Motorway Speed Limit

[Roy124]

Sheesh, from a Brum news link:

UK motorway speed limit could be increased to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'

Drivers have until June 13 to respond to the petition as the government is hit by a petition saying the speed limit on motorways should be raised due to 60 year old rules "needing changing".

Personally I would limit trucks overtaking on dual carriageways to avoid the 1 mph creep. 

At 100mph I would just see cars arriving at their turnoff faster than they can exit with tailbacks building up rapidly. 

Yesterday I did two 100 mile journeys.  The average speed was 40mph each way.  The consumption south was 55mpg and I had to cruise at the speed limit in each section.  Northbound mpg was 60 and I cruised at 10% below the limits.

The traffic much lighter northbound but that slower cruising speed was far less tiring. 

[Paul john]

12 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

Sheesh, from a Brum news link:

UK motorway speed limit could be increased to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'

Drivers have until June 13 to respond to the petition as the government is hit by a petition saying the speed limit on motorways should be raised due to 60 year old rules "needing changing".

Personally I would limit trucks overtaking on dual carriageways to avoid the 1 mph creep. 

At 100mph I would just see cars arriving at their turnoff faster than they can exit with tailbacks building up rapidly. 

Yesterday I did two 100 mile journeys.  The average speed was 40mph each way.  The consumption south was 55mpg and I had to cruise at the speed limit in each section.  Northbound mpg was 60 and I cruised at 10% below the limits.

The traffic much lighter northbound but that slower cruising speed was far less tiring. 

85mph like france?

[Cyker]

Ugh this is just BS lazy reporting for sensationalist clickbait - It's just *another* uk.gov petition trying to get the speed limit increased, nothing special or new; The 'could', while technically true, has similar probability to me winning the national lottery (For context, I don't play the national lottery)

I can play that game too - Just from the current active petitions:

"UK could ban the sale of power tools!"

"UK could ban the use of dogs!"

"UK could legalize murder!"

I could have been a great journalist if I didn't value my integrity  

[FROSTYBALLS]

The petition needs 10K signatures for Government to respond, and 100K signatures to be considered for debate in Parliament. A long way from being introduced.

[Roy124]

11 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The petition needs 10K signatures for Government to respond, and 100K signatures to be considered for debate in Parliament. A long way from being introduced.

Quite.  Pie in the sky.

Even 85mph, as a UK limit, is too fast for dual carriageways.  Not driven in France for many years but unlimited on Autobahn worked with fewer trucks on the 2 lane.

In UK simply too many lorries.

[Roy124]

Touching on Cyker's frequent complaint on motorway signage.

Down the A1M near the A14 I think,  the gantry proclaimed Incident and advised 50 on all lanes along the whole length where there were signs.  Predictably not a single incident,  nor did anyone slow down. 

There was just a possible explanation,  about the 3rd gantry a Highways worker was climbing the ladder.  

[Haliotis]

I wonder what kind of driver is the clot who wants a 100 mph limit on our motorways?  Probably an impatient one who exceeds any speed limit.

When the first section of the M1 - Crick to Watford Gap - came into use, and just prior to the official “opening date”, I did the trip on a Sunday afternoon.  My Hillman Minx had a top speed of about 80 mph, which I did for a short time, and there were loads of high powered cars passing me as if I were standing still.

With the current 70 mph limit, there are still stupid errors which result in serious collisions, and many drivers still hit the limit (or over) when road conditions clearly show that this is unsafe.

The behaviour of drivers themselves clearly indicates that, IF the current 70 mph limit were to be amended, it needs to be lowered rather than raised.

[mpm235]

13 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The petition needs 10K signatures for Government to respond, and 100K signatures to be considered for debate in Parliament. A long way from being introduced.

Government will never do it in a million years

[Yugguy1970]

a) the govt would never do it and b) when and where can you even do 100mph these days?

[mpm235]

48 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

I wonder what kind of driver is the clot who wants a 100 mph limit on our motorways?  Probably an impatient one who exceeds any speed limit.

