Question of the week: are UK speed limits out of date?

[dangel]

couldn't possibly comment

Your silence speaks volumes.

[d1ck0]

Im a lorry driver and the BIGGEST point you are all ignoring is WHY lorries are restricted !! , lorries are restricted for ONE reason only , too SLOW them down - the mass on a fully laden lorry causes the braking distance too be substantionly increased.

They are restricted for OTHER road users safety , I have lost count of the amount of times a pleb in a car comes barrelling along the motorway notices the gap I have LEFT for me too safely stop in case of an Emergency and cuts in causing me too apply the brakes and slow down too increase my braking gap to the vehcile in front. which in turn slows down the vehciles behind me and so on.

TBH the worst offenders are the grandads and blue rinse brigade that INSIST on driving at 40 - 50 mph gripping the steering wheel like they doing 200 mph , they FORCE the lorries to overtake them.

Lorries are the LIFE Blood of this country , restricting movements too certain times will cause goods to be greatly increased in price.

WE are NOT to blame , the goverment is , for years now they have neglected the Roads / Motorways in this country.

SO while you are all happy to bash us truckers remember that its a LOT harder to get a HGV licence than a Car Licence for a reason.

Most HGV drivers are MORE courteous than the average car driver , we are always looking out for hazards on the road. SO when you cut up a 40 plus tonne lorry remember it takes a lot longer to stop , we ALSO have blind spots and we can also see right down into your vehcile and SEE what your REALLY doing as you drive along .....

[GoNz0]

im bashing the ignorant lorry drivers that dont leave a gap for us car/van drivers to overtake you.

i saw a sign on the back of a lorry today that said

"without us there would be nothing"

i wanted to stop the guy and say "never heard of a train ?"

[d1ck0]

Trains deliver right to the loading bay of the store they delivering too do they ? , yes you could use vans to pick up from railway yards - but the average van is 3.5 tonne so how many van loads would it take instead of ONE 40 tonne load delivery ? , congestion would be WORSE , prices would go up because of increased costs in fuel , vehciles and drivers.

I agree that some truckers dont allow gaps , but the reason for that is wind resistance , you use LESS fuel tailgating another lorry , I ALSO agree thats dangerous , theres so many arguements we could say on this issue but the true people to blame is our TAX HUNGERY goverment.

[dangel]

Im a lorry driver and the BIGGEST point you are all ignoring is WHY lorries are restricted !! , lorries are restricted for ONE reason only , too SLOW them down - the mass on a fully laden lorry causes the braking distance too be substantionly increased.

Yes - that and the fact they're so massive compared to other road vehicles that accidents usually result in fatalities. I don't think we're ignoring WHY they're slow - and I've not complaint in that - but moreso why they're holding up other road users uncessarily on multi-lane carriageways. I fully understand that overtaking isn't always avoidable but watching lorries 'race' for several miles (literally) does make you scratch yer noggin

They are restricted for OTHER road users safety , I have lost count of the amount of times a pleb in a car comes barrelling along the motorway notices the gap I have LEFT for me too safely stop in case of an Emergency and cuts in causing me too apply the brakes and slow down too increase my braking gap to the vehcile in front. which in turn slows down the vehciles behind me and so on.

Quite right - and I see you guys treated VERY badly by some car drivers. If it makes you feel better those drivers do it to us 'good' guys too and we hate them just as much as you.

TBH the worst offenders are the grandads and blue rinse brigade that INSIST on driving at 40 - 50 mph gripping the steering wheel like they doing 200 mph , they FORCE the lorries to overtake them.

Part of the test (for all drivers) is demonstrating the ability to drive at speed - and if you can't manage 60mph on a motorway (in a car) then you shouldn't be driving.

Lorries are the LIFE Blood of this country , restricting movements too certain times will cause goods to be greatly increased in price.

To be clear - i'm in favour of restricting overtaking at peak times only as the majority of it see from lorry drivers is basically unecessary and causes a lot of congestion. Unless a vehicle is going >10mph slower than you I can't see why the rest of us should suffer and it's only for a small period of the day too.

WE are NOT to blame , the goverment is , for years now they have neglected the Roads / Motorways in this country.

I wouldn't disagree - the question is how we make things better given it'll take years to fix the roads properly. In the short term things like car sharing and lorries have a fraction of the day restricted to the inside lane COULD help.

SO while you are all happy to bash us truckers remember that its a LOT harder to get a HGV licence than a Car Licence for a reason.

As it should be - because the damage you can do is proportionately larger and they're much harder to drive.

Most HGV drivers are MORE courteous than the average car driver , we are always looking out for hazards on the road. SO when you cut up a 40 plus tonne lorry remember it takes a lot longer to stop , we ALSO have blind spots and we can also see right down into your vehcile and SEE what your REALLY doing as you drive along .....

I agree here too - most lorry drivers are darn good drivers (at least the british ones are). The foreign drivers are on the wrong side of the cab and (for me) are somewhat of a different tale.
Where I live there's a LOT of freight traffic from the ports.

