ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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Do people think that the national speed limit is too slow? I was thinking about all the technology that goes into cars today to make the perform better then they have ever before. I mean a large proportion of cars on the road could easily cruise at over 100mph. Then I was thinking of all the safety features in cars now too, though I do know that even with all this stuff in your car the deceleration forces in a high speed crash will kill you, even with air bags e.t.c..
I was thinking that the national speed limits could be raised to 90 for a motorway, 80 for dual carriage ways and 70 for A roads. They seem like high speeds at first, but to be honest, the speed limits were set when high performance brakes were drum brakes and you didn't need a seatbelt in your car.
My 2p... 
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whitter45
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Registered: 15th Nov 02
Location: Norton
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I think it should depend on the load of traffic on the motorway
The M42 has variable speed limits
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Jamie Walby
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Registered: 15th Nov 04
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i very much agree with you ed. was talking about this with my dad for most of the drive to essex a few weeks ago 
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Kyle T
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Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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I agree, at the end of the day if you hit a brick wall at 70, then again at 90 - the results won't be too different and as you said the technology in cars now makes it much safer to cruise at these speeds.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Charlene
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Registered: 29th Sep 04
Location: Darlington
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Yea i think they should be increased if the road is safe to do so
Its true that cars that can go faster are waste really because they have to stick to going slower speeds then they can go
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a_j_mair
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Registered: 23rd Jan 04
Location: Scotland
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i think it should be reconsidered for the likes of motorways etc, should be forced more around schools, traffic calming etc(not lairy big silly speedbumps)
Also think driving license should be retested every 5 years or so
problem with higher speed on motorways is the drivers themselfs as there is so much tail gaiting etc
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Paul H
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Registered: 11th Aug 03
Location: Lincoln.
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quote:
Originally posted by whitter45
I think it should depend on the load of traffic on the motorway
The M42 has variable speed limits
which is a good idea.at 3 in the moring when there is no traffic about you should be able to do around 90mph i reckon.
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whitter45
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Registered: 15th Nov 02
Location: Norton
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Hows the Leon Chewy done any mods yet
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bluecorsasteve
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Registered: 15th Jun 02
Location: burton on trent
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We should have variable speed limits, i was driving down my local dual carriageway this morning on the way back from football, it has a 40 limit because they have taken down the central reservation to repair it. People were speeding past me at normal motorway speeds. It annoys me because its not safe if they were to swerve onto the other carriageway, they would cause a big accident!!
You wouldn't mind if they had speed cameras here if it was to increase safety while there are roadworks.
However if there were no roadworks you could easily cruise at 80-90
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mazdaspeed
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Registered: 8th Jan 05
Location: Darlington
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I think most people struggle driving safely at 70mph so I don't think they should be increased. There are bad drivers out there, and shouldn't be given an excuse to drive faster.
[Edited on 08-01-2006 by mazdaspeed]
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Rob_Corsa
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
Location: Derbyshire
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although I agree that in theory it seems wrong that our current speed limit was decided upon when cars had very poor brakes and things have since improved dramatically if you increase the limit to say 90 people are gonna do that kind of speed in the rain/fog. The only option would be a variable speed limit depending upon conditions but this would be far to hard to impose.
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by a_j_mair
i think it should be reconsidered for the likes of motorways etc, should be forced more around schools, traffic calming etc(not lairy big silly speedbumps)
Also think driving license should be retested every 5 years or so
problem with higher speed on motorways is the drivers themselfs as there is so much tail gaiting etc
 Why is that a good idea. Everyone picks up bad habits from driving - I'd call myself a safe driver, but by no means would I pass another test
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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I think the main problem is people not having the responsibility to drive within thier limits of skill... People are also idiots actually, when it was foggy a few weeks back driving up the M40 people were still speeding, even though I could only see a few feet ahead of the bonnet.
I like the idea of the variable speed limits, they work well on the M42, but they don't seem to work so well around Heathrow on the M25 - partly because the road just isn't big enough.
