F1 Fanatic

@matt90 They weren’t wrong. People’s attitudes on the roads here are ridiculous. It really is the worst place I have ever driven (and I learned to drive in Johannesburg so that really is saying something), the things I mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. And it is people across the board too i.e. locals and the expats, people in sports cars and people in rental Toyota Yaris’, men and women, young and old, everyone drives poorly. And no one seems to care.

Reducing the speed limit can lead to faster average journeys. It leads to fewer accidents and fewer bottlenecks. Anyone interested on the maths behind it should borrow a copy of “Why do Buses Come in Threes?” from a library.

55mph might be too low, though. 60 would be more reasonable.

Given that the 70mph limit was originally brought in as a safety measure (quoting from Wikipedia):

“The introduction of the 70 mph speed limit

In 1966, at the end of the four month trial of a blanket 70 mph (113 km/h) speed limit on previously unrestricted roads and motorways, speed checks on the M6 in Cheshire suggested that although cars were actually being driven about 10 mph (16 km/h) faster, they were still usually travelling at speeds below the new limit. The crash rate was lower on the M6 in Staffordshire (the better weather was noted too) and continued to fall on the M5 in Worcestershire as it had before the new limit was imposed, and there was no change in the crash rate on the M6 in Cheshire or on the M1 in Northamptonshire”

“1973 oil crisis

Due to the 1973 oil crisis, a temporary maximum national speed limit of 50 mph (80 km/h) for all roads, including motorways, was introduced on 8 December 1973.[15] The 70 mph (113 km/h) limit was restored on motorways in March 1974 and on all other roads on 8 May 1974.[58]

As an initiative to reduce energy consumption, the national speed limits for otherwise unrestricted single-carriageway and dual-carriageway roads were temporarily reduced to 50 mph (80 km/h) and 60 mph (97 km/h) respectively (motorway speed limits were left unchanged at 70 mph (113 km/h)) from 14 December 1974.[59] In November 1976 the temporary speed limits were extended at least until the end of May 1977.[60] In April 1977, the government announced that the national speed limits for single-carriageway roads was to be increased to 60 mph (97 km/h) and that the 70 mph (113 km/h) speed limit was to be restored on dual-carriageways on 1 June 1977.”

As vehicle safety standards have improved over the last 45 years (seat belts, radial tyres, ABS, air bags etc.) and cars are capable of being safely driven well in excess of 100mph (160 km/h), why on Earth would we be considering reducing the limit to 55mph (or more likely 56mph (90km/h) to match the LGV limiter speed set by the EU)?

The biggest issue I have observed (and I cover about 30,000miles per annum) is speed differential: when some ditherer in a car changes lane whilst doing less than 70mph and does not increase their speed to match the traffic already in that lane. Hint: if you are not happy at 70mph (or more), stay in the inside lane unless overtaking even slower traffic, and when moving into an overtaking lane (all lanes except lane 1 should only be used for overtaking), match your speed to other traffic, do not expect them to brake down to YOUR unacceptably low speed.

If you want better fuel economy, buy a more economical car. Do not inconvenience others.

Also, everyone seems to think they have a right to drive, and that passing the test is just part of an inevitable process that will end up with them driving. There are plenty of awful drivers out there, and this isn’t just me thinking I’m better at driving than the majority of others, because you do see some people who are mostly clueless about how they should use the road network.

But people who use motorways incorrectly are the worst culprits. If you are a driver and you don’t think that driving at 70mph is a good idea, or is ‘unsafe’, then you should not use the motorway. Even if it is the quickest/most direct/most effieient way of getting from a to be. Wandering along the motorway at 55 is not safe, and you shouldn’t be there (I despare at people in cars being overtaken by articulated lorries on the motorway in free-flowing traffic… if you’re going slow enough to be overtaken by a truck, you’re doing it wrong. Please leave the motorway at the next slip-road and don’t return). Trouble is that using a motorway cannot be done as a learner driver, at least in the UK it can’t. So maybe there should be a motorway test after passing, or at least a requirement to drive supervised on a motorway with the view of meeting some general criteria and common sense.

If you don’t wish to do so, then that’s fine, but you have a reduced licence that keeps you off the motorways.

Motorway driving is some of the easiest and safest driving. Everyone is going in the same direction, there are very few distractions, there are no blind curves or sharp corners. It is the one place that the speed limit should be high, and reserved for motorists who feel safe and capable of utilising it.

I was taught to drive by my father, as well as doing a 5 day intensive course: Dad especially insisted that I learn on dual-carriageways (around here the A14 is unavoidable) and be able to maintain proper speed and lane discipline.

He is ex-Police though, so knows what he is doing when it comes to getting places without hanging about.

I agree with the notion that a test should need to be passed prior to driving on motorways, and believe that the standard driving test should included dual-carriageways.

The A2 from the M25 into London is triple carriage, with national & 50mph speed limits, which was great practice for me. That road is a good example actually of what Damon is talking about, the 50mph limit is from Bexeley Heath into Greenwich (after that I don’t know) and it works fine until you get to the Blackwell tunnel. If that road was national speed limit, it could be chaos. The 55mph isn’t a bad idea, it just needs to be on the correct roads and not the major motorways. Excluding miles of the M3 ofc, that’s got apparers a permanent resident 50mph average speed limit for all the roadworks it always has. And I’ll tell you now, it’s awful driving all those miles at 50, it’s long and boring.