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Increase the speed limit
omega0684 - 29/10/09 at 11:39 PM

Apparently in Utah they put the speed limits up for a study & they found that there was no increase in incident rate.

full report HERE

Maybe we should e-mail this to the transport minister and the speed authorities!

blakep82 - 29/10/09 at 11:42 PM

of course there wasn't. even look at german autobahns. if they're safe enough for the germans...

it would also reduce congestion too. cars would all spend less time on the road job done

MautoK - 29/10/09 at 11:57 PM

Utah has 27 people per sq mile and outside SLC it's probably about 5. Probably only see another car every other week!
England has over 1000 per sq mile

owelly - 30/10/09 at 12:28 AM

You lot are sooooooo September 2009...
I've just driven up the M1 and I can safely say that the motorway speed limit for the UK is well over 100mph. I was doing (around) 70mph with two rows of cars in the outer two lanes travelling a feck site faster!!!
Obviously October 2009 is the new speed limit month.

blakep82 - 30/10/09 at 01:47 AM

lol if the speed limit was put to 100mph, we'd all still be doing 110

Macbeast - 30/10/09 at 02:17 AM

The tree-huggers would object to the increased emissions and carbon tyreprint.

A1 - 30/10/09 at 03:34 AM

the tree huggers are just ignorant fools... differant engines have differant economic speeds.
100mph on the motorway sounds good. the inside lanes can be for the hippies.

Richard Quinn - 30/10/09 at 05:56 AM

quote:
Originally posted by A1
the tree huggers are just ignorant fools... differant engines have differant economic speeds.
100mph on the motorway sounds good. the inside lanes can be for the hippies.
Slightly OT but I did find it both interesting and amusing - I was reading an industry digest yesterday which said that although used 4x4 ownership in the UK was down, sales of used 4x4s has actually increased as more and more traders are now exporting. This is mainly due to large UK stocks (caused by stigma, taxation and fuel costs) and the weak pound. A great victory for the tree huggers! - emissions obviously aren't such an issue if you end up moving them to a different part of the same bl**dy planet!

speedyxjs - 30/10/09 at 07:04 AM

quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
lol if the speed limit was put to 100mph, we'd all still be doing 110


I dont think i would on parts of the M25. When i was in germany, i was doing 115 on a concrete section (like part of the 25) and the back end was all over the place

mad4x4 - 30/10/09 at 07:11 AM

Problem is people in this country don;t know how to drive ont he Motorway / Dual Carriage way.

Every night I travel home and find people sitting in the fast lane at 50-55 Mph leaving the Slow lane empty

Richard Quinn - 30/10/09 at 07:34 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mad4x4
Problem is people in this country don;t know how to drive ont he Motorway / Dual Carriage way.

Every night I travel home and find people sitting in the fast lane at 50-55 Mph leaving the Slow lane empty
That's because there is no incentive to move over. On the autobahn, an A8 doing 150mph and getting larger in your mirror encourages you to change back fairly quickly. At certain times they also restrict HGVs to the inside lane only (which is nice!)

smart51 - 30/10/09 at 08:05 AM

quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
of course there wasn't. even look at german autobahns. if they're safe enough for the germans...

it would also reduce congestion too. cars would all spend less time on the road job done


The Germans are far better drivers than us by all reports. They have better lane discipline. They don't tailgate so much and they get out of the way if a faster car is behind them.

Higher speeds reduce the capacity of roads to carry large volumes of cars. Studies show that the largest number of cars per hour a road can carry is 20 MPH and it gets steadily worse the faster you go.

Accident rates in Utah were probably not affected by the speed limit change as it is one of the most empty US states. Here, motorway traffic has such a bad tailgating habit that 70 MPH can't really be justified. Increasing the limit may not lead to more collisions but there will certainly be more cars involved each time there is a crash.

There would need to be a big increase in the standard of driving here before an 80 MPH limit could be introduced.

smart51 - 30/10/09 at 08:07 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Richard Quinn
quote:
Originally posted by mad4x4
Problem is people in this country don;t know how to drive ont he Motorway / Dual Carriage way.