When the first section of the M1 - Crick to Watford Gap - came into use, and just prior to the official “opening date”, I did the trip on a Sunday afternoon.  My Hillman Minx had a top speed of about 80 mph, which I did for a short time, and there were loads of high powered cars passing me as if I were standing still.

With the current 70 mph limit, there are still stupid errors which result in serious collisions, and many drivers still hit the limit (or over) when road conditions clearly show that this is unsafe.

The behaviour of drivers themselves clearly indicates that, IF the current 70 mph limit were to be amended, it needs to be lowered rather than raised.

In June, 1964, a motor racing team tested their AC Cobra on the M1, prior to going to Le Mans. Driver jack Sears got it up to 185mph. This is almost as fast as my Auris.

[Roy124]

29 minutes ago, mpm235 said:

In June, 1964, a motor racing team tested their AC Cobra on the M1, prior to going to Le Mans. Driver Jack Sears got it up to 185mph. This is almost as fast as my Auris.

I believe 185 is still possible with a motor bikers doing so.  How about this one:

Or

https://news.sky.com/story/motorcyclist-speeding-at-150mph-caught-out-by-his-own-dashcam-footage-13004409

[jordieDAFC]

I don't quite understand the thinking behind it, Surely we just get a quicker build up as everybody is approaching the bottle neck sooner? Our motorways can't handle those sort of speeds anyway and there's absolutely no way the majority of the public are capable of driving safely at those speeds

Up here most of our motorways are 2 lanes which isn't really sufficient for todays traffic levels. All it takes is a truck to go for an overtake or a car in the fast lane not doing 70 and you start getting build up until they move over. Congestion is more an infrastructure age issue rather than anything to do with speed limits 

Driving down to England is such a breeze once we get to the 3 lanes

[Roy124]

2 minutes ago, jordieDAFC said:

Driving down to England is such a breeze once we get to the 3 lanes

Really! Mind you, the Peterborough 4-lane onnA1 is good but quite why it's there we have no idea.  I think the plan was to continue North through Lincolnshire,  until Tony B said 'what has Lincolnshire ever done for me?'

 

 

[Mjolinor]

I have done 150 MPH down an airport runway (in a BMW)

It is scary how hard it is to stop. The car felt fine but no corners and no traffic to worry about.

A reduction to 60 would have a more usable effect for British traffic.

 

[Cyker]

Well we were close to it at one point as the government did consider raising the NSL to 80 on motorways (But not DCs) at one point, but on the proviso that the enforcement would be more strict, so effectively no difference (At the moment you can do 80mph and nobody will give a smeg unless you're also driving dangerously).

I'd not be opposed to an increase - There are times when I'm coming home at 2am on a deserted road that I feel I'd like to go faster, but certainly during the day time it'd be pointless as you're lucky to even get to 70 for more than brief moments on most motorways.

The thing is, we'd have to GREATLY improve driving standards before I'd get behind a speed limit increase - I've always promoted allowing drivers to use their judgement instead of trying to control everything we do, but the sad fact is there are too many drivers on the road who frankly should have their licenses revoked, and until that number is greatly reduced and we are left with drivers who are actually sensible and use their judgement, it's a case of "That are why we can't have nice things."

I'm also opposed to reducing it too though - I don't like this obsession with  making pointless incremental changes just to show you've done something; Such people need a good whack with the Leave Well Enough Alone bat.

Also, they never increase limits after reducing them, and if they keep reducing them we'll start seeing 10mph or even 5mph limits in towns - I already get overtaken by hoards of bicycles in some 20mph areas as it is; I don't want to start getting overtaken by pedestrians too!!

 

One idea I had was to introduce a 'super' license - This would involve a more stringent test, maybe including a psychological profile too, and require annual or biennial retest to keep it, and this would give you an extra entitlement on your license and a tag for your car to identify entitlement and allow some extra leeway like access to higher-powered cars, and be allowed to go maybe 10mph above the speed limit or something.

This would hopefully encourage people to be better drivers instead of the current trend of dumbing things down and making drivers worse as they increasingly aren't allowed to think for themselves.

