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80mph?


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Oh dear, Dizzy!!! The motorways were designed with lorries in mind, to reduce costs in transporting goods around the country. They weren't designed to give motorists a nice sunday afternoon driving experience! I do agree with you that it would be better if the Richard Heads weren't there but they are, and because of the existence of motorways, and the vastly superior motor cars we have today compared with 1965, they aren't such a problem. Sorry to rain on your parade :wink: :wink: :wink:

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In certain european countries, they are a lot more up on allowing motorway traffic freedoms we don't get here.

 

Most have 140kph or approximately 80mph already. In France, on their motorways, if it rains, the limit drops automatically to 110kph but they also do not allow lorries or caravans etc. to overtake on hills.

 

One of the biggest gripes I have on motorways in the UK are the people (mainly women I notice, but not exclusively) who will come on to a motorway and automatically head into the middle lane and drive along at 55mph. There should also be a minimum speed limit for normal traffic to stop the old man driving his Allegro at 40 in the inside lane which then forces the truck out into the middle lane just as a big long hill approaches which then has the knock on effect of causing a traffic jam.....

 

better traffic management and training on motorway driving is what is needed to go along with new speed limits

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Obs, I'm glad you raised this. Initially I would have said it was a good idea, however, being a cynical old sod I started to think about it in some depth.

 

Our transport Minister is selling this idea on the basis of improved efficiency in terms of saving time and thereby giving more of us increased opporunity to sell and move more product. Given that the only people to benefit will be car drivers, (commercial vehicles will remain restricted to 80kmph (roughly 56mph.)Therefore the only people to benefit will be business people travelling to meetings etc.

 

Typically during a journey of 300 miles you might expect to save around 31.8 minutes (assuming you can average 80 mph.)In the real world that would be reduced to 18 minutes saved at best once you have taken into account how few places you can actually maintain 80 mph for more than 5 minutes. The only decent stretch of British roads I can think of where we can reasonably expect to achieve a high average speed is from junction 32 on the M6 (Blackpool M55) to just South of Hamilton services on the A74M. I would guess that this stretch of road could achieve an average of around 68mph. I have no idea what additional business you can expect to achieve by travelling 300 miles but so far today I have wrapped up two export deals in Venezuela and Taiwan via the Internet worth about £115k without even leaving my desk so I reckon an extra 18 minutes traveeling to Hamilton services would be time well spent :angry:

 

My next train of thought revolved around fuel consumption so I did a search on the Internet for constant speed fuel consumption and found a number of websites giving various values for fuel consumption vs speed. The websites returned various figures in differing formats. Once I had transposed all the data there was one common factor - once you have attained a speed of 60mph a 10mph increase will result in a decrease of fuel efficiency of approximatelt 20% for every increase of 10mph.

 

Having evaluated all the data I could find I finally concluded that the benefit of an increase of 10mph equates to an additional £0.78p goes to the Chancellor for every gallon of fuel purchased.

 

By my reckoning this is the worst case of stealth tax I have ever seen.

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:D Nice one Rex; a true cynic! I was rather agnostic about this one, but on thinking more about it; some questions arise. Your point about increased fuel consumption and increased carbon footprint is well made. Points about the lack of road sense on M/Ways is another; why isn't M/Way driving included as part of the driving test? Why is the inside lane not reserved solely for HGVs? Why isn't their a minimum speed limit, given that an even flow rate must aid progress? Then some practical thought, if we trundle onto the M62 then speed off at 80mph towards Manchester, will we be able to maintain 80mph all the way, or will we suddenly come to a halt in a line of traffic around the Manchester circular? Thus losing that precious 10 minutes extra lie in, that caused us to want to rush in the first place? :unsure: :unsure:
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I agree with Baz.

 

However, it all depends on your reason for doing 80. Personally, I like to get from A to B in the shortest time possible and I am prepared to pay the extra fuel costs. 206 miles is a tidy distance and timing when you travel is important. It can make a difference in hours NOT minutes.

The biggest problem is Highways messing with the speeds. For some reason they bang the 40 mph sign up and create a huge gridlock. It is happening more frequently these days.

 

And as Baz pointed out, education is vital. You get people trundling along at 70 in the outside lane for no other reason than the lane is empty. :twisted:

 

80 is a good idea!!!! The pace of the world has moved on from when the M1 was built and so has the quality of vehicles.

 

Dizzy, stick to the A55 and leave the big roads to the rest of us!!!! :P:wink:

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Thanks for the compliment Obs: I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed for being so cynical :P

 

You are perfectly correct in your thoughts that the increase in speed will just help you in arriving at the next hold up slightly quicker. It will not increase business opportunity or improve efficiency in the slightest, however, it will increase fuel use and therefore generate a significant higher revenue in terms of fuel duty.

