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So most Motorways have 3 lanes,LGV`s in the inside lane maximum speed 56mph,so to pass them you can do 70mph, middle lane,coaches,65mph,maximum,(both speed governor fitted),and outside lane 70mph,so if youre allowed 10%plus 2 miles which equals 77mph.
So why do drivers feel the need to exceed the speed limit by so much as is seen every day.
Discuss.
You need to edit your post as your maths is crap.
Motorway speed limits are too low in this country and beacause of this people dont take responsibility for their actions when driving.
I would make it 100mp/h
If only the entire country had the same instructor as I did, the needle would hit 70 and you'd feel a sudden sharp pain in your left ear...
I'd make it 55 and speed limit all vehicles to that speed.
Nah, restrict goods vehicles & coaches to the left hand lane only. And train drivers with proper lane discipline and slip road discipline. And keep the limit at 70.
variable speed limits according to traffic volume and conditions are what's needed, as on the M25 & M42. Sometimes 100mph is safe, other times 50mph on the same stretch of road is dicing with death.
speeding problem solved for me, lost my Honda Accord and replaced it with a oil burning Picasso
Variable speed limits on all motorways governed by conditions at the time i.e. weather/lighting/traffic volume. You could write some algorithm to decide what's the most suitable speed...and display this speed as a mandatory limit a la M25.
All to be enforceable by average speed cameras positioned at the required intervals along the carriageways which should also be modified to detect tailgaters (surely somebody can come up with a method for this...don't they have some system for it in Germany or Switzerland?).
Most people drive about 80 on a normal stretch of motorway as they are aware that 70 is the limit.
If the limit was 80 then most people would drive at 90 which wouldn`t be very good as the vast majority would be unable to use their phones or read maps and adjust sat-navs at that speed. 🙂
Lets make the maximum 70mph,except when overtaking, whe10%plus 2mph, should be allowed.
Possibly ban anyone over 50 with a baseball cap on, while driveing.
Audi drivers with side lights as well as BMW drivers on sidelights.
Old people with cushions on the back window cill,and stickers saying we`ve seen the Lions at Longleat etc.
Single mothers with kids, between the hours of 8 and 9 am.
let people do what speed they like...and then hammer them for poor lane discipline.
....unable to use their phones or read maps and adjust sat-navs at that speed
Let alone roll a fag and drink a cup of coffee...
mt, I take it that either:
1. you never travel far by road
2. you have the patience of a saint
3. you love being in your car more than anything in the world
4. you are actually Ralph Nader
If 70mph was considered safe for a 1965 Ford Anglia with drum brakes, no seat belts and crossply tyres which was flat out at 83mph, why is it unsafe now?
If 70mph was considered safe for a 1965 Ford Anglia with drum brakes, no seat belts and crossply tyres which was flat out at 83mph, why is it unsafe now?
Roads were much quieter back then too...no matter what limit is enforced, people learn their stopping distances for the driving text, then completely forget them (I know I did). Even when everybody said, ok, forget the stopping distance and use the two-second-rule, loads of folk ignore this one too.
I believe the biggest cause of fatal accidents on motorways is people falling asleep at the wheel. Force everybody to drive at 55mph and there would be a whole lot of snoozing going on....
I'd close all the motorways and turn them into allotments.
SB
Why did I let myself get suckered into posting on this thread
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I stick to 70 because it saves loadsa money compared to 80.
(If I could just punch in the postcode and have the robo-chauffeur do it I would. I could sit back and read a book... Which reminds me, I saw a woman 'driving' in the middle lane of the M4 the other day reading a magazine!!!)
You're not allowed 70mph + 10% + 2, thats just the error margin they allow in case of cumulative cock-ups in measurement. Technically anything over 70 is illegal.
I'd be happy with a higher limit if people actually followed the rules of the road and used their brains while driving, reducing their speed where needed due to rain, traffic, bends etc. Unfortunately people seem incapable, the more people seem incapable the more responsibility we have taken off us, the less we try to use it.
Well, suckered in to this post, but points still stand.
I could sit back and read a book...
catch a train?
The trouble is that they can't just decide to make it 100mph or whatever. How many motorway junctions and sliproads would have to be rebuilt to allow the increased speed. Think of the cost!
catch a train?
IME catching a train means catching a taxi either end, and/or a bus, and planning an extra hour either end for "transfers", and of course stops you taking anything larger than a brief case anywhere.
its the price you pay if you want to read a book? Public transport is always going to be flawed.
How many motorway junctions and sliproads would have to be rebuilt to allow the increased speed.
None?
thefallguy: I do take the train when
a)there's a station somewhere near where I'm going
and b) I'm prepared to pay a lot of money (I took my family to Barcelona by train for our holiday year before last, it was great but cost more than twice what flying would have, but wow! that Eurostar is cool and the overnight sleeper train from Paris is ace too)
Indicated 80mph = 72mph. Speedo usually reads 10% over. My old Puma did, and my Octi does, according to GPS, so I'll happily sit at 80 thank you very much. 55 and restricted? Don't be stupid. Do you [i]really[/i] want to have miles of motorway with nose-to-tail trucks, coaches, cars, vans, etc, because nobodywould be able to pass any other vehicle. Please engage what passes for a brain and think through the consequenses of such a situation. It would be untenable and downright dangerous, which anyone who drives would recognise. Very seldom is [u]excessive[/u] speed the issue, it's [i]inappropriate[/i] speed, like doing 70 in fog.
