Cameron to put brakes on 80mph limit

so everyone will just carry on doing between 80 and 90 anyway

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 10:13

so everyone will just carry on doing between 80 and 90 anyway

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 10:17

And the government will keep handing out fines, £60 please :)

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 10:41

it's a f ing joke .... I am almost sure I used to beable to think for my self ?

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 10:58

having put a new message on:
we are not against the driver
no speed cameras
increase speed limit

as usual the nannies have got in the way
more and quicker cameras
higher fines
reduce speed limits 30-20 80-70

Trime to emigrate to countries with sensible transport policies like anywhere else in Europe.

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 11:00

I welcome this news on one hand, but am dismayed on the other.

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 12:59

They know most people already drive at 70-80, and that seems to be an unwritten rule of acceptability as I have often passed through speed traps and had police cars come up behind me at that speed with no consequence. If they increased the limit to 80 people would drive at 80-90.
So the real question is "Is 90mph an acceptable speed on the motorway?"

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 13:08

God!! the only time you don't want him to do a U turn he goes ahead and does one. Man's a Pratt.

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 13:14

You all forget Cameron does NOT DRIVE ?

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 13:26

Face it guys, increasing the limit will indeed cause more accidents and pollution. Keeping the limit at 70 will keep the vast majority of people driving 75-80, but for the few of us where speed matters, we break the limit at our peril. Ridng fast is fun, always will be, so when we do speed (and we will), we shall just continue to do so at a sensible time and place.

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 14:09

Goodness me, that's a surprise!
Not.

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 14:18

Fellini - not necessarily true. Modern engines are more efficient at higher speeds, and as for more accidents? The speed limit in most of mainland Europe is 80 or more, and I don't believe their accident rates are any higher than here in the UK?

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 15:55

What!!! I thought for a moment that some common sense was returning. I moved to Europe and here in most countries the limit on motorways is 130kph (about 85mph) and it makes more sense. And it doesn't cause more accidents, felini.

Even worse I was back in the UK at the weekend driving over the M62 which had roadworks. But all three lanes were opened albeit with no hard shoulder. It had a 50mph limit! And yet a country road has a 60mph limit. Incredible. No sense whatsoever

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 16:51

It is tricky for the police to prove dangerous driving, but much eaiser to prove speeding. Retaining the 70mph speed limit and allowing the police to enforce where necessary, may give the police the oppotunity to prosecute a dangerous and speeding driver for speeding at 80mph at least or prosecute drivers for driving at speed at inappropriate times. So on these grounds I welcome this.

I deplore the way this subject has been banned around while countless gantry cameras are being erected around the countries motorway net work. I had been looking forward to seeing the gantry signs showing 80mph at quieter times and so been have been less objectionable to their influx. Now I wonder if this 80mph fiasco was a smoke screen to get these gantry cameras in place without to much of an up roar. Or am I being over suspicious?

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 17:34

An 80mph limit won't help when there is a mass of vehicles miles long travelling at 60mph because the 3 lane motorway has been reduced to a single lane where you can travel at the limit and the other 2 have one HGV travelling at 57mph and the other has an HGV overtaking at 59mph.

Sort out the discipline and knowledge of the rules (like moving over to the left lane if you're not actually overtaking another vehicle) penalise those that impede the rest and being able to maintain 70-80 constantly will seem like a good deal.

Bikes are the most involving and dynamic form of motorised transport, motorways are just a way of reaching more interesting roads, lot of which have been stifled by 50mph limits; that's one form of blight that continues to creep across the country almost completely unchallenged.

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 20:18

+1 Sinistral.

and it is not limited to mototrways either. Various key roads we have seen have a speed limit reduction and then enforcement. Why not enforce and access, then reduce if need be.

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 20:31

The early suggestion was that if the 80limit was imposed then there would be ZERO tollerance for offenders so just maybe we are ok as we are for now .

   It"s just a matter of being very viggilant when having a blast ,we all should know the local hot spots for the cameras,

  Living in North Wales we live with the legacy of Richard Brunsrtom ,and take care in the hot spots, although it"s still easy to get caught out when having a bit of fun .

First light is  great just watch for damp patches innit.

Posted: 18/09/2012 at 21:06

@skoop/fellini: here in The Netherlands most of the limits are increased from 120km/h to 130km/h. No significant impact on the environment though, so guess Skoop's right. However: we now have 2 max. limits and a few 'dynamic' limits (these depend on the traffic). For foreigners and people not familiar with certain areas, this is a disaster, since they stick to what they know: 120km/h, annoying... Yes, me.

Posted: 19/09/2012 at 11:39

This is a very unfortunate decision. Posting 80 mph on most Motorways would improve safety and reduce the total fatalities in the UK. The 85th percentile speed on Motorways is about 79 mph per DfT data. Engineers and students of this issue know that posting the speed limit at the 85th percentile speed of free flowing traffic under good conditions almost always results in the smoothest and safest traffic flow with the fewest accidents. In addition, making today’s normal travel speeds on Motorways of 75 to 80 mph be legal would draw more traffic off the A and B roads and onto the Motorways where the fatality rate per mile traveled is two to four times lower.

This was a terrible and anti-safety decision.

James C. Walker, National Motorists Association (USA), http://www.motorists.org, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA (frequent visitor to Britain to see family in West Yorkshire)

Posted: 22/09/2012 at 22:17

Speed has never killed anyone. INAPPROPRIATE speed kills lots - even at 20 mph.

On that basis, I'd like to see the research the Safety Nazis brought to the table to justify their claims, and I'd like to see Cameron grow a pair or wear a skirt.

It really is time we started pushing politicians into camps. With showers.

Posted: 22/09/2012 at 22:27

Yes, this is silly, 80mph in modern cars today is nothing. BUT, what causes all these jams is purely poor driving discipline, middle lane hoggers etc. I drove 650miles, in the day, (in a car), from the South of France at the end of the summer hols, on the west side, on primarily dual carriageways. It took 8 and a half hours! We were held up once when a lorry was overtaking another lorry up a hill!

EVERYONE pulls into the inside lane as soon as they overtake. If they don't, someone will come up behind them flashing etc. Maybe we need to start doing more of this in this country!

Posted: 23/09/2012 at 18:47

Flash all you want at some of these idiots it makes no difference, they think they deserve to stay in the outside lane, unless you happen to have a blue flashing light on top. Really made me consider buying a white BMW with chevrons etc.
Why don't the police enforce the keep left pass right rule any more?
It's the bane of motorway driving/riding. Don't driving schools teach this any more?

Posted: 23/09/2012 at 21:30

Ahhh... the Nanny State! I love you guys for your scenery, history, and Fish and Chips, but I could never live there.Here's an interesting study from one of our states, Utah, where they found that an 80MPH speed limit dropped accidents by 20%

http://fox13now.com/2012/09/19/freeway-speed-limit-may-increase-to-80-mph-in-utah/

Posted: 24/09/2012 at 01:26