I have been driving from west midlands to wester ross every late spring for 30 years. We drive non stop apart from driver swaps every 2-2/12 hours. 20 years ago we used to do 75-80 on the motorways and 65 ish on the A9 from Perth
We now stick to 70 on the motorways and 60 on the A9. It takes on average assuming no hold ups 25 minutes longer over the 550+ miles. We save (at least 10%, and yes we once measured it with the same vehicle) fuel and it’s less stressful.

What does the hive think ofmAverage speed cameras? My maw would have them everywhere.

jimw- your time obviously isn’t as valuable as many folk on here. Good point on the fuel saving/environmental aspect too.

steveoath- so would I. It’s made a huge difference to driving on the A9.

Motorways are the safest roads because the two directions of traffic are segregated. The dangers of increased speed are that the speed differentials between slow vehicles like those towing trailers or caravans and powerful cars become bigger and that the energies involved in any crash become greater and make injuries more likely.

You overtake when it’s safe to do so for you, the vehicle you are overtaking and for anything coming in the opposite direction. If the vehicle in front is significantly slower then there’ll be more opportunities. if it’s close to the speed limit then ease off and relax, you aren’t going to gain a huge amount of time on most journeys.

Back to the original topic: the fines have been increased because:

The feedback was that current guidelines “did not properly take into account the increase in potential harm that can result as speed above the speed limit increases”.

To “qualify” for these higher fines you would have to be doing 51MPH in a 30MPH limit for example, i.e. not just drifting over the limit because of inattention.

I think the excuse that gets trotted out of “I need to be drive for my job” should result in a bigger fine: if you need to drive for your job then you should be extra careful to follow the rules of the road.

Average speed cameras? since I am that annoying driver in front who sticks to speed limits, I have no problem with them.

so those 25 minutes in 10 hours driving is that important to those other people? We save most of that not having to refuel till we get to Inverness where we stop for a coffee anyway.

and yes we once measured it with the same vehicle) fuel and it’s less stressful.

Driving quickly =/= in a rush.

Umm this. If overtaking is your justification for speeding, then just don’t overtake, sorry.

The thing is with driving is that speeding actually saves very little time.

Usually nothing in cities, but even sitting at 80 vs 70 for an hour saves <9 minutes.

(And who has ever been done for speeding while overtaking? Nonsense argument).

I think the excuse that gets trotted out of “I need to be drive for my job” should result in a bigger fine: if you need to drive for your job then you should be extra careful to follow the rules of the road.

The other side of that being many professional drivers are under pressure to drive faster in order to deliver goods on time, pick up/drop off passengers etc. I know I hate when there are road delays and I’m supposed to be somewhere at a specific time. I’m not excusing speeding, just that it does add stress to a journey.

Average speed cameras? since I am that annoying driver in front who sticks to speed limits, I have no problem with them.

since i am that foolhardy driver that sometimes thinks its perfectly safe to drive above the speed limit in certain situations (see above) but accepts the weight of the law will come crashing down on me if caught, i dont like em.

In my 20’s I spent a year as a travelling salesperson selling wholesale products to independent high street retailers. I did 120k miles in that year all over the uk. I had a 2 litre small saloon that could do 135mph and I wellied it as much as possible. I had lots of fun and a fair few fines/points.

Guess my average speed from one urban centre to another?

@5plun8 – probably about 50mph

@scotroute – but these days there are plenty of tools available to plan your journey: AA route planner; google maps; etc. all with real time information overlaid. No doubt haulage and delivery firms have something similar. When going down to mid-wales for the BB200 last year the journey time was within five minutes of that predicted by the AA tool and that included a mid-journey redirect due to an accident on the M56, no speeding involved. A serious accident *is* going to add to your journey time but then that’s going to be the case whether you drove within or above the limits

(And who has ever been done for speeding while overtaking? Nonsense argument).

From a policeman, not many I’d hazard? From an automatic camera though, I expect that figure to be considerably higher.

I agree that it might well be safe under some limited conditions, and it can be very annoying when a road that I im used to driving at the national limit where appropriate his changed to a lower limit, but since I have found in practice that it makes little difference to my normal journeys or longer ones, I am happy to stick to the limits. Perhaps it’s because my priorities have changed as I have got older.

