motorway speed limit up to 80

[DrFilth]

the only time people stick to 70 is when a police car is around or there are cameras about.
will people stick to 80 ?

http://news.sky.com/h...news/article/16079703

[rowanwitch]

variable speed limits may well be a better approach,,, chances are unless it is 2 am you won't be going above 50 on the motorways close to big cities but no reason not to consider a much higher speed limit at times when there is good visibility and low traffic volumes.....

[EvianBaby]

The reason everything comes to a slow crawl when someone spots a police car is because The first car will brake sharply to get down their speed. The car behind them has to brake harder and the car behind them harder and this continues until the poor sods at the end of the queue are sitting in first gear at 5mph. It's been explained to me this is often the reason for variable speed limits on the motorway - to prevent the crawling traffic.

I don't really think it will make any difference at all if the limit is raised to 80mph. I would say the majority of drivers are going that fast anyway.

[ichkeria]

This proposal reminds me of the petrol tax reduction - designed to instil some sort of "feel-good" factor for no particular benefit. The argument is will be "good for business" as we'll all be able to get to those important meetings (by motorway) more quickly. And of course it will "bring us in line" with the rest of Europe (in a sudden and uncharacterisitc burst of Europhilia from the Tories).

If it does come in I will make a point of ignoring it, the way most people seem to ignore the 70mph limit already anyway.
As already pointed out though, great news for petrol companies. Bad news if those currently driving at 80mph as it is an acceptable distance over the limit, decide to ratchet it up to 90.
If there was a way of really clamping down on those peolpe then I probably would shrug my shoulders and say "fair enough"

[Ankou]

"most people seem to ignore the 70mph limit already anyway."

so why would it be good news for the petrol companies? seems to me it won't make much difference.

[ichkeria]

"so why would it be good news for the petrol companies? seems to me it won't make much difference. "

I hope not, but it's the 80-90 brigade that would worry me.
It's hard to believe that traffic is going to move more slowly as a result of this. or even more smoothly.

[Old_Geezer]

Not that any of us ever go above 70 mph, but it's clear that in many ways this is just a failing attempt to catch up with reality. Drive at 70 these days and folk clearly consider you to be moving too slowly for the conditions, as many catch up and pass. It's my belief that most drive at least at 80 mph on motorways (when the cop car or camera isn't in sight) and 85/90 is fairly common too.

So if it is already happening, and at greater speeds than proposed the legislation will simply go a small way to not prosecuting decent folk who wish to drive safely at speeds greater than 70 mph, and have little if any other change.

Also seems to be a too little too late discussion anyway. Well I suppose better late than never. So, is there an election coming up or something ?

[ichkeria]

Old_Geezer what you say is honest and sensible, and I would have a lot more respect for the government if they cited it as the reason for the proposal, instead of the nonsense about boosting the economy.

[ludwig]

jno - // about 20% of motorway drivers (almost invariably in German cars) exceed the speed limits and follow too close//

You're joking - more like 80%. The only ones that don't exceed the speed limit are lorries that have speed limiters fitted.
old_geezer is right - it's really just about decriminalising that set of drivers that the police are already ignoring anyway - ie the ones doing 70-80 - which I reckon is most of them.

[grffindoor2011]

80 is about right, the 70mph limit was introduced at a time when cars struggled to keep to that speed to too long and were prone to breaking down or blowing up. Any faster though and we will see multiple accidents and calls to go back to the days of having a man with a flag walking in front of each car.

[mungbeanz]

I hardly think that a higher speed limit will result in any difference whatsoever. The drivers who want to speed do so anyway. As for the utter pillocks in Greenpeace, they need to get in touch with reality.

[jackthehat]

Optimum fuel consumption, in my car, is about 60-65 mph.......and that is *always* at the front of my mind when I travel.

Tinkering about with the speed limit will have no effect on my driving whatsoever.

[whiskeryron]

What really winds me up is when driving on a motorway I keep a reasonable distance gap behind the vehicle in front, & the clowns who overtake & enter that gap, I now quietly drop back to maintain the gap again & then someone else does it. My question is how many vehicles does it take before I am back at my starting point ?.

W.Ron.

[jno]

ludwig, I'm not talking about the ones who might be doing 72mph - I can't tell, and I reckon the police can't either. I'm talking about the ones overtaking me at speed which I would assess at highish 70s. They will now be doing highish 80s.

I might have added white vans to German cars in my description.

But in general I find most people, the ones in ordinary cars, stick somewhere close to the limit or less.

[eddiemcc]

A lot of good comments here, but the one i agree with most is by jake-the-peg. I do a lot of motorway driving for a living, and the biggest problem i see especially at peak times is lorries trying to overtake each other, i know they've got deadlines to keep and because of strict tachograph laws have got to keep going, but come on quite often it takes upto 5-10 miles to get past the overtaker obviously doing 1mph more. maybe a better law would be to make the slower vehicle ease of the gas for second or 2 to enable the overtaker to get past quicker