Thanks for posting your POV BTW - it's actually interesting to hear it from the other side

[GoNz0]

Trains deliver right to the loading bay of the store they delivering too do they ? ,

they could make better use of trains, at least stop all the forign drivers coming into the country if the stuff was on a train until the closest point to its destination.

now you cant deny that makes sence, beats a lorry driving hundreds of miles dont it ?

[Karlos007]

i would agree that it is frustrating when lorrys overtake each other, especially as there restrictors make it so that there barley edging past each other over the course of several minuets. Having said that tho its a neccesery evil, and i can quiet understand why lorry drivers may feel dismay at the thaught of not bieng allowed to overtake.

Perhapse we have lost the point of this debate anyway.
Should the speed limits be changed for everyone, not just lorrys. Im not sure, sometimes i feel that 70 miles per hour is a bit to slow for your average car these days, bearing in mind all of the technological advances that have come along over the years. however, one eliment in the scheme of things has not changed. Its the human eliment. Are drivers better today, especially in this modern, stressed out world where we drive along often with our minds on anything but the job at hand?
the cars may cope better at speed now, but can we?

[GoNz0]

i think lorry drivers who use 5 miles of road to overtake should be banned for being so bloody stupid in the 1st place

[zoomee]

heh heh - this a a REALLY good question and one that I would be willing to vote on - BAN THE SPEED LIMIT.

Nothing more frustrating than tailbacks for miles all because some stupid lorry driver is taking 5 mile stretch to overtake - causes all the people travelling @ 60+ to head for the fast lane in effect backing up traffic for yonks.

Cars are more capable, people are more capable - Yet the government or should I say police will never allow this to happen - whats going to happen to the millions they make in speeding fines? They simply would not give up this amount of income just to please us the public. Since when has this government (or any other for that matter) done something to please the public?.

[Parm]

Quite a few people have mentioned that the gap and speed difference between various vehicles is the key. With that in mind, would lowering the speed limit actually have the most benefits?

Some of the arguments so far have stated that the problem is some drivers doing 60, whilst others are doing 100. That difference in speed leaves us prone to accidents and so forth.

If, say, the speed limit was actually 60, nearly everyone would be driving at the same speeds - including most lorries. Though, it'd be impossible to enforce.

Personally, I wouldn't like a 60mph limit and admit that my average motorway speed is 80mph, but, I do wonder if a lower speed limit would be safer for all. Mind you, only two people have voted for a reduced speed limit, so it clearly isn't a favourable option.

[mfurse]

I think the limit should be raised in most sections of motorway and dual carriageway, if it was removed we would need a much much better RTA response system (like in Germany) to attend to speed related accidents, some people would not be able to control themselves.

Speed limits are great where it is just and warranted (weather, bad roads, known congestion, schools etc) but as mentioned I don't think speed related accidents are a major problem for the UK and raising the speed limit from 70-80/90 I doubt would change that - most people do 80/90 anyway.

However, there is an environmental impact to be heeded, and with petrol already at £1.25/litre most people are going to be forced to do the "optimum" speed of 58 mph (or whatever it is on your car) to get the most from a tank of petrol for cost reasons. I think raising the limit here would result in a polarised set of drivers - those who have no regard for fuel costs and likely have performance cars who can more safely do 80 Mph+ and those who will be watching the fuel needle instensely at 60mph

[GoNz0]

balls to that ive ragged the tits off my 328 today, had some great fun

[Sinizter]

What environment heed ? Even the scientists who spend their life studying climate cant even decide whether there is any warming that is due to human action and whether reducing your so called carbon footprint will do **** to save the planet.

[digit]

I think a variable limit is the way forward, condition dependant. Perhaps another way to combat the problem with incorrect driving on motorways is to include motorway driving in lessons and also on the practical driving test. Due to lack of inclusion perhaps thats to blame for bad driving on motorways? To many people havent done pass plus which at the moment is the only way people get exposure to driving on a motorway bar doing it themselves or with an experienced driver such as a parent.

[leexgx]

avg speed is 80/90 on uk motorways my car i do 80 norm as its doing 45MPG if i tail gate trucks it does do 65MPG (do around 65mph)

what i would realy like is the 70 drivers that Hang in the 3d lane to move out of it (or get finded for makeing an 40 car tail back or 10 miles back log)

[tickedon]

avg speed is 80/90 on uk motorways my car i do 80 norm as its doing 45MPG if i tail gate trucks it does do 65MPG (do around 65mph)

what i would realy like is the 70 drivers that Hang in the 3d lane to move out of it (or get finded for makeing an 40 car tail back or 10 miles back log)

Not entirely sure how you could fine someone for not breaking the speed limit

I personally have no problem with people doing 70 in the 3rd lane IF they are overtaking AND pull in again within a couple of minutes to let anyone who wants to speed past. If everyone would think of everyone else and be courteous, our roads would be much more enjoyable I think.

My only problem is that on the 50mph limit motorways around here, when I'm doing 70 in the 3rd lane and overtaking and people go right up my back - often when I myself am stuck behind someone else doing 70 and obviously can't go any faster! Those people are the ones who deserve to be fined imho - they are the ones who will cause accidents.