Could increasing speed limits make some roads safer?

Burnsy2023 · 24 Nov 2013 at 20:22

So I saw this linked on another forum and thought it had some very interesting points:

Now despite the guy being Canadian, I think this is very relevant here and from my own personal view, I do feel that many limits are completely arbitrary. I'm a big advocate for evidence based decision making, but perhaps when the evidence is counter intuitive people just ignore it? So do you think it's time to re-evaluate the speed limit policy?

Phil W · 24 Nov 2013 at 20:24

Speed limit is 70, people do 80-90. Speed limit changes to 80, people do 90-100. Its all relative. You'll always have *someone* that HAS to go faster.

[TW]Fox · 24 Nov 2013 at 20:24

Some speed limits do, on the face of it, seem ridiculous.

I particularly find it amusing when I drove along a wide, smooth road in the countryside with a 50 limit, occasionally passing the odd junction to what looks like no more than a 1.5 car width track with tight curves and.... an NSL sign indicating that you can legally drive down it faster..

Burnsy2023 · 24 Nov 2013 at 20:27

Phil W said:
Speed limit is 70, people do 80-90. Speed limit changes to 80, people do 90-100. Its all relative. You'll always have *someone* that HAS to go faster.

If you listen to the video, there is some evidence that this is a fallacy. People drive what they feel is safe for the conditions. On a Mway, this may be 80 (and therefore currently illegal) and if the limit is raised, the speed won't increase for the majority of motorists.

geekman · 24 Nov 2013 at 20:34

Phil W said:
Speed limit is 70, people do 80-90. Speed limit changes to 80, people do 90-100. Its all relative. You'll always have *someone* that HAS to go faster.

If they had changed the speed limit say 20 years ago, I'd agree with you. Nowadays however, I reckon people are so obsessed with economy that very few people would drive any faster than they currently do.

I tend to stay at around 90 on the motorway and I've driven hundreds of miles without anyone passing me. I do the south section of the m25 twice a week and I can only think of a few times in over a year when someone else has wanted to go faster than me.

CaNsA · 24 Nov 2013 at 20:41

Burnsy2023 said:
Could increasing speed limits make some roads safer?

I'm not sure, the only thing I know for certain is when I speed I dont nearly die every mile.
The moment I stick the the speed limit every car is attracted to my bike like a moth to a flame.

[TW]Fox · 24 Nov 2013 at 20:43

Just watched the video, makes perfect sense.

Tom_ed1987 · 24 Nov 2013 at 21:31

Phil W said:
Speed limit is 70, people do 80-90. Speed limit changes to 80, people do 90-100. Its all relative. You'll always have *someone* that HAS to go faster.

But that someone is going faster than the limit anyway. I'm fairly sure that if the limit on the motorway was 150, most people would still continue to drive at 85. 85 is relaxing, not too noisy, still reasonably economical and dosen't require extreme focus with 2 hands on the wheel.

In Germany when you come across a derestricted section most maintain their current speed.

Those speed limits in Canada are crazy low.

Barks · 24 Nov 2013 at 21:39

Apart from 30mph zones which are justified most of the time I don't really pay a huge amount of attention to be honest. So many of the roads around here have gone from NSL to 50mph/40mph for no reason and I have not changed my speed on these routes to say the least.

There are far too many people in this country driving poorly maintained cars to warrant triple figure speed limits on the motorways though IMO.

Nickyyy · 24 Nov 2013 at 21:51

I generally think the speed limits in the UK are fine, I think motorways could do with 80MPH limits but I think 60 in single lane and country roads are fine. 30 is fine for in and around town.

What annoys me is people who do 35 in a 60 mph zone where its perfectly clear and safe to do 60. Usually farmers! And when they come to a 30 zone they keep doing 35! lol does my head in.

adam cool dude · 25 Nov 2013 at 02:29

Nickyyy said:
I generally think the speed limits in the UK are fine, I think motorways could do with 80MPH limits but I think 60 in single lane and country roads are fine. 30 is fine for in and around town.

What annoys me is people who do 35 in a 60 mph zone where its perfectly clear and safe to do 60. Usually farmers! And when they come to a 30 zone they keep doing 35! lol does my head in.

Exactly when are the powers that be going to realize this is the case. 60mph roads are fine as are motorways. It's the slower machinery that causes the traffic. Normally when there is some big accident on the news it involves a lorry or other slow moving machinery that has caused some person to make a stupid decision.

How long ago were the speed limits introduced for lorries? I can guarantee their braking and control systems are a lot better than they used to be. NSL for a lorry should be 56mph like on motorways. Not the 40mph it is today.

