Limits on rural roads to be cut

Z

zulu73

Just heard on radio before

there's a proposal to drop the speed limit on ALL rural roads down to 50mph, could be in by next year. I see some angry replies coming from you guys out in the sticks
 
Because everyone knows that driving at 50 instead of 60 is going to save SO many accidents >.< If its people speeding that causes the accidents then why drop the limit? Or is it now going to be people doing 60 that are the criminals causing huge accidents? GRRRR
 
They've already done it on a lot of the fun roads. Can't see it making any difference to how the roads are used, or them being any safer.
 
All the roads in my area are 60, however due to the turns you can't get up much past 50 in my car as it handles like a shopping trolley so I won't be affected lol. Also there's never any 5-0 about to enforce the limits
 
The kind of driver who goes fast down a country lane isn't too bothered about the 60mph speed limit that stands, so they aren't going to be bothered by a 10mph cut.
Put another way, I've never seen a speed trap on an unclassified road EVER! What would be the point on a road with an average traffic of 2-3 cars per hour? So the likelyhood of enforcement being deployed is very slim.
 
the thing is in a year there is only approx 4 accidents way less than in a 30 zone in the city and the main cause of them is people going to slow if anything there should be a minium speed limit on these roads.
 
Yeah minimum speed is what we need, I've come round corners doing 40+ to be met by horses trotting along or volvo drivers doing 25.
 
Actually went for a drive to Scarborough at the weekend, went up the public raceway at Olivers Mount, the only place in the country with an 80mph speed limit apparently! (Well the sign says 80 and its a proper road sign!)
 
an cyclist should be banned they go around in packs when by law there suposed to be single file!!!!!!!!!!!
 
there is a massive campaign around grimsby to slash the speed limit of the A16 trunk road from grimsby to louth and the A46 dual carriageway bypass around laceby village.

the reason for the move?

1) the A16, last week a young girl of 15 was killed on the road having been struck by a car, the girl was coming off a bus on the A16 and crossed the road infront of the buss and was struck by a car doing 40mph..... bearing in mind the limit is 60mph and he WASNT SPEEDING so what difference would it make? none at all!

2) the A46, the council are wanting to drop the 70mph limit to 50 as last week again, a taxi driver was killed as his car was struck by a driver racing down the stretch of road doing over 100mph, the answer to wich is to make everyone else do 50 instead of 70? they could make the limit 2mph and it would make any difference. it has got sod all to do with the speed limit and more to do with drivers BREAKING THE LAW, dont change the law, prosicute those that flaunt the law repeatedly.
 
Trust me, D&C's "East devon rural sector" have neither the man power, money, or time to stop people doing 60 on country roads in a county that has more miles of road then some country's.

This will be a waste of time and police resources if it gets through.

Ant. Your 1st example is how my friend got hit down, although all he got was a broken pelvis. Anyway, the police and government won't admit it, but it was the girls fault. You NEVER cross the road from in front of a bus. You either cross behind it, or wait for it to leave.

I agree with the minimum speed idea's. Enforce a minimum speed limit and you'll stop so much road rage and congestion.
 
the thing is road rage increases the slower you go.

you allways get some Smeg head in a volvo doing 20mph in a 30, or 40 in a 60, but on the motorway... theres no probs. they all usualy do between 60-80 ish. which is fine as most cars nowadays are easily capable of cruising at 100+mph.


the 70MPH limit came into force what?, 60 years ago?, what cars are available 60 years ago?

what cars are available now? brakes, tyres, engines, gearboxes etc etc are all capable of well exceeding 70mph safely.
i remember when i was younger coming back from Wembly in 1998 (grimsby town won 2-0 by the way) in my uncles lexus LS400, we wanted to catch up to the coaches of fans along the m1, sat at 155mph with 6 people in the car it hardly even felt like it was moving. at all!



but you will stil come accros some gimp doing 35mph in the inside lane..lol
 
The worst are the idiots who'll religiously stick to 56, and then all the lorry's have to overtake them, which just causes more congestion, especially on dual carraigeways.

