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#Post#: 19690--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: JoCo
Date: April 14, 2024, 2:20 pm
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Personally I think 70 mph is plenty fast enough - given that
enforcement is 79mph. And in reality you can cruise at 85 or so
if you are mindful of cameras.
UK is a relatively small country, so most journeys are < 50
miles. So the savings in time are inconsequential.
For drivers who do longer distances regularly - I would posit
that allowing higher speeds for long journeys will inevitably
lead to more accidents due to tiredness, or moments of
inattentiveness, as less time to react. The consequences of a
crash at 100mph v 70mph are vast.
I have no figures to back this up. But I would wager that the
number of deaths from crashes etc to "victims of car crashes",
in which I include any non-fault drivers, increment at a higher
rate than the speed of accidents. [ e.g. More that twice as
many people die from accidents at 60mph than same number of
accidents at 30mph]. Also any accidents at 100mph would
inevitably lead to motorways being closed for longer after any
accidents due to damage to infrastructure, and preservation of
scene of crime in case of fatalities.
Additionally ICE Engines are not as efficient at 100mph. So it
is more expensive to drive faster. The driver may be happy to
offset the cost against convenience, but it is only a zero sum
game for the driver. For everyone else there is more
pollution, more noise and more risk.
#Post#: 19693--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: ivanleo
Date: April 14, 2024, 2:46 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: JoCo link ---
>
> Additionally ICE Engines are not as efficient at 100mph. So it
is more expensive to drive faster. The driver may be happy to
offset the cost against convenience, but it is only a zero sum
game for the driver. For everyone else there is more pollution,
more noise and more risk.
>
--- End Quote ---
I wouldn't be averse to the speed limit being 100 mph for EVs
only, and 70 mph remaining the limit for ICE. Would give me a
good reason to invest in an EV.
#Post#: 19708--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: Southpaw82
Date: April 14, 2024, 5:43 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I drove at 125 a few weeks ago, perfectly legally. Nobody died.
My journey was seconds shorter. Arguments against raising the
speed limit on motorways don’t hold much water.
#Post#: 19741--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: JoCo
Date: April 15, 2024, 7:49 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Southpaw82 link ---
>
> I drove at 125 a few weeks ago, perfectly legally. Nobody
died.
>
--- End Quote ---
So?
That's an anecdote. Not an argument, or evidence.
Plenty of drunk drivers have driven home, when nobody died.
--- Quote from: Southpaw82 link ---
>
> My journey was seconds shorter.
>
--- End Quote ---
So no real benefit then.
--- Quote from: Southpaw82 link ---
>
> Arguments against raising the speed limit on motorways don’t
hold much water.
>
--- End Quote ---
That's just an assertion.
It's for the proposer of changes to argue the benefits, if any.
#Post#: 19749--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: Southpaw82
Date: April 15, 2024, 11:10 am
---------------------------------------------------------
It’s about as much use as anyone else’s contributions on this
thread.
#Post#: 19815--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: roythebus
Date: April 17, 2024, 3:05 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Given that the source of the "news" is GB News, I'd take it with
a pinch of salt. I live near ashford Kent and have to use the
M20 regularly. when they installed the brexit barriers and
contra-flow systems over the last few years between j9 and j 8
with single line traffic, the limit was lowered fro 70 to 50. In
practice because of the dawdlers, traffic rarely reached 45. I
forget my exact calculations but it took about 7 minutes longer
to cover that section. 7 minutes x 2 for the 2 of us in the car,
x number of time a year we have to use that section of road
meant something like an additional 48 hours travelling over the
course of a year.
I also drive on the continent fairly regularly where the
motorway speeds are higher than in the UK. I occasionally see
the aftermath of an RTC, I have witnessed a couple actually
happen. Over there the authorities are much quicker at clearing
up, the idea being to deal with the casualties first, then get
the road open and traffic flowing again. In the UK the road is
often closed for hours while police make their investigations
purely for Home Office statistics. Abroad the policy seems to be
"it's an insurance matter", clear the mess and let them deal
with it.
Could the average UK driver deal with increased speeds? I doubt
it, one only has to see how long it takes a UK driver to adopt
to the higher speeds in France and Belgium on the motorway from
Calais. It's not until I get to Lille that the UK plated cars
seem to dissipate from dawdling along at 65 mph and lane
discipline is restored.
As for fuel consumption, my Range Rover TDV8 was giving 31 mpg
on my usual run to work until last week when the engine failed,
probably due to old age! At under 65 it was doing about 27 mpg.
The average speed shown on the trip meter for the last 6 months
has been around 35mph, quite high according to my local Land
Rover garage.
But back to the OP, on my "slow" journeys to work that extra 7
minutes it took from j9 to j8 could make the difference between
avoiding an incident at the Dartford Crossing and a long wait.