I also like the variable speed limits on motorways as again in my experience they work in keeping traffic flowing. I don’t drive for a living for which I am profoundly grateful, but if “professional” drivers are being pressured by their work to drive innapropriately then that should be dealt with

Yup bang on. After being caught for 99MPH (a bit like the poster above, the officer suggest 99 as it was an acceptable figure for both of us..) and with 9 points I decided to revise my “work stress to get as many sales as possible vs chances of death or at least licence loss” equation and found that by never going more than 80 in a 70 and sticking to lower limits I got just as much achieved.
At 26 years old I still could not stop being a maniac when I thought I could get away with it, but now I am happy pottering at the limit.

I also like the variable speed limits on motorways as again in my experience they work in keeping traffic flowing. I don’t drive for a living for which I am profoundly grateful, but if “professional” drivers are being pressured by their work to drive innapropriately then that should be dealt with

agreed.

jimw- I was trying to differentiate between having unachievable delivery deadlines and the sort of random incident that can happen. For instance, if I pick a passenger up in John o’Groats and they’re going to Inverness for a flight then I allow 3.5 hrs, even though its usually under 3. However, a big hold up could mean the risk of them missing their flight. However you want to put that, there is an added stress which is hard not to react to. We all know that being late is better than being the late….

Really? How?
Anyone who overtakes in front of a fixed cam deserves to get done, and on Mways the “speeding to overtake” argument is null as there is plenty of room, zero TED.
So then we have mobile cameras on sections where you could overtake, most of which will be obscured by the overtakee as the overtaker sails past. I can’t really see many people being caught speeding whilst overtaking. Critical thought here please.

I also like the variable speed limits on motorways

I think they’re great.

Everyone wants to go faster but they can’t because of the limit, so they employ the tried-and-tested method of all moving into the “fast” lane. Meanwhile, the “use hard shoulder” sign is lit, so you’ve got a new first lane empty which as far as the eye can see, lane two with an occasional sprinkling of lorries, and three and four bumper-to-bumper with cars desperate to do 61mph in a 60 limit with the traffic flow moving at 40mph.

The last one of these I encountered I dropped onto the hard shoulder, set the cruise control to the posted limit (as per GPS rather than speedo), and passed easily a hundred vehicles in one go.

Exactly, being late for a flight or business pressure is not an excuse for risking lives.

Really? How?

Because policemen can make judgement calls, machines do not discriminate.

Anyone who overtakes in front of a fixed cam deserves to get done,

That’s a different argument. The question was whether it happens, not whether they deserve to be penalised. FWIW I agree, if you can’t see a bloody great yellow box on a pole you probably shouldn’t be overtaking in the first place.

Critical thought here please.

DBAD.

DBAD.

Try and be civil. Moderator or not, I am making a statement not resorting to ad hom.

EDIT – crossed understanding – I mean “how” are automatic cameras increasing tickets for speeding whilst overtaking.

Try and be civil. Moderator or not, I am making a statement not resorting to ad hom.

And accusing me of a lack of critical thinking isn’t ad hom? Ok then…

“Moderator” is an irrelevance, for the purposes of taking part in a discussion I’m a forum user just like you.

Ok
Dont break the speed limit when overtaking the HGV doing 36 in a 40. You will see a straight , do a mental calculation and creep past at 41mph. Then a waanabe Guy Martin or atrained Police Persuit driver comes ino veiw at over 100mph, and they hit you.
Your mental calculation has failed because of a very rare event and your stupidity.
Or go to 3rd gear , accelerate hard get the overtake done , back in , slow down to 45 job done. shake head and tut at Guy Martin as he whooshes past

And we’ve got to take onto account most people’s judgement is poor, especially if they are in a rush or tired. 99% of us are worse drivers than the best most progresive, considerate and observant 1%.

The problem is every one with a license thinks they are the 1%.

So speed limits err on the side of safety to accommodate.

What does the hive think ofmAverage speed cameras? My maw would have them everywhere.