I reckon then should up the Motorway speed to 80, or 85, like france.
 
ollyc98 said:
Yeah minimum speed is what we need, I've come round corners doing 40+ to be met by horses trotting along or volvo drivers doing 25.
Click to expand...

Dude!...Highway code:

126: Stopping Distances.

Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear.

Antony said:
the 70MPH limit came into force what?, 60 years ago?, what cars are available 60 years ago?

what cars are available now? brakes, tyres, engines, gearboxes etc etc are all capable of well exceeding 70mph safely.
Click to expand...

Hey, you have just paraphrased 1/4 of my own model of "normalised actual instantaneous safe speed"

busy trying to figure out a way to present it without writing a Tolstoy novel
 
SammoHung said:
Dude!...Highway code:

126: Stopping Distances.

Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear.



Hey, you have just paraphrased 1/4 of my own model of "normalised actual instantaneous safe speed"

busy trying to figure out a way to present it without writing a Tolstoy novel
Click to expand...

im quite an intelligent young man, i have an IQ of 136 to be exact, but i have no idea what you just said and it made me feel stupid..lol
 
I do drive as fast as I can see, when I come round the corner to find someone going slower I have to jump on the brakes, it's not dangerous but it's inconvinient, if they were going a normal speed I could keep crusing at the speed I was going at
 
a lot of people will complain because it'll take away their "fun" on a public road. If you want to have fun, save up, get on a track day. 100x more fun to be had. I find on a LOT of 60 roads, that its still way too fast.
 
Ian said:
I find on a LOT of 60 roads, that its still way too fast.
Click to expand...

They wouldn't be too fast i they were one way, the only problem is when you meet something coming in the opposite direction, however 60 mph or 40 mph your car will be wrecked anyway
 
On most country lanes you can't get to 60 anyway, but the roads this will mostly affect are the B roads, and minor A roads.
 
both cars doing 40mph have a lot more reaction time then 2 cars doing 60. Your right about them should be 1 way, but the fact is they aren't and people slowing down IS safer for everyone.
 
I hear what your saying and in theory lower speed is safer but consider this:

Idiot McChav is doing 90MPH, I'm doing 60, he comes round the corner and sees me and slams his brakes on and barely misses me.

They lower the limit, the t*t in the nova is still doing 90, I'm doing 40, he comes round the corner, I don't get out the way quick enough cos I'm going too slow, I end up in a coma with severe brain damage, Idiot McChav gets community service and the lower limit didn't make a difference.

People will always speed no matter what the limit
 
well yes some people will always speed reguardless, but that 20mph less in your speed would probably make your car more controllable to swerve on a narrow road without spinning out.
 
Ian said:
a lot of people will complain because it'll take away their "fun" on a public road. If you want to have fun, save up, get on a track day. 100x more fun to be had. I find on a LOT of 60 roads, that its still way too fast.
Click to expand...

Just because the roads are 60 doesn't mean you have to drive them at that speed. Reducing them all to 50 is a stupid idea, just reduce the ones that deserve to be reduced... It's not about reducing people's 'fun'.. if your driving with the intention of getting somewhere, it's going to hold you up.

You already get people who drive at 40 in 60 zones too, are they gonna start doing 30 in 50's?
 
Ian said:
well yes some people will always speed reguardless, but that 20mph less in your speed would probably make your car more controllable to swerve on a narrow road without spinning out.
Click to expand...

I see what your saying but most new cars have much better traction control systems than cars of say 10 years ago.
 
exactly ant. And a standard micra doesnt have handling to shout home about.

Arnold. I dont think people would drive 20 under the limit at all times, you'll probbaly find its the speed people feel safe at. So will probably just stick with it, even if the limit was reduced. If the sole purpose is to get somewhere that 10mph won't make a massive impact of the overal journy time. While theoretically making it safer for yourself and others on the road.

