Motorway speed limit increase proposal
Discussion
Hi everyone! My name is Jo. I am currently a trainee journalist at Cardiff University and I want to write a feature on the government proposal to potentially raise the speed limit on motorways in England and Wales to 80 mph and I was wondering whether any of you would be happy to give me your views on the topic?
Will never happen, the general opinion of most with power to influence the speed limits, is that more speed is more dangerous. They do not see that changing attitudes towards driving such as the blase use of mobile phones while driving and just being a general my car is a white good and driving from a-b should be done with the least ammount of attention. Im sorry but it's just how i feel, punish those who can do the speed and pander to the failings of those who cannot.
Hi Jo, raising the speed limit is a good idea in principle as realistically the 70mph limit is pretty much ignored by the majority of road users. The problem anyone has who wants to raise the limit is they will have to compete with a lot of others who have a vested interest in controlling speed. Enviromentalists will site incerased co2 out put. Brake (a road safety charity) will say increasing speed will lead to more deaths. They will wheel out bereaved mothers clutching pictures of sadly dead children and put on an emotional onslaught that will overcome any rational discussion of the facts.
Facts like modern cars stop quicker and are safer than ever before.
Motorways are our safest roads, with traffic divided and all driving the same way.
Our death rate is comparitivly low given how many cars are on the road and has fallen for years.
So in truth what will happen is there will be no offical change, but police will carry on ignoring speeding on the motorways (except in certain areas like Cumbria who will continue to have inappropiate camera vans on long wide streches), only booking people who are also driving like dicks.
Depending on your personal slant on this depends how you write your article. Given all the other pressing needs in goverment I can also not see this getting any time.
Facts like modern cars stop quicker and are safer than ever before.
Motorways are our safest roads, with traffic divided and all driving the same way.
Our death rate is comparitivly low given how many cars are on the road and has fallen for years.
So in truth what will happen is there will be no offical change, but police will carry on ignoring speeding on the motorways (except in certain areas like Cumbria who will continue to have inappropiate camera vans on long wide streches), only booking people who are also driving like dicks.
Depending on your personal slant on this depends how you write your article. Given all the other pressing needs in goverment I can also not see this getting any time.
All that jazz said:
Yeah, it'll never happen in a million years.
JoPrice said:
Why do you think so?
Well, as someone wiser that I put it...Dr Jekyll said:
1960s
The problem is motorway fog. What’s the solution? A 70 MPH speed limit.
1970s
Actually a 70 limit doesn’t make sense in fog, but that doesn’t matter because safety isn’t the problem. The problem is that the last oil well will run dry in 30 years. Solution, by coincidence, a 70 MPH speed limit. So let’s keep it.
1980s
The world isn’t running out of oil after all but there is a new problem. Acid rain caused by car fumes. The only way to solve it turns out to be a speed limit of 70MPH
1990s
OK acid rain was a false alarm but we’ve invented these wonderful speed cameras that make money providing the speed limit is less than the traffic speed. So let’s pretend ‘speed kills and use cameras as a road safety panacea. After all, if your only tool is a hammer, everything must be a nail! And if speed kills you obviously can’t raise speed limits.
2000s
OK pretending that 2/3 of accidents were caused by exceeding 70 doesn’t work anymore, but there is a new problem, global warming! What can we do? We can solve it by speed limits, so let’s keep the 70 limit to save the polar bears.
2010s
Even environmentalists have to admit that a UK motorway speed limit has no noticeable effect on CO2 levels, much less temperature.
But the problem is now noise so we can justify a 70 limit on that basis and hope nobody looks too closely at the relationship between speed limits and traffic speeds.
2020s
The solution is obviously a 70 limit, but what’s the problem going to be?
The problem is motorway fog. What’s the solution? A 70 MPH speed limit.
1970s
Actually a 70 limit doesn’t make sense in fog, but that doesn’t matter because safety isn’t the problem. The problem is that the last oil well will run dry in 30 years. Solution, by coincidence, a 70 MPH speed limit. So let’s keep it.
