Rallying call to save Royal British Legion clubs
- Today's leader
Blog: 80mph motorway speed limits? Good idea.
Friday 30th September 2011, 10:53AM BST.
"Still, at least we're allowed to drive at 80mph now..."
Blog: Transport secretary Philip Hammond’s expected bid to raise motorway speed limits from 70mph to 80mph is long overdue.
The limit was first introduced on a temporary basis in 1965 and made permanent two years later. At that time the maximum speed of most family cars was around 70mph.
In the 46 years since then, cars have developed and normal family vehicles are capable of easily achieving 70mph rather than it being the top slog it out speed, while technology has decreased braking distances and increased safety features massively. Driving at 70mph was more dangerous then pushing the car to its limits than at 80 now.
In most European countries the limit is 130 kph or 80.7 mph while in Germany speed is unlimited on low risk stretches of autobahn. Accident figures do not appear any greater than our own which makes me question the fear that upping the limit will increase accidents.
An area to be looked at should be pulling over drivers who tailgate – more accidents result from driving too close to the car in front and not leaving an adequate braking distance than are caused by speed per se.
Before anyone accuses me of being a speed freak let me point out that I fully agree with speed limits where they are appropriate – and I would say that I believe 20mph limits should be introduced around all schools.
Sponsored Links
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
I can’t claim to be an angel when it comes to speed limits: sometimes I’ll edge over them when it’s safe and reasonable. I certainly don’t believe that exceeding posted speed limits automatically makes anybody a reckless, idiotic driver.
However, on the motorway I set cruise control to 70mph and enjoy getting from A to B reasonly quickly but at 50+ miles per gallon. I know I could achieve even better fuel economy by driving at 60, but if I did that it could cause bunching as others catch me up and pass me slowly.
If the limit was raised to 80 I would feel obliged to travel at 80 to prevent the bunching that would inevitably happen, but would see my fuel economy drop to around 47mpg. This costs me more money and burns more precious fuel, so it’s a lose-lose situation for me and our dwindling oil reserves.
At present it seems that motorway patrols are not interested in drivers who drive at 80, only in drivers who are a danger to other motorway users (tailgaters, mobile users, highly excessive speeders and so on) – and rightly so. If the limit is raised to 80, I feel that the laws should be rigidly enforced to prevent 90mph becoming the unofficial norm, as 80mph is at the moment.
Report abuse
the importanr fact to reiterate and emphasise has been touched on above – speed does not kill it is the inappropriate use of ut that does. Raising the limit to 80 will not make motorways more dangerous. I have done a number of high speed courses and whilst I dont claim to an expert driver as we all adopt bad habits, what annoys me is the amount of sheer bad driving that you see all the time. Perhaps the test itself needs to be harder or periodic retests are introduced. I’ve been driven by people at 40 miles an hour and been scared witless as they just don’t have a clue, I’ve been driven at speeds in excess of 150 mph (on closed circuits) by professional drivers and felt totally safe. Instead of getting hung up on speed limits address driving standards.
Report abuse
Agree with the above two posts.
It isn’t how fast you drive on the motorway, it is indeed “how” you drive which is important.
There are too many people who only go on the motorways during holiday periods and it is obvious they have no idea how to drive. The worst example being the middle lane driver who doesn’t move for miles, no matter what the driving or traffic conditions are.
Report abuse
Some sensible comments from people who obviously know what they are talking about…I now await the stay at home knitting brigade, to chirp up about how we are all doomed to die horribly, if the 80MPH limit comes about.
Report abuse
Three simple points:
1. Cars may be safer these days but the same cannot necessarily be said for their drivers.
2. It speaks volumes for the green credentials of our government that they are effectively encouraging less economical driving (10-20% higher fuel consumption at 80mph than at 70mph).
3. The limit would need to be enforced strictly at 80mph. There is already an unofficial 80mph limit on the motorways due to the current way the police enforce the 70 limit (+10% +2 or 3 mph). If everyone actually drove at no more than 80 mph I have no doubt that the accident rate would not rise. However, the problem arises because the current enforcement method will give rise to an unofficial 90 limit which will undoubtedly have an impact on accident rates. See The Original Jake’s comments on this.
Report abuse