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No to 60mph motorways, for now


coldel

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Ive just come back from 1500km on Autobahns and a fair chunk of Austria as well, I was driving an M135i so you can guess how slowly I was driving and once again was amazed at how well everything worked.

 

If we need a 60 mph limit in the UK then we need better driving lessons.

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Erm... so having lower speed limits means the car will be spending more time on those roads, doesn't that mean it will be producing more pollution because it will be on the road for longer, or am i missing something here?

 

Don't engines work more efficiently at 70 than 60? So in turn use less fuel, polluting less? Or am i missing something here again?

 

Isn't the traffic the problem of effectively like trying to get a whole train station worth of people onto a train using only 1 door? Or am i still missing something again?

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A high percentage of drivers don't stick to 70 on the motorway, I was cruising at 70'ish today and was being overtaken almost constantly by motorists going in excess of 80+ so even if 60mph limit was introduced it wouldn't slow people down, perhaps it would generate more cash for the greedy government by way of more speeding fines :(

IMO 70mph motorway limit is outdated anyway it was introduced back in the 1970s when most cars were probably only just capable of reaching that speed and had milk bottle top brakes..... The stopping distances of modern cars are much much less than when the motorway limit was introduced back in the 70's so with the more efficient cars of today plus the fact there are more motorways with more lanes we should follow suit of the German autobahn and up the limit, just my opinion :)

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A high percentage of drivers don't stick to 70 on the motorway, I was cruising at 70'ish today and was being overtaken almost constantly by motorists going in excess of 80+ so even if 60mph limit was introduced it wouldn't slow people down, perhaps it would generate more cash for the greedy government by way of more speeding fines :(

IMO 70mph motorway limit is outdated anyway it was introduced back in the 1970s when most cars were probably only just capable of reaching that speed and had milk bottle top brakes..... The stopping distances of modern cars are much much less than when the motorway limit was introduced back in the 70's so with the more efficient cars of today plus the fact there are more motorways with more lanes we should follow suit of the German autobahn and up the limit, just my opinion :)

 

They brought in the speed limit when people were testing their race cars on the M1 at 190mph

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I believe they set the motorway speed limits back in the 1960's and we all know that today's cars are a lot different to the cars back then.

 

Safety has greatly improved, not to mention stopping distances as well as performance.

 

Imo we should be concentrating on becoming more like the German Autobahns and improving everyone's driving standards.

 

Generally people on forums like these and car enthusiasts in general have a good grasp of what their cars are capable of in terms of braking/stopping distances.

 

Yet the majority of users on the road seem to have no idea of these facts as anyone who drives daily on the roads will know as we've all been tailgated by idiot drivers who seem to think their cars are capable of stopping within a metre or two at motorway speeds of the car in front of them. :scare::angry:

 

Sometimes to me it even seems that some people get worse when the weather conditions are dire as because then there is even more tailgating going on.

 

Personally I'd like to see no speed limits on motorways and people using more common sense when driving (driving to the conditions, traffic etc), ...but unfortunately it will never happen as common sense doesn't seem to be so common nowadays. :dry:

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Just googled this,

 

Q: When was the 70 mph motorway speed limit introduced in Britain?

 

A: The 70 mph National Speed Limit was introduced as a temporary measure in December 1965. It is often blamed on Barbara Castle, but at the time the Minister of Transport was Tom Fraser.

 

The reason given was a spate of serious accidents in foggy conditions, but it is often claimed that the MoT had been alarmed by AC Cars testing their latest Cobra on the M1 at speeds up to 180 mph.

 

It was confirmed as a permanent limit in 1967, by which time Barbara Castle (a non-driver) had become Minister of Transport.There was surprisingly little debate at the time: the fact that the average family car of the time could only just exceed 70 mph perhaps had something to do with this.

 

It should be noted that this limit applied to all previously "derestricted" roads, not only motorways.

 

All rural roads in the Isle of Man (including most of the famous TT course) remain genuinely derestricted, as a matter of interest.

 

I still think it's out dated and we should follow suit with the autobahn ;)

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Erm... so having lower speed limits means the car will be spending more time on those roads, doesn't that mean it will be producing more pollution because it will be on the road for longer, or am i missing something here?

 

Annoyingly aforementioned Germany and some places in France have introduced speed restrictions on Motorways round cities to reduce pollution, it seems the slower you go the less you pollute :(

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As far as I can see the problem isn't speed, it's driver behaviour - tailgating, phone using, poor lane disciple etc etc.

Agreed, driver behaviour is appalling for a high percentage of those on the road, I struggle at times to understand how some people managed to even get a licence

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Just remember folks, you may have amazing calipers, discs and pads. Your potential stopping power may be fantastic and otherworldly.........but if your thinking time is crap, the benefits of the other stuff will be drastically reduced

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As far as I can see the problem isn't speed, it's driver behaviour - tailgating, phone using, poor lane disciple etc etc.

 

Yes, but speed will make things like tailgating and lane changing even more dangerous. I drove up The M56/M6/M62 today at a steady 70 and cars were passing me at 80-85 10 feet apart. There's a 2 or 3 mile stretch of the M56 near to Runcorn where they've painted Chevrons on the road with big signs saying keep 2 chevrons apart...ha at least 90% of drivers are less than 1 chevron apart .

 

I believe they set the motorway speed limits back in the 1960's and we all know that today's cars are a lot different to the cars back then.