Penalties for breaching it would have to be harsh though, and include a permanent revocation of eligibility for that license.

 

[Roy124]

Really enjoyed London at a slow pace.  The off-putting thing was 10 miles to go, 40 minutes to destination.  The good thing is, it was just 40 minutes.

As I related elsewhere, a lower cruising speed had me take exactly the same time as when I was driving at the limit.

[Cyker]

Trust me the novelty wears off quickly when you have to do it every day  

It's why I take a route that is 3 times longer to get home - As you say it takes the same amount of time (!! ), but is much better for my sanity than sitting in stop-start traffic with no sensation of progress!

[Big_D]

If people can’t stick to a speed limit of 70mph on a motorway, does anyone think these people would travel at the 100mph speed limit?

[Roy124]

@Big_D I guess a survey here would be a waste of time 😂

While I used to cruise at a true 70 (when I could) in a diesel Merc, I now chose the comfort of Lorry+5mph and can sit comfortably in lane 1 with occasional overtaking if lane 2 is free flowing.   Often I find I am cruising as fast as lane 2 traffic except I have open road in front of me.

What does irk me though, if I want to travel at a true 60/70 is the car and the wife both nag me.  Worse, the Smart Connect display shows the correct speed limit and my true speed.

Modern cars have sufficient sensor and computing power to display an accurate speed regardless of tyre or wheel size, pressures or whatever.  Why do they accept the permitted upto 10% error?

My MY19 was a full 10% out.  My MY21 YC is about 2-3%.  Had I got in the habit of driving at indicated +10% and continued that in the Yaris I would always be speeding.

[Mjolinor]

Why would you get into the habit of limit + 10%? That is illegal in 50% of cases.

The 10% + 2 is to allow for speedo inaccuracy not for people in a hurry.

[Big_D]

@Roy124 I tend to sit in the slow lane behind the trucks and lorries. I’d rather get where I’m going five minutes late, than get to a hospital in an ambulance or body bag.

case in point, I was doing 55 in a 60 zone and was passed by an Audi driver who must have been doing at least 80 (an educated guess). I caught up to him a few minutes later after he got caught behind a string of vehicles being slowed by a tractor.

[Roy124]

1 hour ago, Mjolinor said:

Why would you get into the habit of limit + 10%? That is illegal in 50% of cases.

The 10% + 2 is to allow for speedo inaccuracy not for people in a hurry.

I did not say I actually drove at indicated limit +10%, but that is never illegal if your calibrated error is +10%.

I did drive at a true limit speed but that is different. 

[Roy124]

1 hour ago, Big_D said:

@Roy124 case in point, I was doing 55 in a 60 zone and was passed by an Audi driver who must have been doing at least 80 (an educated guess). I caught up to him a few minutes later after he got caught behind a string of vehicles being slowed by a tractor.

Agree, and even sweeter if the Audi is in a long nose to tail queue and your lane behind the tractor is clear and you leave him behind.

[Mjolinor]

48 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

I did not say I actually drove at indicated limit +10%, but that is never illegal if your calibrated error is +10%.

I did drive at a true limit speed but that is different. 

I did not say that you did drive at speed limit + 10%, I asked why you ever would develop the habit. 🙂

On the subject of asking what method do you think there is to accurately measure speed at all times the car is moving?

The only way I can think of is a Doppler effect sensor underneath the car, probably laser driven but I suppose audio would work but would not be as accurate.

[Roy124]

2 minutes ago, Mjolinor said:

On the subject of asking what method do you think there is to accurately measure speed at all times the car is moving?

The only way I can think of is a Doppler effect sensor underneath the car, probably laser driven but I suppose audio would work but would not be as accurate.

Ah, I meant someone who wanted to drive as fast and legal in one car.

Yes, doppler was what I had in mind.  The rear traffic alert measures speed of approaching vehicles and the forward beam your closing speed so a software solution  would seem possible. 

I wonder what freq they use and how they avoid mutual interference with other cars.