Optimal speed for economical m'way driving?

greenman7

If I need to arrive at a particular time, I will start off a bit earlier so that I am not rushing to arrive at a deadline. Also I will drive at night if possible on long journeys to avoid traffic jams.
It is easy to drive at 60-65mph looking ahead and driving intelligently. This gives a stress free drive, consumption of about 65mpg and is good for the environment. Obviously the less fuel used the less pollution - does anybody else think this way?

tinkerbell84

I do most of my driving at night so that I don't have to stick to 60/65/70 on the motorways (long distances). I love driving.

Neither of my cars would get near half your 65mpg no matter how I drove, so I figure I might as well enjoy the drive and get there as fast as I can.

tomstickland

mum2one wrote: »

:mad:
At the end of the day like it or not lke it or not speed limits are set for a reason,

Often this reason can be unrelated to safety though. The government decided to ignore years of experience regarding the 80th percentil approach and deemed that the average measured speed could be used. Combine this with one dimensional "speed is the only cause of danger" of local councils and you end with 30mph limits on motorway standard dual carriageways.
What annoys me about it is that it doesn't effectively deal with the problems.

Every day I see moronic driving on the narrow lanes near where I live - some cars don't even slow down when I'm taking up just over half the road (narrow sections).
However, putting a 40mph limit on a bit of straight, featureless A road that's been 60 for 25 years will not magically make it safe.

the faster the speed an inpact occurs the more likely an accident,

I think your terminology is incorret there. If an impact occurs then it is already an accident. Do you mean the more likely an injury? However, you've already shown that an impact at 20mph by a proper idiot can be severe. Rather than making all limits 15mph, we have to acknowledge the risks and work to control them.

you seem pround that you speed, I only hope the law catches up with you, then maybe if you lost your license through speeding,

Travelling at 80-85 on motorways is probably the safest way to speed considering the limited set of risks on motorways. In certain circumstances and with suitable concentration you could expect 100mph on a motorway to carry almost neglible risk.

greenman7

When looking at lowering fuel consumption and money saving the first thing I look at is the model of my car - I have deliberately bought my car for it's high mpg.
I also enjoy driving, luckily I do not need to drive to get there as fast as I can.

tomstickland

I would have thought you'd buy it for high mpg?

tinkerbell84

Well, I'm not looking to change either of my cars for a long time yet - I plan to run one into the ground and the other I'll keep until I stop enjoying it.

Given the enormous environmental impact of building new cars, I don't think keeping a car (however low the mpg) for 10 years or more rather than buying a new one is 'un-green'.

wdyw

anewman wrote: »

What a stupid argument. Many lorries do not travel above 60mph. Idiots who cannot anticipate traffic conditions and see what is in front of them are the most dangerous - on a motorway you can easily at one minute be going at 70mph (or 100mph+ if you're a cvnt) and then next come up to traffic at a complete standstill.

I can't remember the last time I came across/saw an accident on the motorway that wasn't a shunt in the outside lane. All these excellent driver cruising at 70-80 in the outside lane (only there because of the mid lane hoggers no doubt....) who aren't quite as good as they thought the were.

For more years than I would care to remember, I've been involved with numerous sports and it never ever ceases to amaze me when people who have absolutely no co-ordination or anticipation skills in various sports suddenly think they are fantastic beind the wheel. You get in a car with them and within a few seconds you realise the are as bad at driving as the are at everthing else (guess which ke has stopped working!!!).

grrr .got to reboot to fix tis keboard problem....

tinkerbell84

I haven't seen an outside lane accident for months and months.

I regularly see several crashed lorries and coaches though, and lots of shunts because people don't know how to file into line for lane closures. :rolleyes:

Majority of accidents on motorways occur when 2 cars change lane simultaneously. Maybe that's why people prefer to sit in the outside lane and never move for any reason :mad:

tomstickland

Most shunts are the result of cars being too close together. You'll regularly see in it in the middle lane where cars are almost touching.

wdyw

tomstickland wrote: »

You'll regularly see in it in the middle lane where cars are almost touching.

Thats the outside lane on the motorway I use that you are describing. I'd guess 50% of all traffic in the outside lane, 40% in the middle lane and lorries and the odd token car in the inside lane.

All shunts occur (at least 1 a week) on hills, lorry pull out into middle, car into outside and a car 4 or 5 back in the outside doesn't react soon enough

M62 between jns 23 and 22 .... 2 spots, just past Outlane GC and just past the famous farmhouse between carriages ...same accident over and over and over again.