60 or 70mph v.s. national speed limit
60 or 70mph v.s. national speed limit
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Discussion

ingenieur

Original Poster:

4,643 posts

204 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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What's the difference in meaning between a national speed limit sign and a speed limit in a red circle?

sixor8

7,780 posts

291 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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The 'national' speed limit varies according to vehicle type. In a red circle it's a mandatory limit for all vehicles. I've seen the more widespread use of '70' probably because there drivers who don't know maybe, although no vehicle is allowed over 70 so I'm unsure why?

Sidecar Man

749 posts

84 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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Likes been said if its a 60 sign thats the speed limit . If its a national speed limit It varies on vehicle taxation class. Amazing the people who don,t know their speed limits.
Had a fire brigade Crew Cab Transit over take me on a Dual Carriageway at about 70mph ish. We stopped at a roundabout and I was alongside him. I said to him his speed limit was 60mph. His reply was " Its 70mph as it a Crew Cab" Well its not as the Taxation class is N1 not M1

biggbn

30,013 posts

243 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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Sidecar Man said:
Likes been said if its a 60 sign thats the speed limit . If its a national speed limit It varies on vehicle taxation class. Amazing the people who don,t know their speed limits.
Had a fire brigade Crew Cab Transit over take me on a Dual Carriageway at about 70mph ish. We stopped at a roundabout and I was alongside him. I said to him his speed limit was 60mph. His reply was " Its 70mph as it a Crew Cab" Well its not as the Taxation class is N1 not M1
I wouldn't give a fk how fast a fire response vehicle was travelling.

Sidecar Man

749 posts

84 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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biggbn said:
I wouldn't give a fk how fast a fire response vehicle was travelling.
It wasn't a fire response vehicle thats why it stopped at the roundabout. It was stickered up with Leicester Fire Brigade but was a Van that goes round checking smoke alarms. Had a Wear you're seat belt sign on it as well!!!

Triumph Man

9,433 posts

191 months

Friday 14th April 2023
quotequote all
Sidecar Man said:
Likes been said if its a 60 sign thats the speed limit . If its a national speed limit It varies on vehicle taxation class. Amazing the people who don,t know their speed limits.
Had a fire brigade Crew Cab Transit over take me on a Dual Carriageway at about 70mph ish. We stopped at a roundabout and I was alongside him. I said to him his speed limit was 60mph. His reply was " Its 70mph as it a Crew Cab" Well its not as the Taxation class is N1 not M1
God how adenoidal must you have sounded rolleyes

Sidecar Man

749 posts

84 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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Triumph Man said:
God how adenoidal must you have sounded rolleyes
Quite possibly so. But if as an organization you are telling people Speed Kills. You should maybe ensure you're staff stick to the rules they preach.

clayts450

122 posts

107 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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In my experience as a 'restricted to 60mph on a dual carriageway' van driver, I'm amazed how many car drivers don't realise their limit is 70 mph. They even brake at less than 60 for speed cameras (all about momentum for me, so I gently breeze past them whilst they slam the brakes on, overtake, and then seconds later they overtake me in 'revenge'....at 60.000001 mph)

MitchT

17,089 posts

232 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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Sidecar Man said:
Had a Wear you're seat belt sign on it as well!!!
Did you correct their grammar too? hehe

What The Deuces

2,780 posts

47 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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I often wonder what the point is of a 70 in a red circle is?

I usually see them on the A55 near Conwy

Grumps.

16,993 posts

59 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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Sidecar Man said:
Likes been said if its a 60 sign thats the speed limit . If its a national speed limit It varies on vehicle taxation class. Amazing the people who don,t know their speed limits.
Had a fire brigade Crew Cab Transit over take me on a Dual Carriageway at about 70mph ish. We stopped at a roundabout and I was alongside him. I said to him his speed limit was 60mph. His reply was " Its 70mph as it a Crew Cab" Well its not as the Taxation class is N1 not M1
I'll take 'things that didn't happen' for 10 please Bob.

