80 mph speed limit??

[Codename-John]

Posted by Terence Lynock on 13/10/2011 15:32:54:

In the long term there needs to be changes to the type of cars we drive, the design of motorways and ultimately the attitude of the driver, cars will need to have smaller high efficiency engines more suited to the roads they are on, whats the point of 400 bhp if you can only use 100 of it and the other 300 is burning fuel needlessly?.

 

 

i dont see your problem with bigger faster cars terrence, if that is what people wish to drive then why would you have a problem with it, a car has always been seen as a status symbol, that is even how they are marketed, its like saying why have a 1/4 scale spitfire or something when you can fly a little electric glider, variety is the spice of life as they say, its boring enough driving on motorways as it is, which is where the lack of concentration, people falling asleep at the wheel etc comes from, can you imagine if every car was the same little 100 cc bubble car from the jetsons too

[Erfolg]

Terrance I thought motorways were built for speed?

 

Our canals were built for speed and capacity, these were superseded by the railways, transport aids wealth generation and our quality of life. I have no wish to live in any earlier eras.

 

I see that 80 mph as a statement that the UK is not opting out of the future, we want to be part of a competitive future offering benefits to our grandchildren.

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

As has been said before the main issue is the attitude of the driver & the sensible use of speed....120mph on a motorway on a dry day with good visibility in a modern well serviced car is not dangerous....29mph past a school when its dark & raining at 3.30pm most definitely is dangerous. One is legal & one isn't.....

 

The problem is the attitude of the driver...if we could all be relied upon to be sensible & do the right thing at the right time we wouldn't need speed limits. But we can't so we do!!!

 

I drive in Germany a lot & the attitude there is completely different.....they respect speed &, according to my German colleagues, learner drivers are taught to drive defensively & respect the other road users. In Germanny if you are in the outside lane & someone is coming up behind you then a polite flash from some distance (not the 6in off your bumper you get in the UK) alerts you that they are there (if you haven't already seen that audi/BMW/Merc Exocet bearing down on you....) you move over & they go past.....however if the fast car then ends up behind more slow traffic & is along side you as you approach a truck or whatever he will ease back & let you out again....can you imagine that happening in the UK?? Not a chance.....he'd block you in behind the truck & probably laugh.....

 

That said it can get quite exciting when you misjudge a cars speed & pull out into the outside lane in your 1.6 litre hire car.......the car in your mirror gets big very quickly.....Heeellllpppppppp!!! & its even more exciting when a Czech lorry pulls into the outside lane of a two lane motorway doing 60 when you're bearing down on him at 120mph......Aaarrgghhhh!!!

 

A strong engine & even stronger brakes are what you need on the Autobahns.

 

The other thing they do is restrict the speed at junctions & intersections.....it's 120 or even 100 kph as you approach a junction & everyone obeys....again I can't see that happening in the UK somehow.....

 

I think the best way to improve driver attitude would be more training & restrictions on the car you can drive......pass your test...great...chuck away the L plates & you can drive up to a 1300cc car. Pass the next stage & you can drive on a motorway & have a 1600cc car....pass the advanced course (I don't know....high speed driving, skid control maybe) & you can drive anything you want...a driving licence is a privilige not a right & priviliges must be earned....

 

My 2p worth anyway...

[Erfolg]

Steve

 

You certainly highlight a significant issue with respect UK drivers. Unfortunately it is just an instance of a malaise which in my opinion blights the UK today. Where it is thought that adequate safety cannot be achieved without bureaucracy, together with a H&S industry, that some have entitlements with no responsibilities, the blame and claim society etc. Yes, a change of attitude and values is required.

 

Where Apple makes 100% profit on its Iphone, which seems high, yet Burberry by all accounts makes 3500% profit on handbags if the newspapers are to believed. Substance and technological ability is less important than image.

 

Unfortunately a 80 mph limit will change non of our poor behaviors and vales, but it could be part of a change to a more vibrant economy, hopefully.

.

 

[Olly Giles]

if you look at a mororway network from a systemic point of view then the obvious solution to every single issue that arises is removing the human element from the car. The tehnology exists where you could join the stream of traffic and your car could folow the one in front and that car follow the one infront automatically etc etc. However this would never happen firstly because of the cost and secondly, it would remove the freedom that a car gives you.

 

So untill a new way of moving from A to B that betters the car has arrived, i am all for the increased speed limit.

 

And i am totally against the idea that all speed of any kind is bad. Speed, in some cases, makes alot of sense.

[Doug Ireland]

I fully agree with the proposed increase to the speed limits but woe betide anyone that tells me I can't drive my gas guzzler! My X-Type (2.6 V6 and 4x4) Estate has the smallest engine I've had in a car for many a year!

[Lee Smalley]

If I want a car with 300 Bhp what business of yours ?? Ic I want a 50bhp again that's my choice and it has nothing to do with you, I don't care if my car does not hug the environment if I want to buy a 200 mph supercar I should be able to and tree huggers should not have anything to do with it

[Terence Lynock]

The reason for motorways at whatever speed may well change from fast transit to mass transit over the next few years as more and more cars and heavy vehicles come onto the roads, the preferences, likes, requirements of the individual driver may well become a thing of the past in favour of the requirements of the mass transit.

Your gas guzzler just becomes a thing of the past, your Shogun a museum piece because you wont be able to buy enough fuel for it, our motorway system has changed dramatically in just the last 20 years because it has had to cope with an increased traffic flow of +100%.

