Thoughts on Excessive Speed

[bigmike20vt]

Let's be honest now, this country has a road network that is not fit for driving at the speed limit of either motorway, urban or rural. Couple that with drivers who have more distractions in the vehicle now, complacency, poor driving standards, more vehicles to contend with, even the lack of courtesy. All these and more affect us all and it's surprising that the accident rate isn't higher.

i agree our roads are rubbish esp our B and even some A roads....... but lets not over egg it....... our motorways are fine at 70mph when the conditions are ok, and most A roads are ok at national speedlimits, you just have to be aware of potholes and keep an eye out.

 

[jpaul]

seeing as it was in news yesterday .. sorry, I still think there is a specsavers issue here

More than 50,000 drivers had their journeys brought to a halt due to pothole related damage, compared to 41,790 the July before, new analysis from the AA shows.
Year-to-date, the AA has attended 362,172 pothole related incidents, making 2023 the third worst year for pothole breakdowns after seven months, behind 2017 (366,227) and 2018 (398,832).
...
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “July’s rainfall caused more headaches for drivers last month with tyres, suspensions and steering mechanisms all being damaged as the rain and puddles hid the potholes lurking underneath.
...
Data provided by the 172 councils (of the 208 across the UK with responsibility for highways) that responded shows £2.41m was paid to drivers in 2020/21, £2.71m in 2019/20 and £3.61m in 2018/19 – meaning the collective compensation paid by these councils fell by a third (33%) from 2018/19 to 2021/22.

doesn't say what percentage of total call outs they contribute (is running out of energy more frequent)

 

[Haggisman]

Let's be honest now, this country has a road network that is not fit for driving at the speed limit of either motorway, urban or rural. Couple that with drivers who have more distractions in the vehicle now, complacency, poor driving standards, more vehicles to contend with, even the lack of courtesy. All these and more affect us all and it's surprising that the accident rate isn't higher.

Most roads aren't too bad - yes some rural roads have some pretty bad potholes, and many city & suburban/housing estate roads are simply not suitable for the size & volume of vehicles using them, but the overwhelming majority of problems are caused by bad drivers, distraction and impatience being in joint 1st place (in my opinion).

 

[Conscript]

Let's be honest now, this country has a road network that is not fit for driving at the speed limit of either motorway, urban or rural.

We could definitely do better in regard to road maintenance, but come on, "not fit for driving" is hyperbolic in the extreme.

 

[tonys]

How many of the existing roads actually have a totally intact surface other than newly laid? Go cheap is the moto for most of the road network

 

[tom_e]

How many of the existing roads actually have a totally intact surface other than newly laid? Go cheap is the moto for most of the road network

A lot of them. I do a few hundred miles a week and generally until you get around town most roads are of a good standard. It's the smaller urban roads that struggle with weight/volume of traffic.

 

[Conscript]

How many of the existing roads actually have a totally intact surface other than newly laid? Go cheap is the moto for most of the road network

But I am not denying that there are plenty of examples of of existing roads don't have totally intact road surfaces or potholes (although to answer your question as tom_e has, lots do), or may be in need of repair. Nor do I disagree that we cheap out on road maintenance too often.
What I am denying is your assertion that therefore our entire road network is unfit for purpose. That's just silly hyperbole.

 

[tonys]

It's adequate for slow moving traffic I'll admit but not for excessive speed which is the title of the thread.

 

[Rroff]

ouch.... did anyone get out alive before it set on fire?

Hasn't made it to the news so don't know details for sure, according to posts on Facebook people helped the driver out before it fully went up but don't mention condition.

 

[bigmike20vt]

Hasn't made it to the news so don't know details for sure, according to posts on Facebook people helped the driver out before it fully went up but don't mention condition.

fingers crossed..... the fact the driver was gotten out, regardless of anything else at least they were given a fighting chance!.

 

[Haggisman]

It's adequate for slow moving traffic I'll admit but not for excessive speed which is the title of the thread.

Shock horror as normal road network which isn't designed to be used as a race track isn't suitable to be used as a race track

 

[tonys]

Neither are our motorways

 

[Haggisman]

Neither are our motorways

Our motorways aren't suitable for driving at the posted speed limit?

 

[jpaul]

Can't see any documentation on whether French Autoroutes have better quality construction/tolerances than modern UK ones,
but the French ones eg A8 are up to doing 80mph & not noisy, but M1 doesn't feel the same, yes M1's old,
private financing/tolls of the Autoroutes was perhaps a winner.

 

[Housey]

I’m in the US at the moment and it always amazes me how slow everyone drives compared to home. I’ve not really gone over 70mph and find myself following along with everyone else. No lane controls like the uk means people tend to not get annoyed, they just undertake and go about their day.

I don’t feel inclined to drive fast.

 

[Rroff]

Just saw this article pop up on the BBC LOL:

BBC Rewind: Anger at 'dawdling' 70mph speed limit

Drivers protest over the introduction of speed limits on motorways, which were trialled from 1965.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[geekman]

I’m in the US at the moment and it always amazes me how slow everyone drives compared to home. I’ve not really gone over 70mph and find myself following along with everyone else. No lane controls like the uk means people tend to not get annoyed, they just undertake and go about their day.

I don’t feel inclined to drive fast.

With the exception of some areas, I've always found it to be the opposite. I often see people going well over 90, particularly in Texas and Florida. The undertaking is great though and saves so much aggro as you say.

 

[robj20]

IMO if you want to **** about in a car book a track day, they're not expensive.
I had a pretty bad crash in my youth with my sister in the car and it really dawned on me how things can go badly so easily. I just don't speed anymore public roads are for getting from A to B simple as that. If I want to have fun in the car off to Oulton Park for the day.

 

[ICDP]

IMO if you want to **** about in a car book a track day, they're not expensive.
I had a pretty bad crash in my youth with my sister in the car and it really dawned on me how things can go badly so easily. I just don't speed anymore public roads are for getting from A to B simple as that. If I want to have fun in the car off to Oulton Park for the day.

You are assuming any idiot who decides 90 or 100 is fine on UK roads are doing it for fun. They are doing it because all they care about is themselves and getting to where “they” need to be.

 

[robj20]

You are assuming any idiot who decides 90 or 100 is fine on UK roads are doing it for fun. They are doing it because all they care about is themselves and getting to where “they” need to be.

True.