Slightly provocative title, but a genuine question.
The speed limit in the UK is 70mph.
Whilst there is the very rare occasion where the ability to speed up is useful to get you out of trouble, those occasions are vastly outnumbered by times when going faster gets you into trouble.
So, why are cars not restricted to a max speed of 70mph (or whatever the max speed limit is in the country the car is registered to)?
###Puts on flame proof suit and walks away###
I'd be happy if it was lower. You save so much more fuel by doing 50 rather than 70 and it's more relaxing.
You'll get people complaining that they need to be able to exceed the limit for a short time to overtake etc, and that's fine - so you could let it go over the limit for say 5 seconds.
That said, I think that people doing say 60 in a 30 causes a lot more deaths than 90 in a 70. So how about intelligent speed limit restrictions? Well, it's happening, sort of:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/mandatory-speed-limiters-on-uk-cars-from-2022
But for now, you will still be able to disable it.
What they could do is have a free-for-all one day. No limits, do what you like. The result would be so terrifying and deadly I think it would subsequently create a lot more compliance. Death toll might be a bit high though.
You save so much more fuel by doing 50 rather than 70 and it’s more relaxing.
As a caravanner I can confirm that a steady 58 in the inside lane is superbly relaxing.
You'll get no argument from me
If they put even half as many security and safety measures into cars as they do on e-scooters, we'd cut road deaths by a massive % almost immediately.
Rental e-scooters and dockless e-bikes are geofenced so you can only ride/park them in certain areas, speed restricted in other areas (ride through a pedestrian precinct on an e-scooter and it cuts your speed automatically to 5mph). If you try and hire a Lime bike late at night the app makes you go through a safety and reaction speed check to make sure you're not pissed.
We could do all of this with cars very easily. It'd cut car theft, accidents, deaths/injuries instantly. If the speed was restricted, that'd cut pollution too. It should all be on the car manufacturers to do this but they've cleverly managed to outsource all the costs to councils / local authorities etc.
What was that, someone was doing 120mph in one of our cars?! Gosh, you should put some speed cameras and road humps in to fix that problem...
Rather than what it should be which is "oh sorry, we'll fit a speed limiter to the car"...
Disagree. Next?
Do most crashes happen on high-speed roads?
No. Approximately two-thirds of all crashes in which people are killed or injured happen on roads with a speed limit of 30mph or less.And in 2018, the majority of the 456 pedestrian fatalities and 5,782 serious casualties occurred on built-up roads. Cyclists are also vulnerable in built-up areas, with more than half of cyclist deaths (62 of 99) and serious cyclist casualties (3,402 of 3,707) occurring on built-up roads.
This is why the Department for Transport encourages traffic authorities to consider the introduction of more 20mph limits and zones, over time, in urban areas and built-up village streets that are primarily residential, to ensure greater safety for cyclists and pedestrians. RoSPA also encourages planners to pay attention to lower speeds in built-up areas, with active travel like walking and cycling promoted as a positive option.
People should learn to drive that is better than an out dated speed limit
Agreed. There's no flexibility on how much you can drink before driving a car so why is it the car that speeds are treated with a degree of flexibility?
Only when we've cracked...
Drink Driving
Drug Driving
Driving without tax and insurance
Driving without due care and attention
Driving a car not fit for the road
Driving like a complete and utter numpty who god only knows how they passed their test
Retesting every five or ten years
Actually have traffic police on the roads
...but it will come, but only when driving is fully autonomous.
Totally agree.
Irrespective of the safety consideration, the reduced emissions, lower fuel consumption and lower noise pollution would be massively beneficial.
15000 miles in my car and the fastest I've been is 68MPH. I also hit the claimed fuel consumption figs which is apparently impossible in real world conditions.
Imagine how much taxes would go up, if all those speeding fines stopped being collected, due to using modern tech to limit speeds to the various UK road speed limits.
@funkyDunc, can we not do both?
We should absolutely do more driver training, and look to improve the accident rates at slow speed.
But we can also stop people going to fast.
Because it’ll do nothing to prevent all the crashes that happen in 30, 40 or 50, or 60mph roads. (where most of the UK crashes happen)
No, but it will stop the ones that happen at 70mph+ with no other negative impacts.
Nah. Pointless.
As someone said up there ^^^ bad drivers kill most people at WELL below the speed limit.
You need geofenced speed limits, which, err, is being launched imminently, and will be rolled out and tightened up over the next few years as we get better at reading road signs and locating the car on a GPS map.
Volvo have already limited cars to 112mph/180kph globally, and took an absolutely massive amount of flack for it.