As for road casualties, the death rate is about 1800 per year on
UK roads and has been fairly static for the last 5years. The
majority of thos deaths have been on NSL country lanes, the rest
on "normal" roads with very few in 30 and slower limits. I
forget the exact amount but posted them on Pepipoo a few weeks
ago.
#Post#: 19817--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: ivanleo
Date: April 17, 2024, 4:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: roythebus link ---
>
> Could the average UK driver deal with increased speeds?
>
--- End Quote ---
Where there's three lanes, you wouldn't expect the average
driver to be in lane 3 though. The limit is a maximum limit and
not a target, I've seen plenty of UK plated cars in Germany
drive at 55 in lane 1, and that doesn't seem to cause any
problems. I've also seen many cruise at a sensible 100, and a
few go at 120+, never been the cause of any problems. Many
people I've spoken to have told me they'd be doing 55 - 65 in
lane one and that's absolutely fine.
I also don't see why we shouldn't allow drivers to take a test
to allow them to drive at higher speeds. Of course nobody should
let me drive any faster than anyone else based on my say-so, but
if I pass a test and demonstrate that I have the same level of
skill as a police response driver then why shouldn't I be
allowed to drive faster?
#Post#: 19826--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: andy_foster
Date: April 17, 2024, 6:07 am
---------------------------------------------------------
In principle, and as an IAM member, I find the idea of higher
speed limits for drivers who have passed an appropriate advanced
driving test to be appealing. However, unless/until we have cars
that require a personalised key and biometrics to drive (at
which point they will be self-driving and this discussion will
be moot), there would appear to be significant hurdles to
effective and efficient enforcement of such a scheme.
I realise that this is apples to oranges, as "push bikes" don't
have VRMs or RK's and therefore are harder to monetise
enforcement of, but the availability of exempt electrically
assisted pushbikes has resulted in a vast number of illegal
electric motorcycles that are indistinguishable from the legal
assisted pushbikes (until they whizz past you at 40mph, uphill,
without peddling, at night without lights, or any other legal or
safety requirement). Riding a conventional mostly road legal
motorcycle with a small number plate, you stand a fair chance of
getting pulled for your crime. Riding a completely illegal
electric motorcycle that looks like a road legal assisted bike
(there are probably at least 2 in the country that are road
legal), chances of getting pulled are next to zero.
If some drivers are allowed to do 100mph, and a car is observed
doing 96, how do you ascertain whether the driver of that
vehicle on that occasion is allowed to do 100? Not as a one off,
but as widespread enforcement. There are many, many potential
ways to do this, some far less flawed than others.
edit: Obviously we are all missing the real point - the
country's richest Roland Rat impersonator needs to do or say
something to appeal to the man in the street who voted Tory last
time after Labour told him (as a key part of their election
campaign) that he voted for Brexit because he was variously
stupid and/or racist.
#Post#: 19830--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: ivanleo
Date: April 17, 2024, 7:43 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: andy_foster link ---
>
> If some drivers are allowed to do 100mph, and a car is
observed doing 96, how do you ascertain whether the driver of
that vehicle on that occasion is allowed to do 100? Not as a one
off, but as widespread enforcement. There are many, many
potential ways to do this, some far less flawed than others.
>
--- End Quote ---
It's not 100% effective, but one way would be to require your
vehicle to be tested to the same standards as a police traffic
car (which is obviously a much higher standard than a normal
MOT), put the number plates on an online register, and require
that you can only exceed 70 mph if you've got a high speed
licence and your car is on the high speed register. Speed
cameras obviously read number plates so it would be easy to
pursue anyone who didn't have an approved high speed vehicle,
which you can only register as such if you've done your high
speed licence test.
You could even introduce an online account so that if you've
lent your car to a normal licence holder you can pause the
high-speed registration of the car, and make it an offence to
fail to do so unless your friend also has a high-speed licence
which you've taken a photo of.
This would also eliminate the problem of someone having a
high-speed licence and then trying to see how fast some old
banger can go.
In any even most people would not pass the high speed test even
if they tried, so scope for abuse would be quite limited.
#Post#: 19861--------------------------------------------------
Re: Driving law proposals could see motorway speed limits raised
to 100mph to 'reduce congestion'
DIR By: tonys
Date: April 17, 2024, 4:39 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: cp8759 link ---
>
> You could even introduce an online account so that if you've
lent your car to a normal licence holder you can pause the
high-speed registration of the car, and make it an offence to
fail to do so unless your friend also has a high-speed licence
which you've taken a photo of.
--- End Quote ---
There must be lots of families and couples who share cars, or
just one car. Do they need to do this if they swap drivers
during a long journey, or when the husband/wife is using the
car?
Together with the requirement for variable speed limits on all
motorways, it looks like a lot of extra infrastructure and
bureaucracy to benefit a relatively few drivers who do over
50,000 miles per year on motorways at night.
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