Pica-Pica

15,997 posts

107 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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What The Deuces said:
I often wonder what the point is of a 70 in a red circle is?

I usually see them on the A55 near Conwy
That is because it is ‘special road’. It does not allow pedestrians or cyclists, or certain other vehicles. So it is effectively a motorway in all but name, hence the need for a 70 limit.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_road

You can also see NSL speed limits, repeated in large signs, on some roads. These are usually to emphasise that you are NOT entering a (unsigned) 30mph limit, even though area is lit by street lights close together. Example below, staggered side roads, with close-spaced street lights, and an NSL sign to emphasise where an area is lit by street lights close together, and is NOT 30mph


Pica-Pica

15,997 posts

107 months

Friday 14th April 2023
quotequote all
Sidecar Man said:
Likes been said if its a 60 sign thats the speed limit . If its a national speed limit It varies on vehicle taxation class. Amazing the people who don,t know their speed limits.
Had a fire brigade Crew Cab Transit over take me on a Dual Carriageway at about 70mph ish. We stopped at a roundabout and I was alongside him. I said to him his speed limit was 60mph. His reply was " Its 70mph as it a Crew Cab" Well its not as the Taxation class is N1 not M1
U.K. speed limits by vehicle category, do not necessarily align with UNECE categories (M1, M2, N1, etc) and never have.
It could be classified as a ‘dual purpose vehicle’.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regu...
and thus have car-related speed limits.
https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits

Sebring440

3,068 posts

119 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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MitchT said:
Sidecar Man said:
Had a Wear you're seat belt sign on it as well!!!
Did you correct their grammar too? hehe
Probably not, but he had the opportunity to correct their spelling...

Somewhatfoolish

4,968 posts

209 months

Friday 14th April 2023
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This also applies to motorways in Scotland hence why there's 70mph signs there on all of them.

I am not 100% sure about this, but I have a vague feeling there aren't where the M6 becomes the M74. Might be worth going for it there.

Seeing 60mph in a sign is quite unusual but you will see it on the Isle of Man. There's a couple of permanent ones but also more added to e.g. various parts of the TT course during TT/GP.

(Of course in that case it's not the NSL)

Up here in County Durham which generally has reasonable NSL (some exceptions like the A690) you will often see repeaters in places you wouldn't expect, because there is street lighting but you are still permitted to do 60. Indeed some of those places even *I* think aren't good for 60.

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Saturday 15th April 00:00

Nibbles_bits

1,942 posts

62 months

Saturday 15th April 2023
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https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-reve...

Not many people own a car derived van, although they obviously think they do based on their speeds

What The Deuces

2,780 posts

47 months

Saturday 15th April 2023
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Pica-Pica said:
What The Deuces said:
I often wonder what the point is of a 70 in a red circle is?

I usually see them on the A55 near Conwy
That is because it is ‘special road’. It does not allow pedestrians or cyclists, or certain other vehicles. So it is effectively a motorway in all but name, hence the need for a 70 limit.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_road

You can also see NSL speed limits, repeated in large signs, on some roads. These are usually to emphasise that you are NOT entering a (unsigned) 30mph limit, even though area is lit by street lights close together. Example below, staggered side roads, with close-spaced street lights, and an NSL sign to emphasise where an area is lit by street lights close together, and is NOT 30mph

Nice one thanks. I have asked before and not got a good answer on here.

trashbat

6,220 posts

176 months

Saturday 15th April 2023
quotequote all
Pica-Pica said:
That is because it is ‘special road’. It does not allow pedestrians or cyclists, or certain other vehicles. So it is effectively a motorway in all but name, hence the need for a 70 limit.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_road
It is a special road, I agree. But by default it's also a dual carriageway so the upper limit, for cars etc, is already 70 - so why bother?

Edit: oh, it's saying that due to being a special road but not a motorway, there would be no limit defined at all if it weren't for this, right?

Also, for things where there's a difference, what speed limits apply here - the DC ones or the motorway ones? Or 70?

Edit: this answers my question: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?titl...

Edited by trashbat on Saturday 15th April 08:38