Thoughts on Excessive Speed

tonys said:
Same as most large van drivers don't know that they are restricted to 60 on motorways and dual carriages.
Click to expand...

Some large vans (less than 7.5 tonnes) can do 70 on motorways but restricted to 60 on dual-carriageways. Most lorries are also technically limited to slower speeds than most do on single carriageways (though personally I think that limit is mostly a bit outdated).
 
I live near a major roundabout. When we have hot weather, have a window open. All I can hear is motorbikes and cars doing stupid speeds around it - jumping red lights too.

Saw the other day a bumper from one of these cars side of the road. The plate on the car was only registered in May
 
cheesefest said:
I live near a major roundabout. When we have hot weather, have a window open. All I can hear is motorbikes and cars doing stupid speeds around it - jumping red lights too.

Saw the other day a bumper from one of these cars side of the road. The plate on the car was only registered in May
Click to expand...
You can hear cars jump red lights? Mad. They really must be doing some speed.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
Born Again Biker syndrome?

Last had a bike 30 years ago. Purchased a new sports bike and found its performance far exceeded his skill.

Alas, it’s not uncommon.
Click to expand...
Its not just BABs, just anyone suddenly going on a modern sports bike from nothing also is at high risk..

A few years ago, I took a mate out on the back of my gsxr1000 and he loved it so much, he did his Direct Access and I even sourced him a mint low mileage GSXR600 from my brother in law, riding it 150 miles to save him doing it.. literally his first ride in to work ended with him looping it at a junction when he tried to accelerate too quickly and it got away from him.. 3 months later he went over a blind brow too quickly and bounced off some cars.. that second one was so close he gave up biking., and I feel guilty to this day for helping him get on bikes.. it turns out some people have zero ability and sense of self preservation that they really should never be allowed near bikes.


And OT,
I am trying to wean myself off medium fast cars.. I keep telling myself I need something normal speed and more ‘chill’ but already I am back looking at sub 5.0s to 60 cars… it’s a disease..
 
Last edited:
Terminal_Boy said:
Born Again Biker syndrome?

Last had a bike 30 years ago. Purchased a new sports bike and found its performance far exceeded his skill.

Alas, it’s not uncommon.
Click to expand...

I spent many years riding bikes. The one thing I learnt is there are two types of motorcyclist - the sensible and the dead-men riding. A bike is not freedom, it is the exact opposite. You have to be more aware and more cautious than a car driver, because even if they make the mistake, you are the one that's going to die.
 
I used to be a dead man walking biker but a bike crash 22 years ago and age means i'm in the sensible category now, i actually enjoy a more sedate pace.
I still own a sports bike, i just like the way they look. Most i've done on it was about 90 mph overtaking, only once. Curiousity now satisfied so doubt i'll be repeating it.

In my car i've not gone above 80 mph, that was on the M6. Even on motorways i usually stay between 60-70 mph. I enjoy the relaxed pace. I've put my foot down from a standing start a few times.
 
So I drove from central Scotland to Bicester (Near Oxford) on Friday evening and back up again last night. I had my cruise control set to 70 on the way up the M6 and M74. At times, and I’d say the majority of the time here, I was the slowest thing on the road, save for coaches, trucks and the odd car. Very few other cars, SUV’s and even tiny Corsa’s and big Audi’s and Mercedes were slower, many much faster including some I reckon were doing over 90 the way they blew past. Also still plenty of middle lane morons. One guy got passed on both sides easily five or six times but still didn’t even twig he was the problem.

when we got into Glasgow the rain was horrendous, absolutely torrential with standing water across most lanes and my wipers going full speed and still had some difficulty. I was doing 50 at the most and people still blowing past at 60+, highly inappropriate speed. I’ve aquaplaned before, it’s a definite pucker moment, even if it was very brief, those going far too fast clearly haven’t as it’s a definite moment that clears the mind.
 
The accidents and near-misses I've had have always been low-speed.

On the speed awareness course I went on (many years ago) the chaps taking it said motorways and dcw were some of the safest roads, regardless of speed, because they're designed for speed. Makes sense. Good vis, good surfacing, gentle corners, fewer at-grade junctions (none if built recently).

I tend to think it's absolutely fine to do up to 90 on a dcw (no motorways in Cornwall ;)) . Whilst at the same time, holding to the idea that 20, 30 (urban) limits should never be exceeded.

Which is to say, exceeding the 70 limit by 20 is much, much safer than exceeding a 20 limit by 10. 70 on a dcw or motorway does seem painfully slow, assuming good conditions.
 
Last edited:
MissChief said:
Always give plenty of space to cyclists. Endless patience for Learners too.
Click to expand...
I'm a cyclist. I've also had at least one near miss with a cyclist, simply because I didn't see him until the last second. This was at night, btw.

Shook me up quite a lot, because it made me realise that we can be really, really difficult to spot in some circumstances.

Rroff said:
I literally don't understand why anyone cycles many of the roads around here, even if they don't have any other form of transport, you are literally taking your life in your hands.

