you're also a vegetarian who wears plastic shoes ;-)

[dcb]

jazzyjeff said:

The Germs have much better roads than we do.. Try doing 155mph on some of our motorways and you'd be off into the central reservation before you could say Vorsprung Durch Technik... JJ

You must drive on different German autobahns than I do.

In general UK motorways are in very good condition compared to
German autobahns.

The only exceptions I can think of are

1. the state of lane 1 on some UK motorways, due to the lorries

2. The crappy central reservation on UK motorways. I *much*
prefer the German solid block of concrete central reservation.
Makes for far fewer crashes wich spill over into the other
carraigway.

3. The Germans have, pound for euro, *way* more
autobahns than we have motorways.

[mmm-five]

jazzyjeff said:

mmm-five said: So if I normally drive at 80mph in 6th, does this mean I can drive at 70mph in 4th and reduce my emissions - don't think so. Kill all the cows instead as they produce way too much methane I take it your car has cloth seats then and you're also a vegetarian who wears plastic shoes ;-)

Yes, my car does has cloth seats (plus a little synthetic suede), and my shoes are made of recycled toilet paper

[off_again]

Noticed the other day that the brand new Merc V8 in the S-class kicks out less CO2 than a 5 year old Mondeo V6. Now thats pretty stunning progress if you ask me. But what is the relevance here? Well, as mentioned, cars are cleaner, more efficient and can now be extensively recycled. But why do we keep talking about restricting speeds? There has to be a hidden agenda here...!!!

[GreenV8S]

The idea that car CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming is laughable, and the idea that global warming can be reduced or avoided by reducing UK speed limits is doubly laughable. But I don't suppose this campaign is motivated by genuine environmental concerns, any more than the speed enforcement campaign is motivated by road safety concerns, or the encroachments on our privacy and civil liberty are motivated by security concerns.

[Stealth69]

ahhh that's what I like to see.... more people that openly admit that this country and all it's laws are pathetic and always driven by some hidden agenda.

Remember kids, ignore what you think and do what the clueless silver spoon morons that run this country say, if britain drove at 70mph we can reduce the green house effect... Classic, it's the funniest thing in the world infact..... Especially when the to55ers that decide these laws barrel around in 4.0 Jags that will never stick to the speed limit because it's simply not safe for them to do so (terror terror) and thy will get in this gaz guzzling monster of a car to do a 5 mile journey, lazy gits.... why not get on a bike which is uber friendly or better still get the sodding PUBLIC TRANSPORT after all you are in London "the home of Congestion", what's the phrase I am looking for....... ahhhhh yes "PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH" stuck up tts!!!!

Ahhh there we go, another daily vent of pent up furry and anger caused by te world around us!

[jazzyjeff]

[quote=mmm-five and my shoes are made of recycled toilet paper [/quote]

Should come in handy if you're caught short ;-)

[CombeMarshal]

Stealth69 said:

Sorry, I just have to have a moan about this......... Don't you just think that the goverment are a bunch of old has-beens stuck in the past ?!?!?! They have no idea of real life or changing times and it get's my goat! Cars now are producing less Co2, Are desighned to go faster, go fast safer, and lots of new techonology to help drivers etc etc... It annoys me that they are still trying to keep the speed limit at 70mph... something that was set back in the age where only a few cars could break this sort of speed. Road surfaces are better, Cars are MUCH MUCH better and people (in general) are better drivers due to the changing tests etc.. IMHO the speed limit on motorways should be 90mph, this would cater for all cars... lets face it most people do this sort of speed now where possible because they can...... EASILY! Back in the day cars were topping out at 70-80mph... Now the modern motor is only just getting in to it's stride at 70-80 and will hapiily sit at this speed doing 3K rpm with tyres rated to 140+ mph, with all the driving aides you could ever need. Looks at the Germans.... now their roads are fantastic, smooth running never get the cr4ppy congestion that you get on M25 on a day to day basis. It just means when there is an accident it is normally quite a big one! driving at 70mph now is more dangerous that driving fast due to people getting complacent and not paying attention to waht they are doing, 70mph feels slow in the modern car and life is a lot faster paced than it used to be. SORRY RANT OVER!!!!

www.euroncap.com/content/test_procedures/front_impact.php

You do realise cars are only tested at 40 mph for front impacts, they would have to drasticly increase this for 90mph and we would get the end bill!