Sales went up though.
People should learn to drive that is better than an out dated speed limit
But they aren't exclusive. You can easily enforce or change a speed limit AS WELL as improving driver education.
as this would only apply to new cars (or some newer fancier electric things might get OTA updates) then it can't come in to force all at once, you'll have some cars with it, some without.
you know how you get stuck behind lorries trying to overtake eachother because one's limiter is 0.1mph faster than the other's.
Imagine that, but with every moronic driver in every lane of the motorway.
Seems inevitable that it will happen eventually, along with road pricing. The technology is there, we're just waiting for policy to catch up.
"I know what the law is, but I demand the opportunity to break it whenever I want, because I don't like it."
What?
Imagine that, but with every moronic driver in every lane of the motorway.
But they'd be doing 70 so what's the problem?
But we can also stop people going to fast.
Restrict cars to 70 fine, but they could still drive at 70mph in a 30mph zone.
Seems inevitable that it will happen eventually, along with road pricing.
Yep I can see a system that restricts speeds in 20-40 zones, using GPS and automatic driving when you're on a motorway. along with road-pricing in line to encourage alternative transport To me that would be a better solution than blanket restriction.
you know how you get stuck behind lorries trying to overtake eachother because one’s limiter is 0.1mph faster than the other’s.
Imagine that, but with every moronic driver in every lane of the motorway.
I find motorways a much more relaxing place to be when everybody is travelling the same speed under avg. speed cameras.
@funkyDunc, can we not do both?
We should absolutely do more driver training, and look to improve the accident rates at slow speed.
But we can also stop people going to fast.
No - unless you want a speed limit of 5-10 mph.
These conversations are always the same. Its not the speed that is the issue. Its going too fast for the conditions that you are in. Speed limits are used as a blunt tool as quite frankly most drivers are not fit to drive quickly and understand the implications.
I get the environmental impact bit though. However during lockdown though my mpg went up massively, as did my average speed.
In a weird way, I wonder whether these sorts of rules could make the situation worse. Fifty years ago, driving was an occasion. My grandfather would tell me he'd prepare the car in advance of long trips, check all the indicators and get a good night's sleep.
Nowadays, people hop in the car half-awake and doomscroll the Tik-Agram until some sensor beeps at them to inform them they've just maimed a cyclist.
Drivers need to be encouraged to take responsibility and actually concentrate. Perhaps having a car that half-drives itself and a load of enforced safety features takes away that responsibility?
I'll say it again.
Reduced emissions.
Reduced fuel consumption
Reduced noise pollution
It is not pointless.
Sounds good. Certainly no need for a car to go 150mph or anywhere near it.
Imagine how much taxes would go up, if all those speeding fines stopped being collected, due to using modern tech to limit speeds to the various UK road speed limits.
I imagine that once you take everything into account, not at all.
No complaints from me
70 top speed on all cars and intelligent speed control on new cars for 20/30 mph zones etc.
As a caravanner I can confirm that a steady 58 in the inside lane is superbly relaxing
What is this, amateur hour? You should weaving about in the rough vicinity of the middle lane at all times.
ayjaydoubleyou nails it
ayjaydoubleyou
as this would only apply to new cars (or some newer fancier electric things might get OTA updates) then it can’t come in to force all at once, you’ll have some cars with it, some without.you know how you get stuck behind lorries trying to overtake eachother because one’s limiter is 0.1mph faster than the other’s.
Imagine that, but with every moronic driver in every lane of the motorway.
I don't see the point in doing more than 70 on the motorway, it's too congested and too stressful. I'm fairly sure that average speeds have come down massively in recent years. It used to be that the outside lane was a constant stream of cars doing 80-85mph but I hardly ever see that these days. I think the rise in fuel prices and an increase in traffic are to blame.
A friend informed me that his Audi has the ability to read speed limit signs and the cruise control/ speed limiter can adjust accordingly. Surely this becoming the default setting would be a big step forward. Something you would have to manually disable, which could then be used if you were caught speeding, or were involved in an accident.
But also can't disagree that improving the general standard of driving would be a very good start. Regular, ongoing testing could be one aspect.
No, but it will stop the ones that happen at 70mph+ with no other negative impacts.
Which probably have a significantly higher ratios of fatalities to crashes.
Well, tbh the 70mph motorway/DC speed limit is outdated anyway, it was set back in the 60's for Christ sake.
You'd need GPS based restrictions depending on where you're driving too, not just a blanket limit based on where the car was registered.