[i]Audi drivers with side lights as well as BMW drivers on sidelights.[/i]
Our Audi has a setting that just turns the lights on when it gets a bit dark, I presume the above are the same.
I would leave it at 70 as it is. My car is pretty small (1.4), and max I can get out of it is 90mph on a straight motorway, but it doesn't feel too good and burns loads of petrol. When im in no rush, usually drive at 60, otherwise 60-80.
100mph limit would make the roads freaking crazy with bell**d BMW and Audi drivers flying all over the place without indicators.
I would leave it at 70 as it is. My car is pretty small (1.4), and max I can get out of it is 90mph on a straight motorway, but it doesn't feel too good and burns loads of petrol.
You could stick to 70 then. Those of us with big lazy diesel lumps don't tend to do much worse at 80 than 70 (and still better than almost all petrol cars do at 70).
😆
[i]catch a train? [/i]
Who did you think we are? Richard Bransen? I couldn't afford to travel by train to somewhere far away. Lets say I need to go down the smoke, about 200 miles or so one way. If I book a return train ticket a week in advance, it'll cost me about 70 quid. If I have the audacity to not be sure when i'm coming back, that jumps right up to 240 quid. 240 POUNDS!!!! I could buy a car with a full tank for that!
The only time train travel is viable is when my company is paying for it.
How many motorway junctions and sliproads would have to be rebuilt to allow the increased speed.None?
I reckon it would be a fair majority. Don't forget that they will have to meet a safety spec that says something like "the sliproad must be X metres long for every 10mph of speed required"
[i]Our Audi has a setting that just turns the lights on when it gets a bit dark, I presume the above are the same.[/i]
don't be so presumptuous.
My BMW has a rotary switch on the dash - off, sidelights, dipped headlights. And the indicators do work.
BTW I've just got back from a holiday in Canada. You British drivers suck. Sooooo aggressive.
Here's a disturbing observation. I drove from Leeds to Newcastle this weekend up the A1. There was a Ford Ka being driven by someone who could best be described as "possibly french" for no reason other than the driving style.
The car would spend ages in the right hand lane at 68 for most of the journey, regardless of the traffic (or lack of it) in the left hand lane; occasionally a left indicator would come on - usually for something up it's exhaust pipe - followed by 100 metres in the left hand lane. Then it reverted to the overtaking lane, despite the inside lane being empty
This went on for far too long. Sometimes I wish I was a traffic cop. Just sometimes though - I really wouldn't want that job
To balance that - Calgary drivers are the worst I have ever witnessed.
Thank you
Plum
No speed limit but heavy penalties for driving too close to the car in front and poor lane discipline.
Says the perfectly safe driver on 9 points.
That would be very worrying and thank god they didn't as learners aren't allowed on motorways.
1) No women allowed on motorways
2) HGV's not allowed to overtake between 0700-1930
3) Coaches also not allowed to overtake
4) Speed limit increased to 100mph
5) minimum speed in outside lane 80mph (or booked)
That'll do for now.
Speed limit? What's one of those? Surely maximum speed is goverened purely by how far the throttle turns and how long you dare hold it there?
Is it any wonder no one knows how to drive on motorways? As a learner you aren't allowed on them - so how can anyone instruct people what is right or wrong?
Imagine if they applied that theory to the whole driving test - you can't use traffic lights or roundabouts yet - you're a learner, have a go at them after you've passed your test, see how you get on!
I still think you should also have to play on a skid pan as a learner so that you get the feel of what a car does when you lose control - cos the first time you lose control (& 17/18 year old boys do quite alot) it's usually on a country lane & they've got no idea how to avoid a car/hedge interface.
British driving standards are piss poor. I remember reading that 95% of british drivers think they're better than average.
Best drivers I've seen are the French, Dutch, Italians, Germans, Swiss, Spanish, Portuguese in that order - british drivers would be way down that list.
Crap attitude and not taking responsibility for their own actions are what make british driving standards so poor. It isn't a competition and you dont own the ****ing road. Trying to scare people into moving over isn't acceptable either.
Billybob - i would love to teach folk that stuff. problem is folk aren't willing to pay for it.
Is it any wonder no one knows how to drive on motorways? As a learner you aren't allowed on them - so how can anyone instruct people what is right or wrong?
My driving instructor used to take me up the A1 (Near Newark where I lived at the time) and encourage me to do 70mph (Well, it's not hard!). I also used to drive 7 miles each way to town where the test routes were on fast single carrigeway A-roads and he taught me to overtake cars doing 40-50mph. I'll never forget him saying, "OK we'll pass this learner. Drop to 3rd and pull out and pass without slowing too much"
I'd imagine most towns have some dual carrigeway to practice on.
[i]Best drivers I've seen are the French, Dutch, Italians, Germans, Swiss, Spanish, Portuguese in that order - british drivers would be way down that list.[/i]
Much as I like to get cross about poor driving in Britain, I'm still happy to admit that we have pretty much the safest roads in the world with only the swedes, dutch and Maltease being safer.
[url] http://www.driveandstayalive.com/info%20section/statistics/stats-multicountry-percapita-2004.htm [/url]
I can't believe you put the Italians and Spanish in that list, are you on crack? I have never driven in a crazier place than Italy in my life. The Spanish were marginally better but only because they use their horns less.
Reason for putting the italians and spanish on that list is that they know exactly what is all round them all the time. Briish drivers are completely oblivious to their surroundings.
How many times have you got to your destination and cant remember a thing about the journey?