motorway speed limit

[HML89]

i know the speed limit on the motorway is 70mph, however, at what point will you be done for speeding? i was doing 70mph in the slow lane, but people kept speeding past me.... how does this work?

[Ethel]

There is no 'slow lane' on a motorway.

The Association of Chief Police Officers guidelines are a fixed penalty at 79mph and a summons at 96 mph.

These are guidelines only and the police would take many other factors into account, such as weather conditions and amount of traffic.

[chazza]

You will only get done if someone is there to catch you. obviously they were speeding but didn't get caught

[redcrx]

everyone overtaking you, assuming your car is doing exactly 70mph and not just reading 70mph, is speeding and could be fined etc if caught.

There is no slow lane / fast lane. There are lanes numbered 1-5 (depending on how many there are).

[up4it]

Someone mentioned that the limit for getting an outright ban is now 95 mph rather than the previous 100mph

I'm not sure how true this is???

Anyone who goes above 70 takes a risk but I was always told about the 4mph +10% rule i.e. if you are in a 70mph zone then your speedo MAY be out by 4mph + 7mph (10%) = 11 mph

So in theory you could be doing 81mph but I wouldn't like to put this to the test. - what if your speedo is actually out by +5mph then if you allowed the 11 mph then you'd be doing 86mph and would probably get pulled

If I see a copper on the motorway I generally slow down and overtake them at about 75mph ish and have never had a problem

[up4it]

Re the Lanes ...

There is an inside lane (slow lane) and then 2 overtaking lanes (assuming its a 3 lane motorway) ... Don't get me started on middle lane drivers !!!

[New Judge]

Ethel has correctly provided the ACPO guidelines for processing speeding offences. The lower figure she quoted (79mph) is that at which a fixed penalty normally becomes applicable. This is based on the formula of �+10% + 2�. This level is set to avoid unnecessary arguments about instrument calibration and below this level no action is normally taken. However it does NOT mean that the speed limit is 79mph.

If summonsed the sentence is entirely at the discretion of the Bench. As far as automatic disqualification is concerned, there is no set level at which magistrates impose an automatic ban instead of awarding penalty points. Going back to Ethel�s post again, she mentions that a summons is normally issued for speeds of 96mph or above. At this speed magistrates� sentencing guidelines suggest a penalty of 4 or 5 points OR a disqualification of up to 42 days. At 101mph they suggest 6 points or up to 56 days. It is for the Bench to determine the sentence and they will take into account all the factors relating to the offence and the offender before sentencing.

[madman06]

ethel must be right (AGAIN) loads of different answers i was told %10+3 best thing to do is stick to about 75 and let the idiots get caught

[flip_flop]

Whatever, 70 mph is too low.

[New Judge]

Why?

[sigma]

70 too low !!!!
If the standard of driving on motorways was higher then you might have a case but with poor driving, bad lane discipline, tailgating, lack of use of mirrors and indicators etc. etc. etc. then maybe 70 is too high ?.

[Loosehead]

70 is much too low. Originally there was no limit at on motorways, 70 was brought in because a load of race drivers started testing their cars on the M1. 70 May well have been appropriate 40 years ago but it's far too slow now, in fact it's dangerous.

[Panic Button]

Dangerous?

How on earth can you justify that statement?

[LOZZER1]

i waqs told by a policeman that the calibration of a speed camera could be 10% out, so you could be going at 77 MPH before you was nicked, the same policeman said if everyone was to drive at the correct speed limit there would be total gridlock on all roads

[tufty7]

All you saying 70 is too slow should think about all them ********* which would start cruising down the motorway in there convoys and silly cars if the speed limit was lifted, granted brakes and technology is better , but mans perception and re action is where it was many moons ago .....

[Toureman]

80mph is the normal speed of most cars on a motorway, if the limit was 80mph 90 would be the normal speed and so on, safer to keep it at 70mph.