We already see long traffic jams, delays and hold ups usually because of an accident, and with increased speed we will have more accidents, more delays, more frustration and more blame thrown on the government when in fact it is the man behind the wheel that has caused it.

[Terence Lynock]

Lee, that is the most selfish attitude anyone could take, it creates the problems that everyone else has to cope with and ultimately pay out to deal with.

[Olly Giles]

Posted by Terence Lynock on 13/10/2011 18:43:28:

Lee, that is the most selfish attitude anyone could take, it creates the problems that everyone else has to cope with and ultimately pay out to deal with.

 

No its not. Why should the green brigade and the speed Nazis dictate what car you drive?

 

But in a way Terrence you are very right as the internal combustion driven car will be consigned to the history books, certainly in my life time. However this will come about not by legislation and 'green' pressure groups but by the supply and price of fossil fuels.

but this is wildly off topic.

Edited By Olly Giles on 13/10/2011 19:00:13

[Codename-John]

terence,

you need to stop believing government propoganda of how co2 is bad for the environment, just as you think speed is the major cause of accidents, co2 has nothing to do with global warming, its just another thing they can measure and tax you more on the more you produce, same as speed, if they can measure it and make money off it then your indoctrinated into believing that its for your own good so you put with it

what heats our earth up, is it maybe the enormous mass of burning gases out in space we call the sun, since the end of the second world war co2 production has increased massively, the temperature hasnt, the hottest years we`ve had, just happened to coincide with the most solar flare and sunspot activity, but you cant be taxed on what the sun does, like the mini ice age predicted for this winter, because the suns activity is predicted to be less than normal, if co2 is so bad with the amount of it now shouldnt we be sunbathing over xmas insted, dont believe everything you are told, do a bit of research and make a judgement, if you have a spare hour this is well worth a watch

Edited By neil whilding on 13/10/2011 19:08:47

[Doug Ireland]

Terrence, the only Mass Transit systems I've come across that actually work are the trains in Singapore and the free busses in Perth Australia. I live in the North East of Scotland and the railway line was ripped up back in the sixties. To use the bus to get to my office at 08:30 I need to get the 05:30 from my place. Then I don't get home in the evening until after seven! Hell with that! I'll just jump in my Jag!

[Bri.]

on the subject of pollution my 10 year old Focus which does 5000 miles a year costs £245 to tax, an 03 plate Citroen C3 i saw only pays £20 is that fair and in my opinion the reason fuel is so expensive the goverment are not now getting the revenue from new car road tax like they used to do.

Sorry i have gone of subject.

[Erfolg]

I am not sure if Neil saw the same news item as myself, where a FOE type explained that the lower annual temperatures World wide in recent years is a a consequence in reduced Sun activity, and Global Warming was still an issue. All very convenient.

 

Since 1960's we have been told that fossil fuels will run out in less than 5 years. I have met one of the experts who made the prediction, who was not a bit repentant. For him it seemed a religion, that all that is today is unfortunate, slightly to the left of Lenin, but fromthe ivory tower in Oxbridge, the world lacked fairness,

 

I am in favour of an 80 mph speed limit, even though I do adhere very closely to the 70 limit as it stands. If a faster car catches up with me, I will attempt to allow it to go safely on its way. Now that I have retired, it is easy to be pious. I do remember the pressures I worked under which required me to use my working time effectively, not to enjoy a sight seeing journey from one site to another. Time matters in business.

 

The first person to be killed by a railway engine, on the Manchester to Liverpool Railway was killed by a locomotive doing less than 30 mph. You could argue that if it had been restricted to 20 mph, Mr Hutchinson could have avoided the Rocket. Of course we we would not need the Inter City trains of today, if that policy had been adopted.

 

I am rather shocked the stance taken by some on others vehicle preferences. Of course I would ban the unsociable operation of Jet, glow, electric, overly large or dangerously small models (could be swallowed by a small child), but then again I am so reasonable and balanced in my views.

 

[Doug Ireland]

Love that last paragraph Erfolg!

[Prop Nut]

If 80 mph has become the de facto speed on motorways, then unless there are compelling reasons against it, it seems sensible to enshrine it in law, particularly if it helps avoid bunching. However, I detect some rose-coloured glasses on here where other countries are concerned. As a military driver, I travelled hundreds of thousands of miles in NATO countries, and found very little difference in attitudes between drivers in any of them. Whereas we have too many lane 2 hogs in the UK, in Germany and France they have at least as many lane 3 hogs, who sit there at a speed that suits them and won't move over; for that reason I have seen more 'undertaking' in those countries than anywhere else. In the United States, I have travelled at 55 mph and been the slowest vehicle in sight, as I was overtaken at anything up to 90. There, no matter how rigorous the law enforcement, many drivers still don't take notice. Although smaller, high population density countries like Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands seem to give rise to more tailgating, I have never experienced such suicidal drivers as in Australia, where huge articulated lorries will follow you at 70 mph, just a few feet from your rear bumper. By contrast, the most laid-back drivers I have experienced are Canadians, who don't seem to get fazed by anything, but it takes forever to get anywhere in their country.

Edited By Hellcat on 13/10/2011 21:32:34

[Wiltshire Flyer]

With the use of the word "Nazi's" should this thread not be locked now?

[Tim Mackey]

Indeed it should, I just knew it would end up like this - its going nowhere now, so its locked.

Any problems.... PM me.