1980s
The world isn’t running out of oil after all but there is a new problem. Acid rain caused by car fumes. The only way to solve it turns out to be a speed limit of 70MPH
1990s
OK acid rain was a false alarm but we’ve invented these wonderful speed cameras that make money providing the speed limit is less than the traffic speed. So let’s pretend ‘speed kills and use cameras as a road safety panacea. After all, if your only tool is a hammer, everything must be a nail! And if speed kills you obviously can’t raise speed limits.
2000s
OK pretending that 2/3 of accidents were caused by exceeding 70 doesn’t work anymore, but there is a new problem, global warming! What can we do? We can solve it by speed limits, so let’s keep the 70 limit to save the polar bears.
2010s
Even environmentalists have to admit that a UK motorway speed limit has no noticeable effect on CO2 levels, much less temperature.
But the problem is now noise so we can justify a 70 limit on that basis and hope nobody looks too closely at the relationship between speed limits and traffic speeds.
2020s
The solution is obviously a 70 limit, but what’s the problem going to be?
70mph was the limit of the cars when the limit was introduced (should they get near that speed). Nowadays cars can handle that speed with ease, even my Nissan Micra can. I'm all for an increase in the speed limit, but I don't see it happening and I doubt that it'll do much. People already drive at that speed on the motorway, I guess it would just make it legal.
Although I generally drive at 80-90 if the conditions allow, I am actually against a speed limit increase on motorway for the simple reason that a good majority of the driving population don't have the concentration/awareness to drive at 70 without crashing/nearly crashing. Giving them carte blanche to go even faster will mean the majority will do it just because they can, even though they'll be really out of their depth. Imho this will just lead to even more crashes as they won't be able to react quick enough when it all goes pear-shaped in front of them.
For purely selfish reasons I like the 70 limit as it is. All the do-gooders, people that don't know how to drive and fuel scrimpers
generally stick to the inside or middle lane doing their 50-70mph and that leaves the outside lane to those of us that spend most of our lives on motorways (reps etc) who generally know how to drive and like to get were we're going in a timely fashion, ie. at 85-90. I actually enjoy doing that sort of speed too because it's rare you get anything behind you wanting to go faster which leaves you to concentrate in front for pigs on bridges/unmarked cars/Micra's suddenly pulling out into lane 3 at 50mph with no indication, and also looking behind for pigs approaching fast/scanning slip ramps for pigs sat at the top of them with their radar guns. Keep the limit at 70 for me please, and yes I'll take the punishment if I get caught bang to rights doing 90.
For purely selfish reasons I like the 70 limit as it is. All the do-gooders, people that don't know how to drive and fuel scrimpers
generally stick to the inside or middle lane doing their 50-70mph and that leaves the outside lane to those of us that spend most of our lives on motorways (reps etc) who generally know how to drive and like to get were we're going in a timely fashion, ie. at 85-90. I actually enjoy doing that sort of speed too because it's rare you get anything behind you wanting to go faster which leaves you to concentrate in front for pigs on bridges/unmarked cars/Micra's suddenly pulling out into lane 3 at 50mph with no indication, and also looking behind for pigs approaching fast/scanning slip ramps for pigs sat at the top of them with their radar guns. Keep the limit at 70 for me please, and yes I'll take the punishment if I get caught bang to rights doing 90.JoPrice said:
Hi everyone! My name is Jo. I am currently a trainee journalist at Cardiff University and I want to write a feature on the government proposal to potentially raise the speed limit on motorways in England and Wales to 80 mph and I was wondering whether any of you would be happy to give me your views on the topic?