Indeed, the cars are better and safer due to various laws (seatbelts/drink driving,etc) as well as manufacturer advances (airbags/ brakes/tyres) so you are far more likely to survive an accident these days. In 1966 there were 8,000 killed on U.K roads, today that figure is less than 3,000 with double the traffic.

 

Pete

Edited by JetSet
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Even though speed exagerates the impact of bad behaviour such as tailgating and poor lane discipline, I don't think reducing speed is the answer. Its a bit like treating the symptoms of an illness, but not the underlying cause.

 

Taken to its extreme, we could ban cars from doing any more than 5mph on any road. This would no doubt have the effect of reducing road deaths to almost zero. There would however still be some chump that manages to reverse over somebody at 5mph and kill them. Would that be a reason to then drop the limit to 4mph?

 

Its better driver education needed. More enforcement of the rules and harsher penalties.

 

The number of people I see not wearing seatbelts, talking on the phone or both is staggering. There really is no excuse for it. Start dishing out £1000 penalties for these offences and if people can't pay, then ban them for 3 months instead. Maybe the morons will get the message.

 

Same for people who sit in the overtaking lanes on the motorway. We wouldn't need to spend billions making them wider if people just used common courtesy and sense when driving on them.

 

How many times have you had to pull out into lane three to overtake some praying mantis, knuckles white with fear almost chewing the steering wheel while they do 65 in the centre lane, completely oblivious to anything?

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Even though speed exagerates the impact of bad behaviour such as tailgating and poor lane discipline, I don't think reducing speed is the answer. Its a bit like treating the symptoms of an illness, but not the underlying cause.

 

Taken to its extreme, we could ban cars from doing any more than 5mph on any road. This would no doubt have the effect of reducing road deaths to almost zero. There would however still be some chump that manages to reverse over somebody at 5mph and kill them. Would that be a reason to then drop the limit to 4mph?

 

Its better driver education needed. More enforcement of the rules and harsher penalties.

 

The number of people I see not wearing seatbelts, talking on the phone or both is staggering. There really is no excuse for it. Start dishing out £1000 penalties for these offences and if people can't pay, then ban them for 3 months instead. Maybe the morons will get the message.

 

Same for people who sit in the overtaking lanes on the motorway. We wouldn't need to spend billions making them wider if people just used common courtesy and sense when driving on them.

 

How many times have you had to pull out into lane three to overtake some praying mantis, knuckles white with fear almost chewing the steering wheel while they do 65 in the centre lane, completely oblivious to anything?

 

Agreed on all of that.

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The last thing I read about speed limits were an increase to 80!!! Now a talked about reduction!!

 

Agree with everybody else.

 

Really dont think speed is an issue, driving standards are the root of the problem.

 

Motorway driving, overtaking and other far more practical things should be incorporated into the driving test, including some form of car control, not just how to stop in a straight line quickly!

 

Even if there was a bolt on test you could take just for motorways, but only after you have been driving for 6 months?

 

Also think there should be some form of re testing, maybe at retirement age and subsequent 5 yearly gaps, if you have been banned from driving and if you have caused a major accident.

 

Or maybe if you reach 9 points you can opt for a retest and have your points cleared?

 

All this driver awareness courses and avoiding points is just keeping idiots on the road imho!

Edited by Jetpilot
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Just remember folks, you may have amazing calipers, discs and pads. Your potential stopping power may be fantastic and otherworldly.........but if your thinking time is crap, the benefits of the other stuff will be drastically reduced

True, but then it doesn't matter if you were see sawing down the M1 on a bogey, if you've got crap thinking time, you've got crap thinking time. I think the point is moot. Whether you have discs the size of a wagon wheel and callipers like mini coopers or discs the size of a washer, it all goes back to driver habits, so for those of us who do have a decent thinking cap we can experience the benefit of larger brakes and what not, to avoid drivers who have poor thinking/reaction times and/or skills.

Edited by Rock_Steady
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Over the last 5 years or so the amount of middle laning has gotten ridiculous. I use the A3 between Richmond and the M25 regularly and seeing cars coming up on my left on a slip road who then just enter the 3 laned A3 and just cross the inside lane straight out into the middle lane and slow down is unbelievable. So many people do it, I can only imagine they genuinely think that they are meant to use the middle lane regardless.

 

Until there is some serious education of the UK population on major road rules then the 70mph has to stay as it is in my view - speeding everyone up will simply increase the likelihood of more deaths as stupid people do stupid things that educated drivers just dont expect such as middle laning, tail gating etc.

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The problem is most people are so wrapped up in their own lives, that they simply have no consideration for other road users.

 

Where I live, when I let somebody out of a junction, they look shocked. I shout at people all the time to get off the phone. My favorite is to shout "you're welcome" when they don't say thanks. (I also do that same if I hold a door open for somebody and they don't say thanks!)

Simple common courtesy!

 

I don't know if this is the same in other areas / countries, but people are just so damn rude! Either that, or I'm old fashioned!

 

If the "offenders" would only realise the potential impact of their actions, then maybe we wouldn't have discussions like this!

 

 

Recently, I haven't wanted to go out and drive at the weekends, because other road users make it so intolerable. :(

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My wife actually pointed this out the other day, we drove through London from Richmond to my parents in Essex and as soon as we hit the first Essex town everyone started giving little waves, flashing lights, saying thanks etc - until then no one paid a slight bit of notice if you let them out.

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I generally find people around our area, e.g. Richmond / Twickenham etc fairly courteous. When we go up to my other half's mum's for lunch in a Amersham (Bucks) it's a different story for some reason. Very few people let you out at junctions and not many people say thanks if you let them out.

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