The speed limit was set 100s of years ago when cars had crap top speeds and crap brakes.

Actualy, it was set precicely because cars no longer had “crap top speeds” IIRC it was stuff like the AC/Shelby cobra doing speed tests up the M1 that got it limited.

Brakes may be better, but theres still a human behind the wheel, and his reaction times are still the same as they were a million years ago, at 100mph 0.2s is quite along way.

tinas: Does that mean you agree or not?

it was stuff like the AC/Shelby cobra doing speed tests up the M1 that got it limited.

I was under the impression that it was Jaguar, but I can’t find any evidence to back that up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_speed_limits_in_the_United_Kingdom

The 70 mph limit on previously restricted roads was introduced in 1965 following a number of serious motorway accidents in fog earlier the same year

I have to drive up and down the M6 everyday and there seems to be some sort of accident every other day. If people can’t work out what a safe breaking distance is at 70 I really can’t seem them getting 90 right!

Cougar IIRC it was AC doing a speed test on a closed coupe Cobra based Le Man racer that was the final straw.

It clocked 175mph apparently

If you drive in the inside lane, you end up getting ‘stuck’ there when you catch up with a slow moving lorry. No-one ever lets you into the middle lane to get past!!

Ah, ok. Got a link for that?

The M6 is indeed a haven for those unable to drive in a straight line without hitting something. I used to commute down there (Accrington > Lymm) and I’d say it was about two out of five days every week where I could add an hour to my journey because some pleb had tried to take themselves out of the gene pool.

Someone asked ealier “do these middle-laners exist” – it definitely varies by geography. The M62 is the single worst road I’ve ever known for holding conventions for the Lane Two Owners’ Club.

If you drive in the inside lane daydreaming rather than paying attention to traffic around you, you end up getting ‘stuck’ there when you catch up with a slow moving lorry. No-one ever lets you into the middle lane to get past!!

Fixed that for you.

But it’s not just motorways. There are some big old dual carriage ways around here and people sit in the outside lane cos they’re turning right in 3 miles time!

I got told off at work recently for suggesting I should be allowed a cannon on the front of my car for such people…..

Cougar here you go:

Origin of 70mph limit
Wiki AC Cobra

The other thing is, the inside lane is often heavily rutted due to all the lorries, when it rains you get two large pools of standing water there. Much safer using lanes 2 and 3.

On the M4 it’s the inside lane that’s rutted not the middle.

What would be so wrong in changing the law to allow undertaking, as in USA

Ever driven in the USA? On a busy urban interstate? That’ll explain perfectly why undertaking is a bad bad idea.

Oh and it’s NOT legal in the US, it’s just that everyone ignores that rule as they do for speed limits and stopping distances.

Addressing the OP, would you really save that much time with your suggested free for all?

Don’t get me wrong I have been, and still am annoyed by middle lane Hogs myself and fast lane cruisers can bothersome but then as said earlier its not a race, you need to think a little more “Zen” on the motorways if you plan to use them long term and survive.

The reason we overtake on the RH side only is actually to maintain the flow of traffic and mitigate accident risk to a certain extent; if there is “standardised” behaviour for each lane on the motorway then it makes it a more predictable environment where it is easier to judge what others may or may not do next.

Think about pulling out from the Middle -> Fast lane to overtake, momentarily your attention is focused not on what is in front and to your right (Where you actually plan to manoeuvre the car) but behind, in your rear wing mirror and/or maybe over your shoulder towards any blind spots, you expect the vehicles in the lane you are entering to be moving faster than you are currently, you also expect the opposite from the slow lane; slower traffic without anyone zooming up from behind, thus making it easier for you to speed up/slow down/exit/enter with minimal fuss and the main body of traffic moving at relatively uniform speeds, believe it or not actually most of the time this approach works (All of this is rather idealised I know).

Now let enact your repealing of traffic laws and see where it gets us…

The same bewildered Arses will still sit in the middle lane while “Boi Racers” like yourself flit inexpertly between all 3 lanes trying to make up milliseconds on their journeys, eventually either colliding with an A3 they “Didn’t see” pulling into the now re-christened “Undertaking lane” or just pile into the central reservation once they’ve worn all the tread off their Toyo’s…

I know people who never go in the outside lane normally because it’s “Full of Cocks” I have to say they aren’t far wrong really, it isn’t a race, as long as the traffic is moving you are actually making progress, then 90% of the population don’t really seem to mind if they’re doing 63 or 103 MPH the actual difference in arrival time between Averaging 70 (which the middle lane seems to most of the time) and Averaging 80 over say a 100 mile motorway journey is only about 10 minutes, and you’ll only waste the saved time pissing about finding a space when you get there anyway, so why bother?

You want us to drive like Yanks? They are Bloody useless drivers, their rules don’t help the situation either…

while “Boi Racers” like yourself flit inexpertly between all 3 lanes trying to make up milliseconds on their journeys,

Thanks for pigeonholing me without reading the thread and without knowing the first thing about me. 😆 Anything you wrote after that was wasted as I, for one, didn’t read it. FYI I have a clean driving licence and have had one for the last 25 years, not even a speeding ticket, I have been tutored at Oulton Park by pro drivers and used to drive an average of 45k miles per year in the UK and currently drive 30k kms annually in Spain. Excuse me if I find your opinion laughable, that really has made my day.