A clever man talks about speed limits

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wzVaa557I9k

I know he's American, but he's still making lots of valid points.
____________________
My Flickr

[krarkol]

I was reading a thread on pistonheads the other month where someone had asked the older members what it was like before speed limits came in place.

The general answer was that they just drove to what they were comfortable with and it also decreased the likelihood of smashing into the back of someone doing 40 on a motorway, as you expected it as not everyone is comfortable at higher speed.
____________________
Bandit 600 - deaded

[Rogerborg]

If you want to see the effect of speed differentials, look no further than the A9.

273 miles of mostly single carriageway with a few short stretches of dual.

The main result of speed enforcement is to keep HGVs at 40mph. Result: frustration overtakes of Russian dashcam proportions.

I can't remember ever being up there without seeing a crash or the aftermath of one.

If they Special Roaded it and raised the limit to 50 (or "as fast as you can manage") for HGVs, I firmly believe it would be much safer for all concerned.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[krarkol]

I bet the general population don't dare go faster than 60mph on B roads anyway.

Pretty much every time I am on an NSL, I will be stuck behind someone doing 40. So if there was no speed limit on the same stretch, I doubt they would speed up.

People who speed will speed on an NSL anyway, so having no speed limit generally won't make a difference.
____________________
Bandit 600 - deaded

[Ben90]

[mentalboy]

The only drawback with all that is that you'll still get the doddery old farts who insist at driving at 40 on NSL roads. Maybe they should just be shot to make the roads safer?
____________________
Make mine a Corona.

[Rogerborg]

Depends on the road.

There are some NSL roads where I wouldn't do more than 10mph, because hedge-blind-bend-tractor.

On the A9, you could safely do motorway speeds on much of it.

Not all of it though. The junctions are lethal.

Having one blanket speed limit is unhelpful, whether it's too high or too low.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[woo]

Rogerborg that A9 looks like an interesting road, i may use it to go to john o groats one day
____________________
Elen sila lummen omentielvo!

[EazyDuz]

I have a feeling that 5 or so years ago there were less slow drivers on the road. IMy theory is a lot of people drive slower to save petrol. Does anyone else think people used to drive a little faster?
____________________
To shreds you say? Tss tss tss

[Llama-Farmer]

IoM doesn't have a national speed limit and most of the time vehicles don't go above 70 or 80. I'm sure I read that somewhere.

They drive to what they feel is safe for the roads and conditions and it seems to work well for them. The problem is when everyone comes over for the TT and goes mad and suddenly think they're John McGuinness and can get away with silly speeds on unfamiliar roads.
____________________
Current Bike: 1999 Honda CB600 FX Hornet
Next Bike: I want a CBR-RR. And I want an F800 GS-A. And a VFR 800. Can I have all 3?
Dream Bikes: Honda VFR750R RC30, Honda NSR500, Ducati 996 R

[Rogerborg]

[ScaredyCat]

[Golgarth]

[Ballpien]

IMO the 40 limit on single carriageways is warrantied.Yes it's frustrating sitting behind an artic for mile after mile (got a t-shirt for every day of the month)

A 40ft lorry weighing anything up to 44tonne takes a fair bit of stopping. On a road like the A9, where Roger says the junctions are lethal, (I concur, been up to Inverness and Wick many times) it is even more so.

Not a good idea to let a vehicle of that length and weight loose at 56mph on a road like the A9.

[Dalemac]

[Rogerborg]

The A9 has two distinct problems: junctions and frustration overtaking.

The junctions need sorted, as a separate issue.

The overtaking is down to speed differential. The proposed solution? Average speed cameras.

Yay, so now all the artics will be doing a real 40, and all the cars a real 60. Or trying to. Or worse, trying to overtake artics doing 40 while not exceeding 60 even temporarily because brain not for so good arithmetic the workings.

Meanwhile, a sop having been thrown to BRAKE, the actual solution (dualling more of it) has been kicked another 3 years down the road.

[kramdra]

Far more fuel can be saved by looking ahead, planning and no hesitation - you should have already looked and decided if a junction is safe. Short journeys use far more fuel than speeding.

Hesitation is dangerous. Recently I notice a lot of people trying to turn as slow as possible and often not completing a manoeuvre in the gap they have, forcing other (oncoming?) cars to slow down


I feel this video missed a huge point - that when the speed limit is excessively low for the road/conditions, drivers become bored and awareness plummets = more accidents. An example is the 40mph average speed section of A23.

[Kickstart]