Every night I travel home and find people sitting in the fast lane at 50-55 Mph leaving the Slow lane empty
That's because there is no incentive to move over


Other than courtesy, good manners, driving skill and respect for others?

smart51 - 30/10/09 at 08:19 AM

quote:
Originally posted by A1
the tree huggers are just ignorant fools... differant engines have differant economic speeds.


True but irrelevant. Mostly, petrol engines are at their most efficient at an RPM a little lower than peak torque with a throttle opening of around 70%. Diesels are a bit different. What has that got to do with road speed?

A car's demand for power goes up with speed. 1 MPH faster = more power required. Engine load and gearing ratios mean that there is a peak in efficiency which can be as low as 20 MPH in small diesels but is often more like 30 or 40 MPH depending on your car's aerodynamics and gear ratios. Nobody's car is more efficient at 100 MPH than at 70. It can't be done.

speedyxjs - 30/10/09 at 08:26 AM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
The Germans are far better drivers than us by all reports. They have better lane discipline. They don't tailgate so much and they get out of the way if a faster car is behind them.


Il second that. They also only use the fast lane for overtaking. As soon as they are past they pull in until they catch the next car. Same as the french.

speedyxjs - 30/10/09 at 08:30 AM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
Nobody's car is more efficient at 100 MPH than at 70. It can't be done.


My tintop is more efficient at 80 than it is at 70 which i find a bit strange. Iv calculated it loads of times as i didnt beleive it. Average about 28mpg at 70 and 34 at 80.

MikeRJ - 30/10/09 at 08:35 AM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51

The Germans are far better drivers than us by all reports. They have better lane discipline. They don't tailgate so much and they get out of the way if a faster car is behind them.


Better lane discipline applies to most of the continent to be honest, but you do tend to get more utter bellends making ridiculous manoeuvres at high speed IME, e.g. cutting across two lanes of trafic to make the exit causing a sea of brake lights and soiled underwear.

Also tailgating at 100+mph is pretty stupid when it's clear the car(s) in front are blocked, but this is absolutely commonplace.

Peteff - 30/10/09 at 08:52 AM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
the limit may not lead to more collisions but there will certainly be more cars involved each time there is a crash.


Isn't that the same as more collisions ?

scootz - 30/10/09 at 08:59 AM

I agree that our motorway driving standards here are appalling !

I have literally driven the length and breadth of continental Europe and it's a breeze... the minute you get back in Blighty it's snarl-ups for no apparent reason and the majority of cars all wanting to be in the offside lanes, but unable to make progress because they can't organize themselves!

Net result... we all end up going at 50mph!

As said before, the greatest incentive in Germany for getting out of the way on the unrestricted Autobahns is seeing a fast Audi, BMW or Merc cruise ship bearing down at you at warp speed 10 and flashing it's xenons at you

They're not shy at flashing you out of the way too!

02GF74 - 30/10/09 at 09:24 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
As said before, the greatest incentive in Germany for getting out of the way on the unrestricted Autobahns is seeing a fast Audi, BMW or Merc cruise ship bearing down at you at warp speed 10 and flashing it's xenons at you

They're not shy at flashing you out of the way too!


we get that her from white van drivers and it is inevitably in situations where there is a queue in traffic in front of you so what do they gain? nothing.

what do you loose? bieng force to make unnecessary lane change and lane changing probalby is the cause of a lot of accidents.

02GF74 - 30/10/09 at 09:26 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Macbeast
The tree-huggers would object to the increased emissions and carbon tyreprint.


although the emissions may increase, the journey time and henceforth the time the increased emissions are emitted decreases.

scootz - 30/10/09 at 09:31 AM

What the bloody hell is that song in your signature???

scootz - 30/10/09 at 09:32 AM

Ah, 'Release the Bats' by The Birthday Party!

Richard Quinn - 30/10/09 at 09:58 AM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Quinn
quote:
Originally posted by mad4x4
Problem is people in this country don;t know how to drive ont he Motorway / Dual Carriage way.

Every night I travel home and find people sitting in the fast lane at 50-55 Mph leaving the Slow lane empty
That's because there is no incentive to move over


Other than courtesy, good manners, driving skill and respect for others?
Traits that have pretty much disappeared within the UK (not just related to driving either!!)

smart51 - 30/10/09 at 10:07 AM

quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
quote:
Originally posted by Macbeast
The tree-huggers would object to the increased emissions and carbon tyreprint.


although the emissions may increase, the journey time and henceforth the time the increased emissions are emitted decreases.


Eh? Emissions PER MILE increase. Time is irrelevant.

carpmart - 30/10/09 at 10:08 AM

I drove 400 miles on Motorways this Wednesday and I have to say that I found most people accommodating as I flashed my Xenon's at them!

In fact, several of them waved at me as I past them! I also think that one of them thought I was the best driver as he held his finger up (#1 style) at me as I went by, I signalled back that I though he was second best, it all seemed very amicable!

So, my experience is that quite a lot of drivers on the M6 and M1 on Wednesday night were jolly decent folk!

scootz - 30/10/09 at 10:15 AM

LOL!

quote:
Originally posted by carpmart
I drove 400 miles on Motorways this Wednesday and I have to say that I found most people accommodating as I flashed my Xenon's at them!

In fact, several of them waved at me as I past them! I also think that one of them thought I was the best driver as he held his finger up (#1 style) at me as I went by, I signalled back that I though he was second best, it all seemed very amicable!

So, my experience is that quite a lot of drivers on the M6 and M1 on Wednesday night were jolly decent folk!

smart51 - 30/10/09 at 11:09 AM

"The Parliamentary Transport Committee estimates that an increase in the speed limit from 70mph to 80mph would result in a 10% rise in casualties on those roads.[1] Research shows that reducing the average speed on a road by just 1mph is likely to reduce the frequency of crashes by 5%"

In response to the last comment, Jeremy Clarkson suggested lowering the speed limit to 69. He would stick to it just for the fun of his speedo saying 69.

Mr Whippy - 30/10/09 at 11:24 AM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
"The Parliamentary Transport Committee estimates that an increase in the speed limit from 70mph to 80mph would result in a 10% rise in casualties on those roads.[1] Research shows that reducing the average speed on a road by just 1mph is likely to reduce the frequency of crashes by 5%"

In response to the last comment, Jeremy Clarkson suggested lowering the speed limit to 69. He would stick to it just for the fun of his speedo saying 69.


Anyone who deals with numbers and statistics knows fine well you can make them say anything you like

Really most accidents are caused by cars travelling too close & too fast for the conditions

Jasper - 30/10/09 at 12:29 PM

Nothing will change in the UK until we introduce compulsory driving lessons and tests that include motorway driving, and make ALL uk residence take a UK driving test, and not be able to convert a driving license taken in another country with far less stringent testing.

You wanna trying going up the M23 from Brighton to London on a Sunday evening in the summer, with all the idiots going back to London with no idea of how to drive on a motorway doing 50 mph in the outside lane in their little noddy cars, does my head in.

And just so you know Germany is coming under pressure from the EU to get rid of the no speed limit, and more and more of their motorways are now restirected to 130kph as they get busier.

mcerd1 - 30/10/09 at 01:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mad4x4
Problem is people in this country don;t know how to drive ont he Motorway / Dual Carriage way.


I think most of them know - its just that they don't care

Grimsdale - 30/10/09 at 02:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
"The Parliamentary Transport Committee estimates that an increase in the speed limit from 70mph to 80mph would result in a 10% rise in casualties on those roads.[1] Research shows that reducing the average speed on a road by just 1mph is likely to reduce the frequency of crashes by 5%"


In that case we should increase the speed limit 10mph, then reduce it in 1mph increments and end up with a 40% reduction in accidents!!!

Lies, damn lies and statistics (and dubious amths)

blakep82 - 30/10/09 at 02:29 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Grimsdale
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
"The Parliamentary Transport Committee estimates that an increase in the speed limit from 70mph to 80mph would result in a 10% rise in casualties on those roads.[1] Research shows that reducing the average speed on a road by just 1mph is likely to reduce the frequency of crashes by 5%"


In that case we should increase the speed limit 10mph, then reduce it in 1mph increments and end up with a 40% reduction in accidents!!!

Lies, damn lies and statistics (and dubious amths)


ha ha quality