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
quote:
Originally posted by a_j_mair
i think it should be reconsidered for the likes of motorways etc, should be forced more around schools, traffic calming etc(not lairy big silly speedbumps)
Also think driving license should be retested every 5 years or so
problem with higher speed on motorways is the drivers themselfs as there is so much tail gaiting etc
Why is that a good idea. Everyone picks up bad habits from driving - I'd call myself a safe driver, but by no means would I pass another test
Driving by the book and driving safely are 2 different things. I think people should be re-tested when they get to about 65 and then every 5 years after that. A member of my family was still driving when she really shouldn't have been as she was too old because she had to give up her driving licence herself. Eventually we shold her car and had her driving licence taken off her because she kept on driving out into town and forgetting where she was or how to get home.
[Edited on 08-01-2006 by ed]
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a_j_mair
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Registered: 23rd Jan 04
Location: Scotland
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
quote:
Originally posted by a_j_mair
i think it should be reconsidered for the likes of motorways etc, should be forced more around schools, traffic calming etc(not lairy big silly speedbumps)
Also think driving license should be retested every 5 years or so
problem with higher speed on motorways is the drivers themselfs as there is so much tail gaiting etc
Why is that a good idea. Everyone picks up bad habits from driving - I'd call myself a safe driver, but by no means would I pass another test
bad habits or bad driving tho?
do you think you would pass your theory or a highway code test? that means you may have forgotten what signs mean forgotten how to look out for hazards etc, would also help you keep your awarness if you had to resit your test, would stop bad habits that might cause bad accidents
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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I think something like hazard perception is a skill that younever loose, it only gets better with experience. Bad driving though, thats hard. Perhaps instead of banning people for so long we should have traffic school for bad drivers and compulsory DDE courses for drink drivers.
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psycho sport
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Registered: 27th Mar 03
Location: Guildford Surrey Drives: Vauxhall Monaro
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Have to remember that there are still alot of cars the are old being used on the road and therefore dont have the modern standard of safety equipment.
I do agree that variable speed limits should be put into place. At off peak low traffic hours the speed limit should be raised to 80/90 but during normal hours it should remain at 70.
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Rebrabuk
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Registered: 28th Mar 04
Location: North East
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I'm going to mix this conversation up a bit because i think speed limits should be abolished completely. Not just on motorways, but EVERYWHERE...
You don't have to be told what speed is safe by a sign on a stick. Any driver - with the possible exception of a new or novice driver - knows what speed is appropriate, and could drive quite safely for an entire career without a speedometer in the vehicle, were it not a legal requirement. Intuitively, drivers know that speed cameras, and speed enforcement in general, can never prevent road accidents - because 'speed', on its own, is never a cause.
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PK1
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Registered: 27th Mar 05
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i dont think speedometers are a legal requirement...there not an MOT point so no ones stopping you taking it out
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mwg
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Registered: 19th Feb 04
Location: South Lakes
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quote:
Originally posted by Rebrabuk
I'm going to mix this conversation up a bit because i think speed limits should be abolished completely. Not just on motorways, but EVERYWHERE...
agree but 30mph speed limits through towns/villages etc. should stay
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Rebrabuk
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Registered: 28th Mar 04
Location: North East
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quote:
Originally posted by PK1
i dont think speedometers are a legal requirement...there not an MOT point so no ones stopping you taking it out
But breaking the speed limit is an offence which would occur more frequently without a speedometer.
quote:
Originally posted by Matty G
but 30mph speed limits through towns/villages etc. should stay
I don't think they should because quite often it is not safe to drive through a town/village at 30mph but because there is a 30mph limit in place, some people consider it to be appropriate to drive at 30mph. A well educated driver should know what speed is appropriate for any given situation, whether it be faster or slower than the currently enforced limits... 
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vibrio
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Registered: 28th Feb 01
Location: POAH
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
Do people think that the national speed limit is too slow? I was thinking about all the technology that goes into cars today to make the perform better then they have ever before. I mean a large proportion of cars on the road could easily cruise at over 100mph. Then I was thinking of all the safety features in cars now too, though I do know that even with all this stuff in your car the deceleration forces in a high speed crash will kill you, even with air bags e.t.c..