I sometimes go on a b road into work. They are stretches with good visability and i get upto 60mph or so, but there are so many tight blind bends and crests i regularly get down to under 30mph.

example:

a 15 mile journey at the current 60mph (constant) would take 15 minutes. At 50mph it would take you 20 minutes. That's *if* you could keep your speed at 60mph, which is usually quite impossible. So the differences would really be nothing to worry about.
 
if you are incapable of driving at 60mph and judging the road when nessasary to slow down, you are driving without being in full control of your vehicle and should be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention.

if you cant feel safe doing 60mph on a 60 road you shouldnt be allowed to drive a car as you are clearly not capable of being in full control of it.
saying you are doing 40 on a 60 limit road because of the bends that are coming up is rediculous. thats what the brakes are for. if you dont know this either you need to go on a driving course, or you should stop alltogether.!!


coming accross a huuge cue of traffic on the A46 doing 40mph when it quite clearly shows the national speed limit makes me so mad sometimes, but thats the piont. i make the over take, i put myself at risk having to over take yet im not doing anything wrong!.....
 
Its not a race. You dont need to get upto 60mph, there are a lot of times where this is impossible. And you shouldn't be told to stop driving because your not doing the maximum speed allowed by law, thats just stupid.
 
if you are not going at an "appropriate speed" for the conditions you can be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention. if the road is a 60 limit and it is clear, dry and visibility is high, and you are doing 40mph, its not only irrisponsible by causing a rolling road block, but its dangerous as you are forcing law obiding road users onto the other side of the road.

you cannot drive at "any speed you like" up to the limit. the limit is there to allow all cars to travel at the same speed and not beyond it. but people arent doing this. and its becoming more and more common.


and no its not a race, but the limit is there as it is deamed a reasonable speed for cars to make progress along a major trunk road. if you cannot drive at that speed you are a danger to every other road user and should either have driving lessons or get someone else to drive.
 
I usually drive at the limits on all roads apart from 30's because they're clearly safe enough to do so from the signs that have been put up. I'm sure enough research and opinion has been gathered by the experts to judge how fast a road should be, so if its a 60, why not drive at 60? It's the people who can't drive that cause speed limits to be reduced.
 
The ridiculous part is that there would be calls to reduce it again because 50 still wasn't safe enough.
Driving is dangerous, face it, its a balance of risks. 60 has been fine a very long time, why change it now, 60 is a common speed limit throughout the world which says to me that its a good speed.
Ian just because the road you go to work on doesn't let you average 60 doesn't mean that applies to all! For example the road between York and Hull you can easily average 60 because its an open A road.

I'm sure this would make the government a lot of revenue with people caught speeding though!
 
I think most Drivers today have a bee in their bonnet when overtaken by someone else. a friend of mine got stopped by the Police for actually having the gall to overtake on straight piece of road, and guess what, he got a ticket for speeding and got told off for not overtaking 'properly'!

Yeah, bring on the speed reduction, watch as this country grinds to a halt.

IMO it IS those Drivers who fail miserably in their effort to keep up who are to blame and need to be told that their driving is #### and shouldn't be driving at all as they obviously got their Licence from a packet of Crisps.....

Of course this speed reduction has absolutely nothing to do with the state of the roads and the overhanging vegetation that hinders all motorists in which most accidents are caused....speeding causes 3% of accidents so what is the other 97% accidents caused by?
 
97% of all accidents are caused by innapropriate over taking, driving without due care and attention and driving in an un roadworthy vehicle.


heres another one for you..

99% of all accidents involving a motorcycle are as a result of the CAR HITTING THE BIKE, yet british bike riders are now the most tested and qualified motorcyclists in the WHOLE WORLD.

why? when all you need to do to pass a car test is a bit of shuffling the steering wheel and looking in your mirrors?

bike riding now needs, night riding, wet riding, slalom test, braking tests, advanced riding techniques etc etc etc. for what reason?

to avoid the idiot coming the other way on auto pilot at 40mph as they proceed to drive straight towards you.
 
Don't drive if you can't do the limit. Simple as that.

Obviously there's corners and stretches where it's impossible to do 60, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be doing it on straight open bits of road. All you do is cause road rage and people making rash decisions.
 
i can do the limit now but then they lower it to a point a 4 year old can safely drive I think id rather just get clued up on the mobile camera points
 
a camera is a large yellow thing that can be
1) burned
2) chopped down
3) spray painted
4) driven into
5) BLOWN UP

if the 50mph limit comes in, im going to get myself some paint and some petrol and go hunting.
 