 

I noticed on the news this morning that Eric Pickles is pushing for local authorities to reinstate weekly bin collections, I cannot help but wonder if this is another opportunity to push up fuel use and generate more revenue rather than being a considerate thought for the poor souls who have thus far had to endure a reduced service on the basis of economy.

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:D Nice one Rex; a true cynic! I was rather agnostic about this one, but on thinking more about it; some questions arise. Your point about increased fuel consumption and increased carbon footprint is well made. Points about the lack of road sense on M/Ways is another; why isn't M/Way driving included as part of the driving test? Why is the inside lane not reserved solely for HGVs? Why isn't their a minimum speed limit, given that an even flow rate must aid progress? Then some practical thought, if we trundle onto the M62 then speed off at 80mph towards Manchester, will we be able to maintain 80mph all the way, or will we suddenly come to a halt in a line of traffic around the Manchester circular? Thus losing that precious 10 minutes extra lie in, that caused us to want to rush in the first place? :unsure: :unsure:

One of the main problems with motorway congestion already, is as Baz points out, that too many people already act as if it (the inside lane) was.

 

People need educated that the inside lane is for using, not for avoiding for some reason known only to the idiots who seem unable to drive in it.

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I think I’m going to agree with this one especially if it brings us into line with the EU and in any case, nobody’s being forced to do anything they don’t want to do. All they need to do now is address the slow driver issue and side by side lorries and we cracked it.

 

Bill :)

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An awful lot of drivers seem to complain about people "hogging the centre lane" but I think this is far preferable to continually changing lanes. If the inside lane is empty for quarter of a mile or so ahead, fair enough, use it. But if there is slow moving traffic in the inside lane ahead, it makes no sense at all to keep moving out into the middle lane to pass it and then move back in again.

There is nothing more confusing than to have someone overtake you when you are doing 70 in the middle lane, then pull into the inside lane (presumably to show what a smart ---- he is!) and then immediately pull out again to pass a lorry or elderly man in an Allegro.

The outside lane is for overtaking and should be available to anyone wishing to pass someone in the centre lane, although I accept it is often full of Richard Heads pushing their firm's Fords and Vauxhalls to the limit.

Another point is that if the person in the centre lane is doing 70mph you shouldn't be passing him anyway!

Someone has already responded to the (I assume) lady who believes lorries shouldn't be on the motorway. She sounds like my wife, who is always saying the same thing. Lorries are the VIP motorway users and the rest of us are merely tolerated on them.

But to get to the main point - 80mph limits. They are probably OK - provided drivers don't start treating them as they currently treat the 70mph limit and exceed it by approximately 10!

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Well said Horace. Like you I don't have huge issues with using the middle lane, especially if it prevents excessive lane changing. I normally drive a little faster than most and make good use of my mirrors to ensure I’m not inconveniencing others.

 

Bill :)

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Why not scrap speed limits altogether and rely on the "common sense" of all drivers to drive at appropriately "safe" speeds to suit road conditions? ooops, forgot, "common" sense ain't that common - EG. Can't say I've ever seen vehicles observe the recommended braking distance for a given speed, from the vehicle in front; they currently "tailgate" at 70mph, so will do so at 80mph; and the Jeremy Clarksons will just see 80 as advisory and an excuse to do 90 plus. So as folk race from one tail back to the next, I guess we can expect some spectacular shunts this Winter! :roll:

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Can I add two opinions? First, I truly believe that, especially in the case of freeways, that slow, overly cautious drivers are more of a danger than fast drivers.

Two, 'speeding tickets' should be replaced by clearly defined 'dangerous driving' tickets. Basic example: driving at 100 mph on a deserted straight highway, maybe in the early hours, is not particularly dangerous,but is illegal. However, driving at thirty mph, in the rain, in congested downrown traffic, is dangerous, but legal.

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Well I have just been down to Brecon in South Wales driving a transit van and used the A483 amongst other "A" roads. 276 miles with no traffic jams, no problems and plenty of long straight sections to overtake if needed....

 

It is infinately quicker I would reckon to get down to Cardiff and then on to Cornwall etc. than using the M6, M5 carparks....

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Horace, those doing less than 70 shouldn't be in the middle lane if the slow lane is clear , as they are the ones who cause those doing 70 to move into the fast lane to pass them and they then cause a queue of 70+ (even 75) that causes problems and acidents.

 

This exacerbated by weekend drivers out for a casual drive. :evil::roll::shock:

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