Is it time to increase the speed limit from 70mph to 80mph?

daveyjp

I'm happy with 78 mph, which is the current default max speed, or would OP accept an 80 limit with harsher penalties if you were caught speeding?

Mercdriver

I mean no offence, but if I was someone who had posted several OPs concerning basic elements of driving, I wouldn't have started a thread suggesting that speed limits should be revised upwards.

Mercdriver

JustAnotherSaver said:

Without a doubt yes. Barely anyone sticks to the 70mph limit anyway.

"But i do". Yeah like i said, barely anyone. You're not everyone & the vast majority of people i see on the motorway go over 70mph anyway.

I see comments on social media here & there about speed killing. Stupid driving kills. Sure the chances may be greater if you're doing 80 vs 30 that someone may end up dead but if you don't drive like an idiot then unless you have some unbelievable car failure it'll be your stupid driving that causes the incident really.

I've been involved in 2 collisions. My first was a woman went right in the back of me because she was driving too fast for the wet conditions & didn't leave enough time to stop. Stupid driving.

The other was when i overtook someone on a long straight & he turned out to be a local nutjob & he swerved in to me & tried to run me off the road. That was stupid & there's also the argument of if i hadn't overtaken him then it wouldn't have happened.

Stupid driving at higher speeds kills more than stupid driving at lower speeds.  Everyone makes some mistakes, has a certain amount of attention lapses due to tiredness or stress or other factors.  Better to not be doing silly speeds so: a) you have more time to avoid having an accident and/or b) if the accident is unavoidable, the consequences are less severe.

ElephantBoy57

TooManyPoints said:

"...but the standard of driving has also increased what with tests / highway code being stricter than they were in 1965."
Not in my experience it hasn't. The tests may have become more complex but whether they are a better test of driving competency is arguable.

I recall driving when I was much younger, the fear of doing something wrong and being caught was much higher back then.

It may only have been my perception, but I think there is no fear of being caught doing wrong these days. Its also harder because everyone has a car, the roads are so much busier, motorways are a prime example.

Dr_Crypto

I normally stick the cruise on at 80. Even when passing police cars they show no interest (although maybe that’s because I’m white, who knows any more). 

I expect if it were raised people would sit at 90 and that’s pretty fast. 

[Deleted User]

The difference in energy consumption between 70 mph and 80 mph is huge. Upping the limit will just make more pollution.

waamo

On large stretches of the motorway system doing 70 is impossible. There are either long stretches of roadworks or sheer weight of traffic slowing everything down.

Raising the limit would do very little other than cause even longer tailbacks as fast moving traffic meets slow moving traffic.

unforeseen

TBH having a sensible minimum speed on motorways would do a lot to enhance safety

Norman_Castle

CreditCardChris said:

The 70mph speed limit has been in effect since 1965 but with the advancement in car safety I feel like it's time to up the speed to 80mph. Yes not all cars are modern with modern safety technology but the standard of driving has also increased what with tests / highway code being stricter than they were in 1965. 

Newer cars are safer and easier to drive but roads are more crowded and physics hasn't changed.

Driving standards haven't improved, there have been minor updates with the intention of making new drivers better equipped to start using the roads. Once tests are passed individuals choose what standards they drive to, incompetence, ignorance and indifference is still commonplace.

Assuming a constant speed you gain 8.57 minutes every hour by increasing the speed from 70.0 to 80.0 Miles per hour.
If you're delivering a kidney or diffusing a bomb it might be worth it, if not you'd save more time by not pulling in to the services for a wizz.

fred246

Mercdriver said:

I mean no offence, but if I was someone who had posted several OPs concerning basic elements of driving, I wouldn't have started a thread suggesting that speed limits should be revised upwards.

No roundabouts on motorways.