Thoughts on Excessive Speed

[hdpcgamer]

I try to drive safely and responsiblu as possible and don't take risks - I had an incident with a cyclist that was traumatic and vowed never to be reckless again as it isn't worth it.

I always keep to the speed limit and accelerate and brake slowly.

I also keep at least a distance of 2 cars in front of me.

I do love it however when people are in such a rush to over take you but then they have to stop at a traffic light anyway lol - never gets old

 

[poosemon]

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.

I think its very state dependant.

When I was in Colorado just south of Denver the speed limit was higher (believe it was 75mph) and felt very much like the UK in that a lot of road users were + a few mph above the limit. The lorrys are also travelling a lot quicker over there which took a bit of adjusting too!

 

[bigmike20vt]

I had to drive through Birmingham yesterday (went to Cadbury world with the lad) not speed related but there was so much awful driving, insane tailgating, cutting up and random lane changing with no indicators.

add to that motorcyclists seemingly on a death wish weaving in and out of lorries who could easily not have seen them.
my point is (other than I despise city driving) is that speed always gets the coverage in terms of bad driving but awful driving seems to be just an accepted given in cities and no one does a.damn thing to try and stop it (or don't appear to anyway)

 

[tonys]

I had to drive through Birmingham yesterday (went to Cadbury world with the lad) not speed related but there was so much awful driving, insane tailgating, cutting up and random lane changing with no indicators.

add to that motorcyclists seemingly on a death wish weaving in and out of lorries who could easily not have seen them.
my point is (other than I despise city driving) is that speed always gets the coverage in terms of bad driving but awful driving seems to be just an accepted given in cities and no one does a.damn thing to try and stop it (or don't appear to anyway)

I went to Think Tank in Birmingham on Friday with the family and found it was just more or less normal driving.

 

[Haggisman]

I had to drive through Birmingham yesterday (went to Cadbury world with the lad) not speed related but there was so much awful driving, insane tailgating, cutting up and random lane changing with no indicators.

add to that motorcyclists seemingly on a death wish weaving in and out of lorries who could easily not have seen them.
my point is (other than I despise city driving) is that speed always gets the coverage in terms of bad driving but awful driving seems to be just an accepted given in cities and no one does a.damn thing to try and stop it (or don't appear to anyway)

Yes, it's so bad round here, it really is shocking having driven quite extensively throughout a lot of the country, the only place I've found that comes close is London.

I do love it however when people are in such a rush to over take you but then they have to stop at a traffic light anyway lol - never gets old

I don't understand the mentality behind it, but some people just have to be in front. It's something I've noticed a lot more driving an EV with rapid but silent acceleration - maybe people just assume I'm going slowly because there isn't a huge cloud of black smoke and a loud *broom broom* noise when I put my foot down?

Coming out of Coventry yesterday along the A45 - dual carriageway which starts off at 40, then goes to 60 - me sticking to the 40mph speed limit with your stereotypical BMW 1 series practically sitting on my back seat, put my foot down where it changes to 60 mph, and now there's a gap in the right lane he pulls out to overtake and rattles past at ~80mph in a cloud of diesel smoke. 1/4 mile down the road I catch up again as he's sitting at 55

 

[Housey]

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.

I did one overtake where I nudged 95mph and I felt like the fastest person in America, odd feeling as I do 95mph on my drive on occasions.

The odd one or two idiots would fly along, but in the main most were happy to plod, certainly in New England.

 

[kindai]

Had an excessive (lack) of speed today following a car joining the M40. Going down the slip to join, at 30mph.

Like what the actual is going through peoples minds to think joining a motorway at 30mph is even remotely acceptable.

No less than 3 lorries had to move out into lane 2 to get past this idiot, and they're speed limited! Followed then by the 4 or 5 cars stuck behind him now in lane 1 all crawling along at 30mph on a motorway unable to get up to speed as we are blocked in the front by said idiot and lorries in lane 2.

 

[redeye]

I've lived abroad for the last 8 odd years but came back to the UK to live earlier this year (long story why). I'd come back 4-6 times a year during that period and always drove. Compared to where I used to live (Germany) on motorways these things have suprised me:


A lot of doing less than 60 in the left two lanes. Lorries having to overtake them.
So few lorries compared to driving on the continent.
People join the motorway at stupidly slow speeds.
Hardly anyone has any lane disipline. Got 5 lanes, you'll find people doing 65 in lane 3 and 4 with nothing inside. Not just occasionally but every few miles.
Very few people doing more than 80 in the outside.
Toyota Prius taxis - don't get me started. Why isn't the test to get a license more strict?
People not indicating, cutting people up unable to keep the same speed. It's either full throttle or hard on the brakes at the last second.
A lot of traffic caused by people in the wrong lanes and refusing to overtake.
Merge in turn.. for the love of god. Do it.
Road surfaces are just dangerous. The only save in grace is you get less spray than on European motorways but the noise, concrete joins, crazy sudden lane kinks, narrow lanes with no notice etc... it feels so old in many places.
Cats eyes are great.

So for me on motorways I use, the biggest issue every day is bad driving not so much speed. But which one causes more damage and deaths? Guess that's for the stats. But stress, traffic and general stupidity and road rage seems to be covered by the above.

 

[Rroff]

Coming out of Coventry yesterday along the A45 - dual carriageway which starts off at 40, then goes to 60 - me sticking to the 40mph speed limit with your stereotypical BMW 1 series practically sitting on my back seat, put my foot down where it changes to 60 mph, and now there's a gap in the right lane he pulls out to overtake and rattles past at ~80mph in a cloud of diesel smoke. 1/4 mile down the road I catch up again as he's sitting at 55

More for the bad driving thread but this one gets me on an almost daily basis as several places I drive frequently have 30 or 40 limit 2 lane sections leading up to NSL dual-carriageway and though I've not seen them in ages the police used to set up speed checks in those locations not infrequently. Despite there being a few 100 metres at the lower limits loads of people just go straight to the speed they'll do in the NSL section, which is usually less than the limit so I end up passing them again not long after.

 

[jpaul]

could be worse I could live in Labours Wales. - all* 30mph urban roads -> 20mph

We are introducing a default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads across Wales, from 17 September 2023.

Restricted roads are usually located in residential and built-up areas where there are lots of people. They often have street lights on them, placed no more than 200 yards apart.

We are making this change to:

• reduce the number of collisions and severe injuries from them (also reducing the impact on the NHS from treating the people who are injured)
• encourage more people to walk and cycle in our communities
• help to improve our health and well-being
• make our streets safer
• safeguard the environment for future generations.

will the productivity loss to their economy really offset the reduced injuries

(* unless exception saught )

 

[Rroff]

Though they do cite studies in Spain, etc. I'm not really convinced - limited use of 20 limits work because of the novelty factor, when everywhere is 20 it no longer stands out, eventually people will be doing closer to 30 on average (even if that is a little slower than the average speed in 30 limits). Maybe then they'll have to introduce 10 or 15 limits for specific places such as school zones, etc. :s

They aren't going to encourage more people to walk or cycle, the roads are just too busy regardless of speeds and most journeys by bike will still have sections of faster traffic to deal with.

Personally think it is far more agenda lead than is going to translate into meaningful results.

If you really want to save lives it needs better enforcement of limits, better enforcement of people on phones or other distractions, poor standards of driving and education, etc. but that costs a lot more money :s

EDIT: Also if you want to get people cycling invest in infrastructure to enable it, anyone talking about it not doing so is just wasting their breath, don't put it on motorists, etc. get out and do something so that people actually have cycling as a realistic and safe option.

 

[redeye]

I live in hilly South London. We have 20 mph limits everywhere. You can't cycle any real distance because of steep hills everywhere. There are no cycle lanes except one main road. Trains only run through the valley so you have to get into town to use it, and I don't need to go to closer to London or Gatwick.

They've put a 20 limit on a 1 mile stretch of road near a school. It isn't a 20 limit during certain hours of the day.. it's 20mph 24hrs a day. They have sign posts up saying speed cameras.. there are none. They have white lines (so no parking ever) yet every day at 8.30>9 and 3 until 3.45 they are stuffed with huge 4x4's parked by mums picking up their kids. It blocks the traffic all around. Road surfaces everywhere are a complete mess. You've got kids crossing between cars, not using crossings (with lights), pushing each other into the road and laughing, drivers with headphones in.

I'm not remotely suprised people think we need to do something.. but the answer seems to always be, yeh slap a 20 limit everywhere because it's easier than trying to change people or enforce existing rules / laws.

 

[tonys]

I live in hilly South London. We have 20 mph limits everywhere. You can't cycle any real distance because of steep hills everywhere. There are no cycle lanes except one main road. Trains only run through the valley so you have to get into town to use it, and I don't need to go to closer to London or Gatwick.

They've put a 20 limit on a 1 mile stretch of road near a school. It isn't a 20 limit during certain hours of the day.. it's 20mph 24hrs a day. They have sign posts up saying speed cameras.. there are none. They have white lines (so no parking ever) yet every day at 8.30>9 and 3 until 3.45 they are stuffed with huge 4x4's parked by mums picking up their kids. It blocks the traffic all around. Road surfaces everywhere are a complete mess. You've got kids crossing between cars, not using crossings (with lights), pushing each other into the road and laughing, drivers with headphones in.

I'm not remotely suprised people think we need to do something.. but the answer seems to always be, yeh slap a 20 limit everywhere because it's easier than trying to change people or enforce existing rules / laws.

Last night when I was walking the dog I saw a cyclist actually using a cycle lane, only trouble was they had no lights on and they were on the wrong side of the road.

 

[Haggisman]

Though they do cite studies in Spain, etc. I'm not really convinced - limited use of 20 limits work because of the novelty factor, when everywhere is 20 it no longer stands out, eventually people will be doing closer to 30 on average (even if that is a little slower than the average speed in 30 limits). Maybe then they'll have to introduce 10 or 15 limits for specific places such as school zones, etc. :s

They aren't going to encourage more people to walk or cycle, the roads are just too busy regardless of speeds and most journeys by bike will still have sections of faster traffic to deal with.

Personally think it is far more agenda lead than is going to translate into meaningful results.

If you really want to save lives it needs better enforcement of limits, better enforcement of people on phones or other distractions, poor standards of driving and education, etc. but that costs a lot more money :s

EDIT: Also if you want to get people cycling invest in infrastructure to enable it, anyone talking about it not doing so is just wasting their breath, don't put it on motorists, etc. get out and do something so that people actually have cycling as a realistic and safe option.

Yup, new rules are completely pointless without any enforcement. You get the same relatively small % of people who actually follow them, and everyone else just drives at the speed they want, regardless of the limit (arguably dropping the limit to 20 is going to make it worse because the people who want to go faster are going to get more impatient and perform more dangerous overtakes).

Enforcing the existing ones would do far more good, but like you say, that would require more police on the roads, and costs money.

 

[ZXSpectrum]

I haven't seen this thread before. The incident that the op is referring to happened not to far from my house and was pretty grim. There were some pics of the crash posted about on Facebook i believe until they were taken down (Not the ones of the dead occupants) Apparently there was also video of the crash circulating which shows they must have been traveling at over 120mph(passing a car doing 70mph like it was standing still then just veers straight into the bridge which fits with the likely cause that the father that was driving had a cardiac event) however i am not sure if that is true or not but i have heard similar from several people that works at one of Derby's biggest companies so who knows.

From what i have heard though from people who have seen the pictures is that the car was smashing in half and not something that would have been likely even if the car had been traveling at 80-90Mph.

I don't really drive fast anywhere anymore. I just cant be bothered really. There will always be people in fast cars driving fast and people in slow cars that drive at speeds that are not suitable to the conditions or just recklessly. I don't know what can really be done about it unless massive investment to the roads was used to put average speed cameras on all roads with no room to speed and then to prosecute anyone going above a small percentage of the limit, ban them for 5 years and sell their cars as scrap, parts or as a whole to fund more road traffic totalitarianism, no "I need my car to go to work, take the kids to school, get to the hospital etc etc" excuses.

 

[ICDP]

There is a massive difference in the kinetic energy of a car doing the UK speed limit of 70 (why you said 80 or 90?) and a car doing 120.

So it’s a massive reach to assume that even if they were doing the UK speed limit they would likely still have died. Because the chances of survival between 70mph and 120mph is massive. Think you have some chance of survival with possible long term injury, compared to instant fatality.

If anything it proves the utter fallacy of those who say “modern cars are designed to handle well over 100mph”.

Not when they bloody crash they aren’t.

 

[AWPC]

I disagree I think a bad crash at any speed can sadly be fatal its mainly down to luck as many modern cars are designed to crumble & protect you...many do this really well actually. 40..50 or whatever its usually down to the angle of the hit & sheer fluke good or bad luck plus how much your vehicle weighs vs how much the other vehicle weighs plays a big part in survival rates.

So many DUI idiots around is the bigger problem & letting younger drivers have too much power if they are rich enough to afford the insurance (if they even have any to begin with!). Used to be you were limited to certain insurance groups now its a free for all early 20s can get behind the wheel of a 1005nm Taycan S which is just insane!

Had 2 older people in a dark blue Tesla with custom number late this morning keen to over take me on a tight single lane 60 kept flashing me I was not going to pull over why should I ....the old boy with silver hair driving decided to stick his foot down & take big risks to get by me and continue to do so for many miles blasting by cars left right & centre taking big risks to show his massive acceleration...then he still ends up just in front of me 20 miles later on the same road LOL but took great risks to blast by other slower cars sticking to the 60 like me any of his over takes could easily have been fatal head on collisions as he never left much room for the other driver on the other side of the road as he lacked courtesy or was DUIing & not thinking straight! An unmarked car would have pulled him & 6 pointed his licence as he was pretty dangerous & assumed all the other cars he blasted by had good brakes & massive acceleration to get out of trouble.....!

 

[Rroff]

Had 2 older people in a dark blue Tesla with custom number late this morning keen to over take me on a tight single lane 60 kept flashing me I was not going to pull over why should I ....the old boy with silver hair driving decided to stick his foot down & take big risks to get by me and continue to do so for many miles blasting by cars left right & centre taking big risks to show his massive acceleration...then he still ends up just in front of me 20 miles later on the same road LOL but took great risks to blast by other slower cars sticking to the 60 like me any of his over takes could easily have been fatal head on collisions as he never left much room for the other driver on the other side of the road as he lacked courtesy or was DUIing & not thinking straight! An unmarked car would have pulled him & 6 pointed his licence as he was pretty dangerous & assumed all the other cars he blasted by had good brakes & massive acceleration to get out of trouble.....!

Yeah one thing to do speeds in excess of the speed limit when the risks to other people is low, another to drive fast or especially drive dangerously around other people.

Guy been arrested for causing a 3 car crash near me a few days back or so who was supposedly driving in a similar manner - 3 seriously injured, one was taken by air ambulance to hospital in a bad way.

 

[AWPC]

Yeah one thing to do speeds in excess of the speed limit when the risks to other people is low, another to drive fast or especially drive dangerously around other people.

Guy been arrested for causing a 3 car crash near me a few days back or so who was supposedly driving in a similar manner - 3 seriously injured, one was taken by air ambulance to hospital in a bad way.

Yep sadly does not surprise me a lot of these EV drivers come across as entitled they are not very safe drivers from what I have seen!

 

[bigmike20vt]

Yep sadly does not surprise me a lot of these EV drivers come across as entitled they are not very safe drivers from what I have seen!

you should write into the sun, that is just the sort of anti EV nonsense they lap up!. plenty of Berks in cars long before EVs were popular!.
one good thing I guess about most EVs (a few.teslas etc excepted) whilst they have decent 0-60 pickup and instant acceleration (which if driven sensibly means safer overtaking) they tend to be limited at a much lower top speed.

out of all the performance cars I have owned, my current one, (my 1st EV) has by a country mile the lowest top speed at 124mph

as for DUI idiots. that must be where you live i think drink driving is FAR less of a think now than it has ever been. back when I was a teenager I knew many people who thought nothing of 5 and drive, and bar staff would knowingly serve people who would later get into a car. staff now are less likely to do that.
it's possible the number of people pulled now has not dropped much but the types of people pulled now is far more likely to be morning after drivers. over the limit sure and I am not excusing them... but they are not rolling around drunk right out of the pub like back in the day.

and back in the day the morning after drivers.were still there as well but they were just never pulled where as now (esp around Xmas) I have known the police to blanket close a section of road in Cambridge in the morning and random breathalise every car on the road.

btw out of curiosity when we're young drivers limited to certain car engine sizes? I am 47 now and passed my test when I was 17. I didn't have my own car but was put on my parents insurance for relatively peanuts in what was at the time a pretty powerful sierra.