Speed limits?

[redddraggon]

What's the point having a Wide, well surfaced, good visibility main road with a 50mph speed limit, and then having the narrow, poor visibility, poorly surfaced, country lanes off the main roads at the national speed limit?

Seems a bit stupid to me - should they not be 20 or 30mph limits?

 

[RedBike]

Speed limits don't reflect the 'safe' speed limit.
After all they rarely change when the road has a dangerous corner etc.

They are more to do with the roads location / proximity to a built up area.

I would like to see dynamic speed limits introduced on motorways and some 'A' roads.

Heavy rain / fog - drop the speed limit to 40mph.
Clear carridgeway at night. - Lets have a 100mph limit.

 

[jazzkat]

lots of stuff about speed limits here
http://www.safespeed.org.uk/speedlimits.html

the problem is so many people choose to drive at whatever speed they think is right. Not helped by local councils lowering speed limits on roads that are well surfaced and capable of higher speeds causing motorists to become frustrated. Once youve broken that law its easy to break it again IMHO.

 

[jonesy]

lots of stuff about speed limits here
http://www.safespeed.org.uk/speedlimits.html

the problem is so many people choose to drive at whatever speed they think is right. Not helped by local councils lowering speed limits on roads that are well surfaced and capable of higher speeds causing motorists to become frustrated. Once youve broken that law its easy to break it again IMHO.

There's certainly lots of bollox on that web site.

I'm unclear why the 'frustration' of drivers who wish to go faster than they are allowed to should prevail over the wishes of those who'd like a safer, more civilised environment on their streets...

 

[Bromptonaut]

There's certainly lots of bollox on that web site.

.

+1

 

[wafflycat]

lots of stuff about speed limits here
http://www.safespeed.org.uk/speedlimits.html

the problem is so many people choose to drive at whatever speed they think is right. Not helped by local councils lowering speed limits on roads that are well surfaced and capable of higher speeds causing motorists to become frustrated. Once youve broken that law its easy to break it again IMHO.

As pointed out, there's a complete load of bollox on that site. Please don't drag safespeed over here. If I may remind we motorists who hold a full driving licence, it's a basic driving skill we have to demonstrate competency in in order to obtain said licence: driving within the speed limit at all times. If someone really has difficulty in doing that then they should stop driving solo and not do so again until they've had some remedial training to bring their driving skill back up to the level of basic competency. It's really not at all difficult to drive within the limits.

 

[guitarpete247]

I used to have a 70 mile Drive down the M1 on Friday and back North on Sunday which I usually did at 80mph+. When I slowed down to 70mph I realised that:
a) It was taking me the same time for the journey give or take 10 mins;
I was saving myself a hell of a lot of fuel;
c) I enjoyed the driving more as I wasn't so stressed over other numpties coming up behind flashing me as they had to be somewhere fast (probably needed the loo or something like that).

Drove down to Cornwall a few years ago with a trailer full of camping gear. Instead of 35 mpg I got 52mpg just by sticking to 60mph (the limit for a trailer).

 

[StuartG]

Yes, yet another outstanding example of a graduate from the Dr Andrew Wakefield School of Statistical Inference.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I drive from Mitcheldean (near Gloucester) to Hemel Hempstead every night, mostly in an artic but sometimes in a 7.5 tonner. In the artic I'm limited to 40mph for most of the stretch between Gloucester and Oxford, in the puddlejumper I can drive at 56 mph on the same stretch. It makes maybe ten minutes' difference to a three hour journey. Hardly worth bothering about. My colleague does the same journey every night and he's forever telling me how he has to watch out for cameras, slow down when he sees a pair of headlights in his mirrors "in case it's a copper", and so forth. Who needs that?

 

[al78]

What's the point having a Wide, well surfaced, good visibility main road with a 50mph speed limit, and then having the narrow, poor visibility, poorly surfaced, country lanes off the main roads at the national speed limit?

Seems a bit stupid to me - should they not be 20 or 30mph limits?

Because the wide, well surfaced, good visibility road has hidden hazards on it that may not be immediately apparent to drivers who are not familiar with the road. The hazards on the narrow, poor visibility, poorly surfaced, country lane, on the other hand, are so obvious to the driver that the hazards act as a natural speed limiter (think risk compensation).

The most dangerous roads are the ones that look perfectly innocuous, but have a nasty surprise at an unlucky moment.

 

[Bad Company]

Speed limits don't reflect the 'safe' speed limit.
After all they rarely change when the road has a dangerous corner etc.

They are more to do with the roads location / proximity to a built up area.

I would like to see dynamic speed limits introduced on motorways and some 'A' roads.

Heavy rain / fog - drop the speed limit to 40mph.
Clear carridgeway at night. - Lets have a 100mph limit.

Excellent idea.

Could be difficult to police tho.

 

[atbman]

Renminds me of the Top Gear bit a few years ago. They tested the difference between two drivers (B'ham - Exeter), one of whom lane hopped whenever the lane he was in was going faster. T'other stayed in lane.

The difference at Exeter was 5 minutes quicker for the lane hopper

 

[gavintc]

Renminds me of the Top Gear bit a few years ago. They tested the difference between two drivers (B'ham - Exeter), one of whom lane hopped whenever the lane he was in was going faster. T'other stayed in lane.

The difference at Exeter was 5 minutes quicker for the lane hopper

Personally, I always get lane hopping wrong and end up pushing in to an even slower lane. I now tend to sit it out - less stressful.

 

[JamesMorgan]

There is a potential personal dilema as highlighted by the safe-speed website. The speed at which the lowest crash risk is approx at the 85 percentile. So if, as an individual, I want to drive at the safest speed for me I should typically drive at that speed. However, if I did have an accident at this speed the consequences for a pedestrian or cyclist would be a lot worse. So I need to resolve the dilema of my own personal safety with that of others. I think this is where enforced speed limits really come in. There has been a lot of recent discussion about dropping residential speed limits to 20mph. If I drove at 20mph today the chances are I would be more likely to have an accident, but if I did hit a pedestrian/cyclist they would probably survive. If the speed limit was enforced at 20mph then my own chance of an accident would probably not go up.

 

[Bad Company]

There is a potential personal dilema as highlighted by the safe-speed website. The speed at which the lowest crash risk is approx at the 85 percentile. So if, as an individual, I want to drive at the safest speed for me I should typically drive at that speed. However, if I did have an accident at this speed the consequences for a pedestrian or cyclist would be a lot worse. So I need to resolve the dilema of my own personal safety with that of others. I think this is where enforced speed limits really come in. There has been a lot of recent discussion about dropping residential speed limits to 20mph. If I drove at 20mph today the chances are I would be more likely to have an accident, but if I did hit a pedestrian/cyclist they would probably survive. If the speed limit was enforced at 20mph then my own chance of an accident would probably not go up.

Mr Paul and the other usual suspects will be along shortly.