Why 50 mph

[voyds9]

Just travelled through another 50 m.p.h. motorway roadworks and was wondering why they are set to 50 m.p.h. At 40mph aren't the fatalities something like 90% so why 50 are they trying to kill the workers in an accident or is 50 really safe.

More likely I've missed something but can't think what.

[puggit]

These days a lot of motorway limits seem to be set to 40mph in roadworks - count yourself lucky

[_Al_]

May be that more people view 50 as 'ignorable' so they collect more fines.

I think that the construction companies get the revenue from camera fines in roadworks (info from industry insider), so I have my doubts about their safety claims!

(Especially when the workers are behind VERY substantial concrete barriers most of the time.)

[andrew54]

Isn't it just a compromise? 20 might be safer for the workers but might cause huge queues and complaints. At 70 cars might hit a barrier and go over it. So they settle for 50.



>> Edited by andrew54 on Monday 23 February 18:46

[deeen]

so why dont the limits revert to 70 when no-one's working then?

[nonegreen]

deeen said:

so why dont the limits revert to 70 when no-one's working then?

Cos that would be sensible and we are run by mutants.

[PomBstard]

50mph!! Should be so lucky here. Drove from Melbourne to Sydney a few weeks ago and, in the middle of fecken nowhere was a set of roadworks, about 2km long. Some guys are resurfacing half the carriageway. One lane coned off, one lane open, speed limit? 40kmh. Yep, thats about 25mph. And people were driving at that speed too.

I agree that going slower past OPERATIONAL roadworks, where people are actually working, not just an area coned off for a tea break, makes sense, and that at 25mph you've got plenty of warning, but to do 25mph for 2km on a motorway is pretty dull.

[ledfoot]

I think roadworks on an NSL dual carriageway have 40MPH limit, and roadworks on a Motorway have a 50mph limit.

[stackmonkey]

ledfoot said:

I think roadworks on an NSL dual carriageway have 40MPH limit, and roadworks on a Motorway have a 50mph limit.

Wrong, I'm afraid. There's plenty of motorway roadworks with 40mph limits with Scameras to back them up. M6 for one...

[Dwight VanDriver]

www.tinyurl.com/2hkh4

DVD

>> Edited by Dwight VanDriver on Tuesday 24th February 14:45

[andyps]

Road works on the A1 near Newark have a 30mph limit at the moment - this is a dual carriageway section where there was no work going on when I passed through on Saturday afternoon.

[d-man]

What I'd really like to know is what are the 50 limits between junctions 14 and 16 of the M1 all about?

2 of them, with signs for 'incomplete safety fencing' All I can see is a load of cones right up against the (intact looking) central armco for ages. There are tiny gaps in the armco round the bridge thats being worked on, but why the huge 50 limit?! Never seen anyone working there either, but thats could be because I've not been past during the week.

Easy to cash in on a 50 limit where there isn't even a lane closure of course.