Speed Limits, Road Safety, Technological Change, Economic Growth

chewmylegoff

Prolaser2 wrote: »

At the moment the prosecution for speeding starts at 10 percent plus 2 above the limit.
So at the 70MPH limit you are allowed 7mph plus 2mph = 79MPH. You get done above that.
So at 80MPH you will be allowed 8mph plus 2mph = 90MPH. You get done above that.
So we will in effect have a 90MPH:A limit.
Stopping distance at 90MPH = 395 feet in the dry....
The problem is not just the speed and stopping distance it is the way people drive especially their lack of observation. We all know what its like to drive in lane 3 when the fella in the middle lane cuts into our path and nearly kills us. Its going to result in more collisions. The faster the collision the greater the risk of injury and death.
I think its a coalition gimmick to deflect us away from the real issues.
I hope they do not change the speed limit without first trying to improve everyones driving skills.

this is just an urban myth. in the real world you can get a speeding fine for doing 31mph a 30mph.

chewmylegoff

grimsalve wrote: »

It would probably cost too much to do this

I think there was a clampdown experiment around Leeds (or possibly Bradford?) a few years back where the police set up roadblocks on major roads looking for uninsured/untaxed cars - they ended up finding so many that the police were in danger of going over budget.

just shows the extent of the issue and the impact it would have.

perhaps the police could just impound and then auction anything with any value, and sell the rest for scrap, rather than crush.

IronWolf

Going4TheDream wrote: »

And the thing about it is. THEY ABIDE BY IT... not so sure we would over here? Fines for speeding in France are very expensive, in the region of 3000 Euros and possible loss of licence, but the strange thing is there are hardly any speed cameras. We travel down to our house a couple of times a year and it is a true pleasure to drive there. Drivers in the main are courteous, they do not hog the outside/overtaking lane and use it for just that. The police are very good a sorting out incidents very quickly and jams, directing traffic. There is a toll for the main highways but even the non toll roads move along without many issues

Wow, you are actually looking at French drivers as some sort of ideal we should aspire to you. I spend a lot of time in France and the drivers there are APALLING, they have no discipline on the roads, undertaking is rife and the motorways look more like a racing track with everyone weaving in and out.

The british are far more courteous and safer drivers than most in France by far.

chewmylegoff

IronWolf wrote: »

Wow, you are actually looking at French drivers as some sort of ideal we should aspire to you. I spend a lot of time in France and the drivers there are APALLING, they have no discipline on the roads, undertaking is rife and the motorways look more like a racing track with everyone weaving in and out.

The british are far more courteous and safer drivers than most in France by far.

plus i'm not quite sure where this stuff about there being no congestion on french roads comes from. yeah, there might not be much traffic around some wine appelation in the countryside, but urban traffic is effing awful, and certainly no better than it is here.

Going4TheDream

IronWolf wrote: »

Wow, you are actually looking at French drivers as some sort of ideal we should aspire to you. I spend a lot of time in France and the drivers there are APALLING, they have no discipline on the roads, undertaking is rife and the motorways look more like a racing track with everyone weaving in and out.

The british are far more courteous and safer drivers than most in France by far.

Maybe I have been lucky or maybe it is the fact that I am partly French I am not sure? but I find driving so much better than here, and the weaving in and out you describe is then using the over taking lane for OVERTAKING...unlike the UK where we see it as the slow lane, mddle lane and fast lane and people tend to pick a lane and sit in it?

ILW

The most effective way to get peole to drive more safely, would be to remove the drivers airbag on all cars and replace it with a spike in the middle of the steering wheel. Would probably stop 90% of "accidents" overnight.

ruggedtoast

Prolaser2 wrote: »

At the moment the prosecution for speeding starts at 10 percent plus 2 above the limit.
So at the 70MPH limit you are allowed 7mph plus 2mph = 79MPH. You get done above that.
So at 80MPH you will be allowed 8mph plus 2mph = 90MPH. You get done above that.
So we will in effect have a 90MPH:A limit.
Stopping distance at 90MPH = 395 feet in the dry....
The problem is not just the speed and stopping distance it is the way people drive especially their lack of observation. We all know what its like to drive in lane 3 when the fella in the middle lane cuts into our path and nearly kills us. Its going to result in more collisions. The faster the collision the greater the risk of injury and death.
I think its a coalition gimmick to deflect us away from the real issues.
I hope they do not change the speed limit without first trying to improve everyones driving skills.

No you wont. According to the proposal the "pay off" for this is an arbitrary introduction of extended 20mph limits in towns, and a strict enforcement of anyone driving above 80mph.

They're basically going to force unwanted 20 zones on people and allow us to drive 1mph faster on the motorway; at the cost of millions probably.

J_i_m

Really2 wrote: »

From what I see fuel price is the biggest killer of speed at the moment.

I think on motorways and A roads many have slowed down, this coincides with the increase cost of fuel.

That is a little bit simplistic. A difference in speed one way or the other doesn't directly affect your fuel consumption.

What gear your're in plays a very large part, for instance doing 30mph in 5th gear (so long as your car will do that) uses less revs and hence less fuel than doing 30mph in 4th gear. In fact being forced by the other traffic to drive very slighty slower may mean you have to change to a lower gear to prevent your engine from stalling and this would actually use more revs and use up more fuel.

So driving faster doesn't automatically mean using more fuel, often it helps the car to use it's fuel more efficiently.

Infect if your're in town traffic and there's stop start traffic then despite driving slower you're actually using up more fuel because to get the vehicle moving from standstill or crawling speed requires more revs.

But having said that, probably in most cars driving at 80mph would use more than 70mphm since you'd already be in top gear.

ruggedtoast

I get massively better fuel economy doing 60 - 70mph than I do cruising at 70 to 80mph.

I love driving at speed but I can practically feel the pounds being stripped out of my wallet when I put my foot down.

Going4TheDream

chewmylegoff wrote: »

plus i'm not quite sure where this stuff about there being no congestion on french roads comes from. yeah, there might not be much traffic around some wine appelation in the countryside, but urban traffic is effing awful, and certainly no better than it is here.

Flawed assumtion that my house is in some 'wine appelations in the country side' however I didnt say there was NO congestion and I said even on non toll highways that traffic moves quite well. Most of our motorways here are stationary at various junctions between say 3.30 and 19.00 across the country. I didnt find so in France