Haven't seen anything in the local news but the other night driving home came across a scene of a mangled bike and the emergency services working over someone on the ground plus distraught car driver.
Click to expand...

Doubly so for cyclists wearing dark clothing on their bikes at night. When the only sign they are there is a tiny blinking rear light. A light so pitiful you can only see it when you're upon it.
 
MissChief said:
So I drove from central Scotland to Bicester (Near Oxford) on Friday evening and back up again last night. I had my cruise control set to 70 on the way up the M6 and M74. At times, and I’d say the majority of the time here, I was the slowest thing on the road, save for coaches, trucks and the odd car. Very few other cars, SUV’s and even tiny Corsa’s and big Audi’s and Mercedes were slower, many much faster including some I reckon were doing over 90 the way they blew past. Also still plenty of middle lane morons. One guy got passed on both sides easily five or six times but still didn’t even twig he was the problem.

when we got into Glasgow the rain was horrendous, absolutely torrential with standing water across most lanes and my wipers going full speed and still had some difficulty. I was doing 50 at the most and people still blowing past at 60+, highly inappropriate speed. I’ve aquaplaned before, it’s a definite pucker moment, even if it was very brief, those going far too fast clearly haven’t as it’s a definite moment that clears the mind.
Click to expand...

One that I see a lot is on the M6 passing the Lake District is often very heavy rain and no end of people blowing past at 90+ despite a good few mm of standing water and visibility down to like maybe 30m or less.
 
Rroff said:
One that I see a lot is on the M6 passing the Lake District is often very heavy rain and no end of people blowing past at 90+ despite a good few mm of standing water and visibility down to like maybe 30m or less.
Click to expand...
That bit actually wasn't too bad, it was south of Glasgow and heading east. Absolutely pouring with rain, proper stair rods.
 
Last edited:
As always, still after 14 years of driving a car and 7 years of riding a motorbike, I think speed limits on motorways are aboslutely retarded and think people who think otherwise should not be on the road.
Speed doesn't cause accidents, it's idiots who cannot respect the right of way/yield when they should (like when changing lanes).

Speed should never have priority in enforcement, rather heavily punish people who don't yield when they have to.
Also I think it should be much harder to pass for your driving test, the standards should be much higher. People who don't understand how cars work mechanically and things like over/understeer shouldn't be on the road imho, they ruin the driving experience for the people who actually appreciate cars for what they are and can do.

I remember OcUK when I was 18, people like TW Fox and others commenting that it's not as easy as jumping on the autobahn and driving fast from A to B, which was total BS, I drive to Poland from Rotterdam every so many months and I always floor it whenever physically possible, I want to reach the PL border within 6 hours so that means 140-150 ish mph when possible ( I often pick sunday to travel through Germany as lorry's are off the road/disallowed and you don't get stuck with so many slowpokes moving left to overtake lorries). I aim to make an average of 100 mph.

Chech republic and Italy are both contemplating raising the speed limit to 150 km/h (90 mph) which is a good move really. Cars are much more comfortable and safe than 30 years ago so the average speed should go up, not down.

During the day we have a terrible 60 mph limit here for Nitrogen emmisions, it's literally sleep inducing, to the point I hate driving in NL before 1900 hrs and avoid long distance travel in NL like the plague. Whenever I go somewhere with mates ( e.g. festivals or other leisure) I usually make others drive these days :o.


Not the proudest to admit but I used to go to streetrace meetings in the port (pretty much every Saturday night if you know where in those days there were races) when I was 19-22 yrs of age and sometimes participated in sprints. Luckily nothing ever happened and I never got caught.In all those years of driving I only had 1 parking error/mistake, I broke a window of a carwash box. Never any contact with another vehicle. I did drive over my fathers foot once accidentally, but he was allright.
I actually drove for years for the Post company here until I was 24 as well. I think I have driven around 800.000 km's by now in total.
 
Last edited:
snowdog said:
Also I think it should be much harder to pass for your driving test, the standards should be much higher. People who don't understand how cars work mechanically ... shouldn't be on the road imho, they ruin the driving experience for the people who actually appreciate cars for what they are and can do.
Click to expand...
You would cull the number of road users by at least 50%, probably more like 90%, if you made mechanical familiarity a requirement.

In the same way as if you made electrical engineering a requirement for using smartphones, nobody would have one.

There is so much in the modern world that we use every day, of which only enthusiasts actually understand the inner workings.
 
Well perhaps mechanical is a bit far, but a slip test should be mandatory, as well as a test in extreme bad weather conditions imho, there shouldn't be one driving test but at least 3.

For motorbike you have 2 tests already one for vehicle control (slalom, emergency brake, emergency dodge, etc...) and one in traffic. I think a good first step would be a second driving test for vehicle control.

I always opted for tests for senior, but NL already implemented those, I believe people from 70+ have to get tested every 5 or so years if they are still capable of driving a car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom