Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:05 am  

The Video Ref wrote:

Why is everyone so paranoid about speed. At what point does it become 'unsafe'?

Someone who knows what they are doing in a high-powered sports car is almost certainly less of a risk than an 18 year old who thinks their 10 year old Corsa is a world rally car, just because they have stuck a spoiler on the back and a go faster stripe on the bonnet.

The crash barriers and run off areas of motor racing circuits are full of those who thought "they knew what they were doing" in their high powered sports cars on Track Days, and thats where they should stay.

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:31 am  

LyndsayGill wrote:

They do on the M60 near Middleton. I got nicked for doing 80mph at 11:30 in the morning on a fairly quiet stretch. 3pts and £60 or a naught boys course. Nobody's fault but mine but gives lie to the " you won't get nicked for doing 80"

Just been on the local news that one driver was caught by the average speed cameras through the roadwaorks on the M4/M5 Amesbury junction. I'm not sure whether it's a special kind of arrogance, stupidity or gross inattention that leads someone to think that 128mph in a 50mph limit is OK

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:00 am  

The Video Ref wrote:

Why is everyone so paranoid about speed. At what point does it become 'unsafe'?...

Depends.
Braking from 20mph to standstill takes about the same distance as braking from 30mph to 20mph.
Which speed limit is therefore more appropriate outside a school?

Glancing in your mirror to see if you have space/time to pull out into the outside lane of the motorway gives you one opinion when you know that car you see is doing 70mph but a different opinion when you know it's doing 110mph ... can you tell with that glance which of those speeds it's doing?

The Video Ref wrote:

...Someone who knows what they are doing in a high-powered sports car is almost certainly less of a risk than an 18 year old who thinks their 10 year old Corsa is a world rally car, just because they have stuck a spoiler on the back and a go faster stripe on the bonnet.

It's a big assumption that the sports car driver ""knows what they are doing".

[DaveO]

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:08 am  

JerryChicken wrote:

What is a problem is the potential differences in speed between on vehicle and another and the ability, or lack of ability of the human eye and brain to judge approaching speeds from behind when viewed in a rear view mirror - the important point here being that we must never consider a completely delimited motorway system.

I'd agree with that. This is compounded when you have people on the motorway who drive too slowly. The last time this came up it was debated on the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2. Some bloke rang in and proudly and very pompously proclaimed he went everywhere at 55mph on the motorway.

He wants locking up IMO. That speed will force lorries to overtake him at 56mph or 57mph and people coming along at 65 or 70 (never mind 85) will have to adjust accordingly. He was seemingly oblivious to the fact his pottering along would cause many more manoeuvres and lane changing than if we went at 60mph and actually overtook the lorries rather than force them to overtake him.

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:04 pm  

DaveO wrote:

Some bloke rang in and proudly and very pompously proclaimed he went everywhere at 55mph on the motorway.

He wants locking up IMO. That speed will force lorries to overtake him at 56mph or 57mph and people coming along at 65 or 70 (never mind 85) will have to adjust accordingly. He was seemingly oblivious to the fact his pottering along would cause many more manoeuvres and lane changing than if we went at 60mph and actually overtook the lorries rather than force them to overtake him.

Depends how he does it.

He could be an irritant by just getting to 55 and sticking to that no matter how many problems he is causing in his rear view mirrors.

But he could be simply getting behind a truck doing around 55 and then simply cruising behind them. I think that's the calmest way to drive and it's not causing problems because there's already that truck doing that speed.

I think truck drivers who insist on overtaking at 56mph past a vehicle going 55mph are equally as bad as the car driver who annoyingly insists on going 55 is. If a truck driver is taking 5 miles to overtake another vehicle then he shouldn't be overtaking.

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:13 pm  

El Barbudo wrote:

It's a big assumption that the sports car driver ""knows what they are doing".

Indeed, I've seen plenty of people at the Nurbergring on various trips, sat on the barrier, looking at the crumpled mess that was their only transport home and crying because they didn't reslise that the majority of European vehicle insurance expressly states that you're not covered on the ring.

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:18 pm  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

I think truck drivers who insist on overtaking at 56mph past a vehicle going 55mph are equally as bad as the car driver who annoyingly insists on going 55 is. If a truck driver is taking 5 miles to overtake another vehicle then he shouldn't be overtaking.

As an ex-truck driver I fully agree. It annoys the hell out of other road users, especially on two-lane dual carriageways. Truckers may be subject to drivers' hours laws and tight schedules but the difference of 1mph is not going to get them anywhere much quicker

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:53 pm  

Its amazing how, now that I am paid per mile to use my own car rather than a fully funded company car for business, I can usually be found on a motorway in the left hand lane quite happily poodling along at 55 to 65 mph with all the trucks, getting full mileage out of every gallon and hating it when I have to press anything above a soft touch on the accelerator, my car pays its own bills every month now

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:06 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

As an ex-truck driver I fully agree. It annoys the hell out of other road users, especially on two-lane dual carriageways. Truckers may be subject to drivers' hours laws and tight schedules but the difference of 1mph is not going to get them anywhere much quicker

What winds me up is the truck drivers who treat the 50mph restriction on the M62 in the West Riding of God's own county as actually meaning that they can still do 56 and are fine to intimidate the car driver in front who is doing 50-55.

[DaveO]

Re: Motorway Speed Limits Revisited : Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:59 pm  

Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:

Depends how he does it.

He could be an irritant by just getting to 55 and sticking to that no matter how many problems he is causing in his rear view mirrors.

But he could be simply getting behind a truck doing around 55 and then simply cruising behind them. I think that's the calmest way to drive and it's not causing problems because there's already that truck doing that speed.

It was pretty clear he was oblivious to anything other than his own little world.

I think truck drivers who insist on overtaking at 56mph past a vehicle going 55mph are equally as bad as the car driver who annoyingly insists on going 55 is. If a truck driver is taking 5 miles to overtake another vehicle then he shouldn't be overtaking.

I agree and I have said the same thing in the past myself. On the M56 you get a lot of trucks heading to Holyhead top go to Ireland and often the ones with foreign number plates are the ones doing this. Or so it seems.