I was thinking that the national speed limits could be raised to 90 for a motorway, 80 for dual carriage ways and 70 for A roads. They seem like high speeds at first, but to be honest, the speed limits were set when high performance brakes were drum brakes and you didn't need a seatbelt in your car.
My 2p...
no I feel the speed limits are a good choice because there are a lot of asshole drivers out there that have no clue. I have no problem with speed limits currently set. I abide with them mostly
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mwg
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Registered: 19th Feb 04
Location: South Lakes
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This is the real world. A hell of alot of people are shit drivers who dont take account of road conditions.
I've been done for speeding in a 30 limit. Made me realise how daft it is, alot more chance of someone stepping out or a child running out in the road. I'm not for speed cameras at all and still speed if the conditions are ok to do so but I try very hard not to speed in 30s anymore.
If I had kids I would not feel safe taking them out in towns if I knew there were people driving through at 50-60mph because they thought it seemed an appropriate speed as there were no longer 30mph limits.
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Rebrabuk
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Registered: 28th Mar 04
Location: North East
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quote:
Originally posted by Matty G
This is the real world. A hell of alot of people are shit drivers who dont take account of road conditions.
I've been done for speeding in a 30 limit. Made me realise how daft it is, alot more chance of someone stepping out or a child running out in the road. I'm not for speed cameras at all and still speed if the conditions are ok to do so but I try very hard not to speed in 30s anymore.
If I had kids I would not feel safe taking them out in towns if I knew there were people driving through at 50-60mph because they thought it seemed an appropriate speed as there were no longer 30mph limits.
But we have people driving through towns at 50-60mph now anyway.
I don't think abolishing speed limits would see an increase in people driving through towns at silly speeds, although i don't think it would see a decrease either. Majority of people exceed the speed limits currently set at some point or another. Not because they are deliberately disobeying the law, but because they drive at speeds that they feel are appropriate for the conditions.
Obviously driver education would have to be scrutinized, but i'm of the opinion that would be a good thing as the current systems and legislations in place are not efficient in my opinion.
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Paul_J
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: London
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
I was thinking that the national speed limits could be raised to 90 for a motorway, 80 for dual carriage ways and 70 for A roads. They seem like high speeds at first, but to be honest, the speed limits were set when high performance brakes were drum brakes and you didn't need a seatbelt in your car.
My 2p...
Some A roads are a bit bumpy etc, and a bit dodgy if you were doing over 70 - to be honest, for about a year and a half I always thought the national speed limit was 70 on A-roads and drove accordingly
Dual carriageways - most are straight, safe and providing empty - I agree 70 is a tad slow and 80 mph would be more sufficent.
Motorways, - also providing not at busy times, could quite easily handle 80 / 90 mph limit without accidents rising - infact I feel it would make the motorway work better as people dawdling in the outside lane at 69 mph thinking (oh well I'm practically at the limit) will now pull back into the middle or inside lane, because there'll be cars approaching doing 90
as said previously, I think more what causes accidents is carelessness, faults with a car or road conditions (busy motorways / fog / ice etc). I think the variable limit would work well to solve this.
quote:
Originally posted by chewy
quote:
Originally posted by whitter45
I think it should depend on the load of traffic on the motorway
The M42 has variable speed limits
which is a good idea.at 3 in the moring when there is no traffic about you should be able to do around 90mph i reckon.
The problem with this at the moment - as with the M25's variable limit is, it goes down but never goes up.
So at say medium traffic load it's at pathetic 60 limit and at high traffic load 40/50 limit!! When it's completely empty at 3am in the morning, it's still only 70 mph.
They need to say motorways after say 12am till 6am are de-restricted  autobahn style or have a limit of 90 mph. I've come back from my sisters house in weston supermare, and been doing 70 mph in the inside lane and not seen a single car for miles.
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