And Driving has far from improved, It gets worse every week!

As for Germany, they got a bit more space than us!!!

And it's not the driving at 70 that is dangerous, it's the morons that come flying up behind you at 90 that are dangerous!!!

And you have to remeber, When the 70 limit was introduced there was hardly any cars on the roads, and Thinking time has not increased, if anything it has got worse due to all the 'toys' that cars now have!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I stick to 70, but are roads just aren't built so sustain high volume, high speed traffic, plus the traffic problems it would cause would be huge, junctions just couldn't cope with so much traffic ariving at them with no chance for it to disperse (I know what I mean!!)

>> Edited by CombeMarshal on Sunday 4th December 17:58

[CombeMarshal]

off_again said:

Noticed the other day that the brand new Merc V8 in the S-class kicks out less CO2 than a 5 year old Mondeo V6. Now thats pretty stunning progress if you ask me. But what is the relevance here? Well, as mentioned, cars are cleaner, more efficient and can now be extensively recycled. But why do we keep talking about restricting speeds? There has to be a hidden agenda here...!!!

But the v6 mondeo was a gas guzzling monster!!

[CupraR]

CombeMarshal said:

www.euroncap.com/content/test_procedures/front_impact.php You do realise cars are only tested at 40 mph for front impacts, they would have to drasticly increase this for 90mph and we would get the end bill!

Why? We drive faster than 40 mph already. And these are European tests that apply in Germany (i.e. a country with some unrestricted roads). I don't think you need tests to confirm that if you have a head on at 90 mph you will die. In the same way you don't need tests to confirm that if you do the same thing at 70 mph you will die.

CombeMarshal said:

And Driving has far from improved, It gets worse every week!

I think you'll find it's still better than the standard set in 1964.

CombeMarshal said:

And it's not the driving at 70 that is dangerous, it's the morons that come flying up behind you at 90 that are dangerous!!!

Maybe you should move out of the fast lane?

CombeMarshal said:

And you have to remeber, When the 70 limit was introduced there was hardly any cars on the roads, and Thinking time has not increased, if anything it has got worse due to all the 'toys' that cars now have!!

I think you'll find overall stopping distances have dramatically decreased, even if the thinking time hasn't.

CombeMarshal said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I stick to 70, but are roads just aren't built so sustain high volume, high speed traffic, plus the traffic problems it would cause would be huge, junctions just couldn't cope with so much traffic ariving at them with no chance for it to disperse (I know what I mean!!)

I'm glad you know what you mean because I have no idea frankly.

[Stealth69]

Fully agree with cupra R Everything motoring has gotten better overtime, not worse! the standards of todays drivers are much higher than they were in 1964, the majority of troublesum drivers are the ones that ACTUALLY passed in 1964....

driving slow in this day and age with undue care and attention are the causes of accidents
because the majority of the driving population agree with what we are saying.... 70mph is FAR FAR to slow for us and the cars we drive, and life is a much faster pace so those driving at 50-60 on the motorway are a menace.... we don't want to waste time plonking down a road in cars that is more than capable of handling everyone running at 90mph!!

I fully agree with the 30mph limit around towns etc because it only takes one small child to walk out infront of your car from behind a parked vehicle!!

Yep.... I know that cars are only tested at 40mph but that is possibly the worst test in the world and means f$ck all, a 40mph head on test.. I mean come on 40mph total head on speed, that would mean you have to drive at 20mph and the other person running at 20mph for the test results to mean anything.... what are the chancs of that ? ? slim to non-existent!!! and if you are stupid enough to drive in to something stationary at 40mph... well you deserve to have your nose bashed in by the steering wheel I'm afraid sorry!

I'm sorry but 70mph is stupid stupid stupid!