Motorway Speeds

Judge

Judge

Judge

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26 Oct 2006
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203
Only a learner driver at the moment but still curious as to the rules of motorway driving. Afaik the speed limit for all 3 lanes is 70 mph, though you are meant to keep as far left as possible unless overtaking (which can only be done on the right). HGV's are also only allowed in the left and middle lanes.

From driving with others though it always seems that everyone hogs the middle and right lane, thing thats always confused me a little though is that if everyone is going at 70 then surely you must have to keep breaking the speed limit to then be able to overtake them ?
 
Pretty much spot on :)

Thouh you'd be suprised how many people sit on the inside lane at between 50 and 60, travelling slower than HGVs sometimes (members of my family included...) so those overtaking can still be below 70.

Also, you will learn that the majority of people just sit in the outside or middle lane and do not move back across to the inside lane when it is clear.

Your techical description of the system however is correct, this is how it is "supposed" to work.
 
What you say is correct. The speed limit on the motorway is 70mph but you'll find that quite a lot of people do 80-100mph regularly. This is perfectly normal and the police don't normally blink an eye at those doing 85mph-ish or under. Most of my motorway driving is done at 80-85mph.

Middle and right lane hoggers are a pain in the arse and are unfortunately a normal thing. You just have to either go around them or sit behind them dependent on your speed relative to theirs.
 
I drove at 70mph all the way from Devon to Reading last week. The only things I overtook were trucks. Every other car was doing at least 10mph over the limit.
Kinda makes a mockery of the current limit really.
 
Rilot said:
I drove at 70mph all the way from Devon to Reading last week. The only things I overtook were trucks. Every other car was doing at least 10mph over the limit.
Kinda makes a mockery of the current limit really.
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Thats because 70mph is too slow now.
 
Given the inability of some people to control their vehicles at speeds over 70mph, I wouldn't say that 70 was too slow, however the issue most of the time is that to maintain adequate flow of traffic, the average speed of all road users has to increase..

What bothers me, is that the number of vehicles on the road keeps increasing, the number of miles of road doesn't seem to change, the average speeds increase, as does the number of idiots behind the wheel.

I wonder what the critical mass is.
 
I drove M5 and M4 yesterday and stayed around 85mph, did a lot of over taking, but also got over taken a lot too. However came accross the bridge into Wales, and they have decided to stick 50mph imit between J24-J30, there are road works between J30 and J28, but after nothing, god knows why it was a 50 limit, all the cars bunched up, didnt really know what speed to travel, you could tell people were frustrated at 50, but didnt go too much over 60 incase of being caught, luckily i turned off at J28 and came home a different way.

IMO its better to travel at 70mph when its safe to do so.
 
K.C. Leblanc said:
Some motorways (the main one being the M25), have a variable speed limit where the speed limit is adjusted according to weight of traffic.
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These are also the only sections of motorway where you'll see 3 (or 4/5) lanes of traffic all doing the same speed

The cameras every mile or so measures your average speed, so you cant get away with going any faster. I always giggle to myself when some idiot in an S class comes haring along at 90 and slams on the brakes when he gets to the cameras :D
 
Judge said:
Only a learner driver at the moment but still curious as to the rules of motorway driving. Afaik the speed limit for all 3 lanes is 70 mph, though you are meant to keep as far left as possible unless overtaking (which can only be done on the right). HGV's are also only allowed in the left and middle lanes.

From driving with others though it always seems that everyone hogs the middle and right lane, thing thats always confused me a little though is that if everyone is going at 70 then surely you must have to keep breaking the speed limit to then be able to overtake them ?
Click to expand...

One part of that is wrong, passing or overtaking on the left is perfectly legal.
 
iaind said:
These are also the only sections of motorway where you'll see 3 (or 4/5) lanes of traffic all doing the same speed

The cameras every mile or so measures your average speed, so you cant get away with going any faster. I always giggle to myself when some idiot in an S class comes haring along at 90 and slams on the brakes when he gets to the cameras :D
Click to expand...

Not true for the cameras on the M25 around the western half. They are normal Gatso cameras.
 
I tend to cruise at 85mph normally, and overtake at no more than 90. Police don't seem to be bothered at all really, i've overtaken them at that speed and got no response, even though I must be over their 10%+2 guideline.
 
I'd also like to point out, that thanks to R420 and his chums (other lorry drivers :p), the left lane on most motorways have tramlines, which in a lorry are fine, as it'll just sit in them and plod along. In a car however you can often have to fight it to keep it in one or the other tramline and it's a right bugger, so the middle lane is safer.

Having said that, I usually go to the left lane once I've performed an overtaking manoeuvre, even if I am cruising at 80-85, as that is what you are mean to do.

I came up behind someone on the M4 the other day, with them doing 60mph in the outside lane with both the left two lanes empty for at least 500yards in front of them. Despite flashes and gestures for them to move over, they wouldn't, this meant myself (and many other cars) had to perform an illegal overtake on them, but undertaking them. :rolleyes:
 
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