Someone doing 75mph on a motorway isn't exactly killing all the children though, are they. People doing 40/50mph through 30 or 20 zones is another matter. So no, I don't see the point. It'd cost millions and let's face it, how often do you actually see someone doing stupid speeds on motorway?
as this would only apply to new cars (or some newer fancier electric things might get OTA updates) then it can’t come in to force all at once, you’ll have some cars with it, some without.
That's always been the way with tech though. Cruise control, airbags, seat belts (going way back with that one!), reversing sensors... There's always been and will always be a time where someone on the roads will have the latest tricked out car with all mod cons/safety features and someone will be in a Morris Minor with none of that.
You could improve driving standards dramatically by having proper enforcement and meaningful punishments as well. The ridiculous "exceptional hardships" loophole needs to go and it's time to start doling out some proper jail time and lifetime bans for killer drivers and persistent offenders. You could cut huge amounts of congestion and pollution by simply removing all un-roadworthy cars and drivers!
I agree.
But let's focus on where the injuries really do happen.
But also can’t disagree that improving the general standard of driving would be a very good start. Regular, ongoing testing could be one aspect
^ this too.
A friend informed me that his Audi has the ability to read speed limit signs and the cruise control/ speed limiter can adjust accordingly.
That system is incredibly inaccurate, around 20-25% false readings in some markets.
But as i said up there
You need geofenced speed limits, which, err, is being launched imminently, and will be rolled out and tightened up over the next few years as we get better at reading road signs and locating the car on a GPS map.
High definition maps, accurate GPS/GLONASS, better sign recognition etc.
It'll happen.
a light, efficient, aerodynamic car at 70mph will make less noise, emissions and have better braking and handling characteristics than a 2.2 tonne range rover...
so by the same argument, why don't we putting restrictions on those types of cars?
I agree to a degree that the world is doomed, at the hands of us, but i would imagine excessive motorway speed (in good conditions) would be one of the lower causes of accidents. I'm a massive advocate of scrapping all road going fees, and just put everything on fuel. I'm sure that would help the environment loads more if the costs were ridiculous for inefficient vehicles/ excessive speed. Biggest polluters = biggest fees
Can't come soon enough.
No need for a physical limiter, just add a black box. Can be fitted to every car. Go over the speed limit, any limit, pick up a penalty. Could be small, say 1 point. Beats the safety argument as if you genuinely need to speed then you can. For a one off, no big issue, find yourself needing to speed a lot then it's probably time for a driving refresher anyway.
unworkable - how else do you expect people to compensate for their inadequacies if they can't assert dominance by driving fast in an ultimate race-bred driving strap-on
It's a reasonable point, especially from a emissions point of view. Although as most people say motorways are some of the safest roads and the crap driving I see as a cyclist is on lower speed limit roads.
I recently was on a trip to Germany and the guy driving hit the limiter on the BMW. 155mph? Did it feel safe... no way!
Of course the issue is how to implement. I've had cars that read speed limit signs and occasionally it would get confused on the M-way when it read the 50mph speed limit signs on the back of lorries and hit the brakes. I had to stop using this function.
chart 5 - fatalities by road user type. pedestrian and cycle deaths are nearly equal to that of car occupants. None of these will have occured on motorways. Cars are pretty damn safe for their occupants these days.
(I'm gonna ignore motorbikes as mainly either being killed by innatentive motorists, or their own misplaced bravado)
I would be very happy with some form of speed limiter in cars, and agree with those who have said it is quite relaxing to drive slowly in the inside lane.
I would add, though, that something more developed than the current MOT system for making sure cars were fit for purpose could go a long way toward improving safety - on the motorways and on urban streets. Especially where tyres are concerned.
Restrict cars to 70 fine, but they could still drive at 70mph in a 30mph zone.
There's technology available to control the restriction to wherever you are driving.
I've always wondered for many years why cars that do 150mph are sold in this country (although I own one!) A lot of motorbikes will do in excess of 170mph. 20+ years ago a mate of mine had a Honda Fireblade and he said he could break the speed limit in 1st gear.
I just assume the money gained from speeding fines is vastly more important than the dangers of speeding.
A friend informed me that his Audi has the ability to read speed limit signs and the cruise control/ speed limiter can adjust accordingly
our volvo does that.
It can be a pain in the proverbial. Pootling along at 70 on the motorway, and it registers 30 on a side road. It slams on the brakes. It's done it a few times, and is the most disconcerting thing.
Or there's a road near us - one side of the road has a 30, the other side has a NSL. Same direction. Basically because the builders in the field next to it only had the one 30mph sign. That confuses the car.
So - whilst it will get there - it's not there yet.