Wow there are some childish attitudes here! Put simply, drive at a speed in which you can safely stop in the distance you can see. As a biker this means rolling back the throttle as you approach a corner, looking for clues to where the roads going and looking for obsticles.

If there was a minimum limit, which is a stupid idea by the way, people would expect the road to be clear, but how do you account for the broken down bus just round the corner or the cyclist that hit a pothole and is spread across the road in agony. Even driving with the police, we drive fast but within safe limits. If I can't see round the corner I don't power round it a million miles an hour, anticipate there being a hazard there.

The 50 NSL proposal is a daft idea and I can't imagine it happening, it's only at proposal stage at the minute. There are times when roads open up and it's safe to press on to 60+ MPH but you shouldn't be doing 60+ around corners anyway.
 
i can't remember what paper i read it in, i think it was the times. but they had a graph, showing the number of deaths at each speed.

it showed that there were many more deaths happening on 60mph roads rather than 50.... but aren't there alot more 60mph roads?
 
yes. but the reason they are safer on 50mph roads is usualy because they are more built up areas. its sod all to do with speed.
a 60mph road is usualy a single carriageway with twists and turns and the odd volvo driver or caravan at 40mph etc etc...

changing to 50 mph will NOT CHANGE THE ROAD. it will still be single carriage way, it will still be with twists and turns and will still have a caravaner or VOLVO driver doing 40.
 
WHICH THEY ARE ALLOWED TO DO! we all pay road tax, we all have licences to drive. Volvo driver mit caravan can drive at a speed suitible to their vehicle and conditions. LGV's have different speed limits for NSL roads but you don't seem to be picking on them.

The big issue would seem, especially from reading this and various boards, that cage drivers have little to no concept of how to drive at speed safely. Just because your tin box handles like it's on rails doesnt' mean it's safe to hurtle round a blind bend at 60MPH. My bike can do 0-60 in 3.7 second and my works car can shift when it needs to but it doesn't mean i'm going to blast down country roads faster than it's safe to do so.

The reason the gvt are THINKING about imposing this lower NSL is to bring peoples average speed down, giving the idiots that think just because they are within the speed limit its ok, more time to react if they drive badly.

What is really needed is better driver training. Compulsory Basic Training before you are allowed on the road, basic prescribed driver training, car control training and taught a system of driving similar to roadcraft.

If you stop driving like a muppet and adopt a nice smooth safe technique then you'd be amazed at actually how good progress you can actually make.

I know a couple of ambulance drivers who use the same system who can make a van or 4x4 travel pretty quickly when needs be.
 
Pete said:
What is really needed is better driver training. Compulsory Basic Training before you are allowed on the road, basic prescribed driver training, car control training and taught a system of driving similar to roadcraft.
Click to expand...

i agree, there needs to be alot more training, i think skid pan for example should be mandatory, and motorway driving should be part of the test.

i have been looking into the advanced driving test and being taught it off the record and it really does make a difference. there is a very good reason for feeding the steering wheel etc.

also alot more training on why it is bad to speed, how much damage you can do with a car and the effects, and why it just isn't cool to be a knob on the roads.

i think with enough training we may even get to a point where there is no need for speed limits because everyone understands why they need to go slow and when it is appropriate to travel at higher speeds.
 
What they should do, is let you on the road earlier in life, but you can't physically take your test till your 18. So you have to do a minimum 2 or 3 years of driving training or something. And it has to be officially monitored, with stuff like skid pans, motor-ways, advanced driving integrated, and all the pass plus and rospa course stuff integrated.
 
You can take your test at 17...

I agree with not hurtling round blind corners, i don't agree with the shuffle wheel technique. When driving through the countryside, i don't palm it, or cross my hands, its hard to describe but its a lot smoother than the shuffle!
 
Yes 60 around corners can be too much, but its a speed limit, not a recommended speed. 50 mph on alot of the straight stretches on the roads is going to be tedious. wouldnt be suprised if more people died due to dropping off at the wheel
 

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