Rroff · 25 Nov 2013 at 02:35

I found it hard to get past the first bit of the video... with no central reservation and multiple lanes of traffic each way at higher speeds the result of accidents would escalate quickly to very nasty levels. 50km/h might have been a touch low but nothing too crazily low.

As always I'm against increasing the speed limits too much as people are just too stupid as a gross generalisation even if there are plenty of people who could safely drive at the higher speeds.

Spartacus · 25 Nov 2013 at 03:11

Nickyyy said:
I generally think the speed limits in the UK are fine, I think motorways could do with 80MPH limits but I think 60 in single lane and country roads are fine. 30 is fine for in and around town.

What annoys me is people who do 35 in a 60 mph zone where its perfectly clear and safe to do 60. Usually farmers! And when they come to a 30 zone they keep doing 35! lol does my head in.

Spot on, I followed a car earlier tonight doing 35 on a nsl road that later changed to a 30 mph zone, guess what? He continued to do 35 in the 30 zone. These drivers are as annoying as the ones who can't maintain their speed going up hill slightly.

Rich_L · 25 Nov 2013 at 03:34

The motorway limit could be revised, but then I think as mentioned it does come down to comfort/economy for the vast majority of drivers.

The limit on freeways here is 65mph but most people drive at about 75-80mph due to those factors. The limit is clearly not enforced at 65mph as I've driven past (along with dozens of other cars) traffic police at 75mph and they don't bat an eyelid

What I would suspect though is if the limit was raised to 80mph the tolerance for exceeding the limit would be less and so practically speaking those doing 80mph would be ignored as usual but those doing 90mph might find themselves pulled over just as much as when the limit was 70mph.

Conscript · 25 Nov 2013 at 08:47

Great video, lots of interesting points. Wont change anything though, not when you have organisations like Brake jerking their knees each time someone exceeds the limit by 1mph...

Yaayuh! · 25 Nov 2013 at 08:58

Nickyyy said:
I generally think the speed limits in the UK are fine, I think motorways could do with 80MPH limits but I think 60 in single lane and country roads are fine. 30 is fine for in and around town.

What annoys me is people who do 35 in a 60 mph zone where its perfectly clear and safe to do 60. Usually farmers! And when they come to a 30 zone they keep doing 35! lol does my head in.

My thoughts entirely!
Motorway/Dual carriageways to 80MPH but the rest is fine.

Also agree with your other comment. Around here there are a couple of easily 60 roads that people do 40 on and continue to 40 when it goes through a 30 limit... Really bugs me.

Uncle_Gravy · 25 Nov 2013 at 09:02

Nickyyy said:
What annoys me is people who do 35 in a 60 mph zone where its perfectly clear and safe to do 60. Usually farmers! And when they come to a 30 zone they keep doing 35! lol does my head in.

This!

Everytime I come home, I always take to the country lanes, Its not the most demanding piece of road, but is fun, and the speed is 50, which I find reasonable, But what I get is people who insist on doing 30ish, brake at every bend, then when we get out of the lanes on to a pretty built up residential area, always people walking their dogs, kids playing on the pavement, and these idiots insist on speeding up to 40...in a 30!

Grips my **** that's for sure.

PMKeates · 25 Nov 2013 at 09:11

I think most town roads with 20/30/40 limits and most country roads with NSL limits are fine. You don't drive very far in towns so the speed limit doesn't really impact journey times, and the NSL/60 limit is so gently enforced as to be pretty reasonable. The big problem is motorways, where huge giant swathes of tarmac have people limited to a completely ridiculous 70 - just 10 more than a country lane - for potentially hours of driving. It has a significant impact on journey times, and causes people to just 'switch off' and roll along the middle lane at a snail's pace.

I would advocate 100 MPH for the motorways. I think a two-tier car licensing system would work, with the first tier for e.g. min 3 years giving you access to normal size/power cars and a lower speed limit, and an additional test for a second tier, focused on more advanced driving techniques, car control, high speed observation etc., allowing for larger/more powerful cars and a higher speed limit.

Bonkers examples, I think you'll agree:

60 MPH limit:

http://goo.gl/maps/EDllR

70 MPH limit:

http://goo.gl/maps/WBkFd

Muffin` · 25 Nov 2013 at 09:34

Conscript said:
Great video, lots of interesting points. Wont change anything though, not when you have organisations like Brake jerking their knees each time someone exceeds the limit by 1mph...

It's an emotive subject Road Saftey, Labour did a good job of changing its priority in our society. Meanwhile Suicide rates are still three times that of deaths involving the road and still climbing...

Orionaut · 25 Nov 2013 at 09:54

I have always felt that if one cannot drive safely with the speedo disconnected, One shouldn't really be driving at all!