60mph Speed Limit on Motorways, your thoughts?

[Robmc]

It doesn't really bother me if they lower the speed limit. I usually drive at around 60 in my camper and my work van and the reduction in MPG is very noticeable. The police reckon that speed is the biggest killer, and it doesn't always matter if the road is empty. Puddles, potholes, tyre failure, even animals can all come into play.
I drive around 100k per year and see many accidents and see no reason to disagree.

 

[mountainm]

Ah... reading the article shows that it's a legal loophole (that the driver must be in the same lane on both camera's footage) rather than a technological one.

The whole system of average speed cameras is flawed anyway, as traffic joining between cameras on a slipway can often require vehicles in the left-hand lane to speed up to accommodate them (depending on the actions of the drivers around them). If you're usually averaging spot-on the limit, then these moments of necessary acceleration will put you over the top, thus a ticket despite the legal precedent of "necessity" (or "mitigating circumstances" as it's defined on the notice)

Also it's a daily mail article - therefore I wouldn't entirely trust it.

 

[Toddy]

Nor me.

On motorways the biggest killer isn't speed, it's changing lanes.
That's why the middle lane is so comfortable to people. No on and offs and no few real speed heads. Problems come when someone sits at 50 or 60 in the middle lane when the traffic flow is comfortable at 70.

M

 

[Damascus]

Whether the speed limit is reduced or not, accidents will happen due to excessive speed, currently it's 70, yet people still travel at 100+, if it's 60 those who travelled faster before will continue to do so. Like so many others have said its the muppets on the road are the source of accidents. "I've never had an accident in my life, but I've seen hundreds in my rear view mirror" the road is full of them, it's way to raise revenue by stealth I'm sure, the jury is out with me at the moment.

i have a brilliant idea, why don't we get someone with a flag, they could walk in front of the vehicles and that might reduce accidents, it's just a thought.

 

[Headshed]

When they refer to speed as the biggest killer, it's inappropriate speed that they mean, which 90% of the time, is excessive speed for the conditions, not exceeding the limit.

 

[sandbender]

I own a old Defender, I dream of reaching 60mph.

 

[resnikov]

If we think lane etiquette is bad here you should see Australia. I remember driving on a 3 lane freeway and there were 3 cars one in each lane all doing about 5 kmph below the speed limit and we sat behind them for about 30 mins with nothing we could do to pass them. They all seemed to be blissfully unaware of the world around them. I was going mental by the end of it.

 

[bilmo-p5]

I own a old Defender, I dream of reaching 60mph.

Ha, ha, got that t-shirt. The only time my Serious 1 did 60 was on the back of a recovery truck.

 

[Coldfeet]

have you tried breathing exercises to calm yourself down?!!!

i hear what youre saying, but assuming you were driving at 70mph the reduction to 60mph factoring in the 10% speedo error thing means you can drive at 66mph which is only a loss of 4mph.

now if you were driving at 77mph then its more noticeable!

also i was told that if you changed lanes average speed cameras lose track of you.

It is illegal for speedometers to over-read, that is the basis for the 10% tolerance i.e. all speedometers over-read unless they have been recalibrated, as the Police do.

 

[Toddy]

If we think lane etiquette is bad here you should see Australia. I remember driving on a 3 lane freeway and there were 3 cars one in each lane all doing about 5 kmph below the speed limit and we sat behind them for about 30 mins with nothing we could do to pass them. They all seemed to be blissfully unaware of the world around them. I was going mental by the end of it.

Scotland's single track roads....that are really the only road in many rural areas. German tourists who are of the opinion that 25 mph is an ample sufficiency even though the road is marked for up to 60 and pulling over is apparantly beyond their driving capabilities despite numerous clearly marked passing places.
I could cheerfully have choked one blighter on Skye

The police actually charge folks for doing this now; it's called obstruction, and the Sheriffs are not minded to go easy on the penalties.

M

 

[wingstoo]

How many here have done the "Speed awareness course"

I have, I was clocked doing 35 in a 30 at 07:10 on a weekday morning leaving town...

But there is a lot to be said about speed limits, reasons for speed limits and the cause of all motor vehicle collisions is caused by speed, not some, ALL.

If you increase the speed from 70 to 80 mph the increased usage of fuel is approximately 25%, the wear and tear on your vehicles internal workings increases as does the wear on your brake pads...

At 30mph if you bring your car to a halt between two points and put a cone in front of the end position then go and do exactly the same but drive at 35mph, when you hit the cone you will be travelling at about 27mph...instead of 0mph.

So, doing 60mph will probably save you a lot of money on fuel and wear and tear on your car, it will cause less damage to you personally should you hit the car in front of you, and strangely enough you could well get to your final destination quicker and more relaxed.

Also don't forget that should you get a conviction for speeding it is 3 penalty points to start with, plus it will add a good (and possibly at least) £100 to your insurance premiums for the next three years, and it must be disclosed to the insurance company for up to five years, it is also a requirement on some application forms to disclose the fact you have a conviction for speeding, IE a shotgun certificate requires you to disclose you have a conviction for speeding... It may or may not have an impact on whatever you are applying for, is it a worthwhile risk?

So, what are the positives and the negatives again...

 

[dwardo]

I always drive at 60mph on the motorway. In the middle lane. I thought it was already the law...

SO its you is it! We should all go to our DailyMail lockers and pull out the pitch forks, Kerne burns!

Seriously though I saw some old dear doing this this morning. I stayed in the slow lane to see how far she went, about 20 miles before I had to pull off at the next junction.
You have to laugh or go mad.

 

[789987]

How many here have done the "Speed awareness course"

I have, I was clocked doing 35 in a 30 at 07:10 on a weekday morning leaving town...

But there is a lot to be said about speed limits, reasons for speed limits and the cause of all motor vehicle collisions is caused by speed, not some, ALL.

If you increase the speed from 70 to 80 mph the increased usage of fuel is approximately 25%, the wear and tear on your vehicles internal workings increases as does the wear on your brake pads...

At 30mph if you bring your car to a halt between two points and put a cone in front of the end position then go and do exactly the same but drive at 35mph, when you hit the cone you will be travelling at about 27mph...instead of 0mph.

So, doing 60mph will probably save you a lot of money on fuel and wear and tear on your car, it will cause less damage to you personally should you hit the car in front of you, and strangely enough you could well get to your final destination quicker and more relaxed.

Also don't forget that should you get a conviction for speeding it is 3 penalty points to start with, plus it will add a good (and possibly at least) £100 to your insurance premiums for the next three years, and it must be disclosed to the insurance company for up to five years, it is also a requirement on some application forms to disclose the fact you have a conviction for speeding, IE a shotgun certificate requires you to disclose you have a conviction for speeding... It may or may not have an impact on whatever you are applying for, is it a worthwhile risk?

So, what are the positives and the negatives again...

35 in a 30 - seems a bit harsh to get pulled for it. they dont seem to do the speed awareness course in scotland, but if i dodged points and a fine... where do i sign?!

 

[wingstoo]

35 in a 30 - seems a bit harsh to get pulled for it. they dont seem to do the speed awareness course in scotland, but if i dodged points and a fine... where do i sign?!

Standard these days, 35 is the 10% +2mph, so under this no problem, over this and it's £60 + 3 points and the consequences of at least another £300 over three years on your insurance premiums (rises again when/if you get another 3 points in the same time period) The course is usually half a day and costs £80. You only get to go on one course in any three year period, caught again and it's £60 + 3 points.

As pointed out 30mph was the limit, "if" I had needed to stop because of a pedestrian it was highly probable they would have been either dead or maimed as I would possibly hit them at too high a speed...

 

[789987]

how do you sleep at night you monster?!

 

[ateallthepies]

90mph in great conditions, 50mph in poor conditions, in-between conditions 70mph. Totally unenforceable but how I would like it!

On a serious note, all cars should have distance sensors to force cars to leave a safe distance between each other as most pile ups are from people tail-gating.

 

[wingstoo]

how do you sleep at night you monster?!

Restlessly...

Well I would if I was the chap in this video...

[video=youtube;0tteHhYh9rU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tteHhYh9rU[/video]

Is it really worth it?

Maybe ask a few coppers who have had to "knock on the door" just to make sure it is OK to speed...

And the argument of "it's only me on the road" is only true until you see the results of the crash, Fire, police and ambulance personnel just add to the clutter when they are scraping you off the road, but it's OK, that is their job, it doesn't affect them to see broken bodies laying around the roads or in a vehicle.

It's OK though, I don't mind if you speed, I'll be right behind you, hopefully a few miles behind you.

Did you know that it costs the tax payer nearly £1,000,000 to deal with a fatal car crash... Probably not a concern to most here.

But have a chat with Mad Dave and get him to get Drewdunrespects parents to tell you how it feels to have a son killed in traffic incident, Ask my wife how it feels to have your Father killed in a traffic accident...

Maybe, just maybe you will understand why they have maximum speed limits in the UK...



It isn't all about the person speeding, it is about everyone else...

 

[Robmc]

.......................Is it really worth it?

Maybe ask a few coppers who have had to "knock on the door" just to make sure it is OK to speed..............

Well said. I have had that knock on the door. You really do not want it to happen to you.

 

[wingstoo]

This is a car out of control at 80mph, watch what happens at 1:20 to 1:30 into the video...

[video=youtube;W1sM5I7HeCQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1sM5I7HeCQ[/video]

80mph on the motorway you don't have a lot of time to react to a blow out... Or someone else's blow out.

 

[rik_uk3]

I'm not sure on this one. Personally I don't enjoy driving but many do. Is 60mph so bad? Many family cars will do 100mph + so do the government insist on engine governors to restrict the top speed to 60 or rely on the self control of the driver? Is it still 55 in the USA?

You can cover a lot of miles in a few hours at 60mph so upon reflection I have no issue with the restriction.