Maximum speed signage

[Butty]

How come we persist with a white sign with a black diagonal to tell drivers that the national speed limits apply.

Surely it would be better to put the speed - say 60mph or 70mph - then all drivers, especially foreigners, would know what was allowable on that road (without having to guess what type of road it is).

[Ethel]

It is not complicated to work out the national speed limit.

If you see the sign and you are on a single carriageway - it's 60mph.

If it's a dual carriageway, it's 70mph.

They will not change it because although those are the maximum limits for cars and motorbikes, different speed limits apply for lorries, towing cars and so on.

If the limit is anything other than the national speed limit then there will always be signs, unless you are in a built up area with the standard 30 mph limit.

Most foreigners who drive in the UK are very well clued up about the UK motoring laws and regs.

[ugly_bob]

I've seen signs for 70mph in Scotland, but never in England.

[Si_D]

Ditto but in Wales.

[Butty]

Thanks Ethel and good point about lorries, caravans etc.

However I drive all over the world and never have to swot up on speed limits in different countries because the signs just tell you at regular intervals.

Many thanks for your answer.

[WoWo]

The point is that the national speed limit is not 70mph for all drivers.

Coaches and Large Lorries are limited to 60mph so a sign saying 70mph is in fact wrong.

[ugly_bob]

but 50mph signs are also incorrect, in that articulated lorries can only travel 40mph on a single carriageway, and 50 on a dual carriageway, even if there's a 60 mph sign

[ianess]

Different classes of vehicles have different national speed limits, and the drivers of those vehicles should be aware of the limits.
I agree that in Scotland several motorways display 70mph signs, and that is totally wrong. In fact one part of the M90 shows a 40mph limit just before a Y-junction with the A90 and you never see another speed limit sign after it to let you know that the national limit is restored.
No-one should have to guess at what type of road they are on....even the colour of road signs [blue,green, or white] will give you a clue.

[furrycheeky]

I say we should have specific signs for the speed. I have just had a nice weekend trip to the coast, on my homeward trip I had a BMW on my tail 6 feet behind me for several miles, it was a single lane 60mph road signed by white/black diagonal signs. At a set of lights he finally pulled up alongside and let off a huge rant about him being so pi**ed off at being so slow and telling me I should have been doing 70!!! He really didn't get it, and thought the sign meany 70.

[Buenchico]

For anyone who's still confused about which speed limits apply to which vehicles, the information is here:
http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.htm#103

Chris

[JudgeJ]

And, of course, furrycheeky, your ignorant friend in the BMW should also be aware that there is no obligation to travel at the maximum speed allowed. He might also care to ponder that even if he had tailed you for ten miles, it would have cost him only 85 seconds by travelling at the regulation 60mph instead of his illegal 70mph. But then some drivers don�t think that deeply do they?