Ditto this:

Average speed cameras? since I am that annoying driver in front who sticks to speed limits, I have no problem with them.

Except they do confuzzle the AudirangeroverBMWmercedes-ists who still seem to think “average speed” means boot it between cameras, but heave on the anchors ever time they see a yellow gantry, which overall probably increases the liklihood of a shunt… Put them everywhere? You’re goin to see a spike in accidents before any reductions…

The actual solution is self-driving cars and an integrated traffic management system.
Remove the ego driven, sexting, meat sacks from the controls and watch journey times and fuel consumption tumble, That is at least 15-20 years away though…

For now the old carrot and stick approach isn’t really working, I think it seems fair enough to try tweaking a few things, like bumping fines or more awareness campaigns, when these measures fail to change driving habits in the UK, then that can support harsher or more intrusive measures…

It isn’t Ad hom, I am asking you to think the statement through. Not calling you a dick.

And accusing me of a lack of critical thinking isn’t ad hom? Ok then…

Oh give over. You made a cheap insult and you know it.

if you can’t see a bloody great yellow box on a pole you probably shouldn’t be overtaking in the first place.

*cant find the sunglasses smiley*

Ok
Dont break the speed limit when overtaking the HGV doing 36 in a 40. You will see a straight , do a mental calculation and creep past at 41mph. Then a waanabe Guy Martin or atrained Police Persuit driver comes ino veiw at over 100mph, and they hit you.
Your mental calculation has failed because of a very rare event and your stupidity.
Or go to 3rd gear , accelerate hard get the overtake done , back in , slow down to 45 job done. shake head and tut at Guy Martin as he whooshes past

Alternatively, travel at 4mph less than the maximum permitted speed, and take sod all extra time to complete your journey.

It isn’t Ad hom, I am asking you to think the statement through. Not calling you a dick.

Fair enough. By the same argument, I wasn’t calling you a dick, I was asking you not to be one.

Exactly, the fallacy here is that because someone in front of you is travelling below the speed limit then you have the right to take risks to ensure you are at the speed limit.

Fair enough. By the same argument, I wasn’t calling you a dick, I was asking you not to be one.

DBAD.

The other thing I’ve started doing is driving at 60-65 in the LH Lane on motorways, it’s a revelation, all the cocksockets can still sit in each others boots in the middle/RH Lane and the Middle Lane hogs can “hold them up” doing 67 and refusing to change Lane…

But the slow lane is absolutely great, lots of clear space ahead, no bugger tailgating me, pull out to go past the odd lorry, half the stress, better fuel consumption and maybe 10 minutes more on a long journey?

You can’t possible be talking about any in the vicinity of Manchester. Anytime you have any space in front (either on the M60 or M6), it will be filled by someone, or you’ll find a lorry aggressively up you arse.

DBAD.

😆 Touché.

Not at all, accusing you of a lack of critical thinking is not an insult per se, calling someone a dick is. I didn’t mean to differentiate between asking and saying you were lacking critical thinking. I’ll say it now “that post lacked critical thought”.
You asked me not to be a dick, IE you were saying I was a dick. Its just cheap blatant ad hom.

singletrackmind – Member
Ok
Dont break the speed limit when overtaking the HGV doing 36 in a 40. You will see a straight , do a mental calculation and creep past at 41mph. Then a waanabe Guy Martin or atrained Police Persuit driver comes ino veiw at over 100mph, and they hit you.
Your mental calculation has failed because of a very rare event and your stupidity.
Or go to 3rd gear , accelerate hard get the overtake done , back in , slow down to 45 job done. shake head and tut at Guy Martin as he whooshes past

Or option 3:

Sod the “calculation” drive at 36mph, give the 35 tons of death trap in front some space and when you are 5 mins late, just tutt and say “Sorry I’m slightly late, I got held up by a lorry for a couple of miles”.

The world will not end if you don’t get past immediately… No really.

Sit at 60 or go quicker, you can guess

People presume the road is empty and it’s safe to go faster to get there quicker. Usually it works out fine. Sometimes things go horribly wrong and you run into a cyclist/pedestrian/another car.

But at least you saved 6 minutes this time. Next time might be fine too.. But it also might not.