The only reason the government have thrown up this proposal is because they ARE going to unfairly raise fixed penalty notice fines and add a victim surcharge for a victimless and usually marginal transgression of an arbitrary speed limit, with industrialised enforcement without any lee-way or discretion or consideration of safety by 'Safety Camera Partnerships' blatantly operated and regarded as a revenue stream for Local Authorities/Councils and the Treasury. This instead of actually policing the roads and dealing with real dangerous driving and having the bonus of catching more real criminals in the process. Ludicrous 20mph limits are also being brought in all over the place, and rural roads being widely restricted to unrealistically low limits. 'Raising' the widely ignored and widely unenforced motorway limit to the de facto limit is merely a sop to the cash cow herd, to offset all the bad news - the continuing war being waged on motorists. And no doubt the idea will be quietly dropped once any fake or superficial 'consultation' has taken place anyway.Loads of people for it, loads against it.
Trial it for a year or two, compare accident stats, if no worse, carry on.
If accidents are up in a major way, scrap it and reduce back to 70.
At least we could say been there, tried that, so forget the idea!
Were all talk and no action in this PC gone mad country!
Honestly, how hard can it be?!
Trial it for a year or two, compare accident stats, if no worse, carry on.
If accidents are up in a major way, scrap it and reduce back to 70.
At least we could say been there, tried that, so forget the idea!
Were all talk and no action in this PC gone mad country!
Honestly, how hard can it be?!
FamilyDub said:
What the government, Daily Mail readers and folk like BRAKE forget is that 80mph would be a *limit* not a target.
France, Germany and many other Euro-zone countries manage 80mph (what us it, 130kph?) limits without exponentially increasing speed-related deaths, why can't the UK?
Agree.France, Germany and many other Euro-zone countries manage 80mph (what us it, 130kph?) limits without exponentially increasing speed-related deaths, why can't the UK?
80mph should be the new limit but I can't see it going through. IMO we should have have roads like the autobahn with very little in the way of speed limits.
FamilyDub said:
What the government, Daily Mail readers and folk like BRAKE forget is that 80mph would be a *limit* not a target.
France, Germany and many other Euro-zone countries manage 80mph (what us it, 130kph?) limits without exponentially increasing speed-related deaths, why can't the UK?
Because the UK motorway speed limit has nothing to do withFrance, Germany and many other Euro-zone countries manage 80mph (what us it, 130kph?) limits without exponentially increasing speed-related deaths, why can't the UK?
safety, it's about UK Gov being seen to do something plausible by
your average Daily Mail reader i.e. voter.
UK has a 70 mph limit and is obsessed with enforcing it.
Under ACPO guidelines, you are going to court for 96 mph or above,
which seems a waste of resources to me.
Most countries in Europe have 120-130 kph limits and have a very
relaxed attitude to enforcement compared to the UK.
Fines are the usual treatment until you are basically ignoring
the limit (200 kph IIRC in France).
In the special case of Germany, most autobahns don't have limits and
so average autobahn speeds are around 155 kph and increase by 1-2 kph per
year, while at the same time deaths per billion km travelled
goes down year on year, thus proving you can't measure safe
driving in kph or mph.
Far more facts on the ABD's website, but the discussion on the UK
70 mph speed limit isn't about facts, it's about politics.
dcb said:
Most countries in Europe have 120-130 kph limits and have a very
relaxed attitude to enforcement compared to the UK.
Fines are the usual treatment until you are basically ignoring
the limit (200 kph IIRC in France).
Sorry but that is just brelaxed attitude to enforcement compared to the UK.
Fines are the usual treatment until you are basically ignoring
the limit (200 kph IIRC in France).
ks. Not counting fixed speed cameras, enforcement in the UK is virtually non-existent and the penalties when you are caught are generally pretty pathetic. France's enforcement is such that you keep you to the speed limits (or very close to) unless you want to get pulled and receive a potentially large fine depending on what mood the pig is in. The enforcement in Germany (not just speed related) is also pretty keen in comparison to here, especially for truck speed limits which 95% of the time will result in you being pulled over and a hefty fine will be dished out.If we're solely talking about speed enforcement, give me the UK any day.
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