Half of us speed on motorways: time for 80mph limits?

definately 80

I think 80's definately a good idea but I think a crackdown on middle lane hoggers will also save time and frustration on the motorways

By car_mad on 24 June, 2010, 4:40pm

It's all about the politics.

Increase the limit to 80 and people will risk doing 90.
80mph is just short of mainland Europe's 130kmh average motorway limit. So what you have is an unofficial limit which is kept in place by the jump in penalty given for being caught speeding in excess of 80mph.

Keep it at 70.

By W00DZ on 24 June, 2010, 8:02pm

M40 race track

I have been travelling to work on the M40 in Warwickshire for 9 years now and I am the slowest person on there as I do 70mph everybody treats it like a race track doing exactly what speed they like - even if the speed limit was set at 100 mph it would not matter as there aren't any traffic police to enforce the law. I think it should be kept at 70 as it would immediately encourage people do drive even faster and use more fuel.

By aston01 on 24 June, 2010, 10:22pm

Do you drive above 100mph? Or are you in the 98% that drive below 90mph

The Dft figures also show that only 2% drive above 90mph.
The highest world speed limit is 87mph in Poland

Imagine if you were asked to develope and produce two cars from scratch. They look, drive and accelerate the same. Car A must have a top speed of 120mph but car B only requires 100mph. Both cars perform the same upto 100mph. As a result car B is cheaper to produce and therefore cheaper to buy, emits less CO2 and consumes less fuel.
If you do not drive above 100mph then car B is the obvious choice....if you agree you can help make car B a reality at www.earthdrive2020.com

By earthdrive2020 on 24 June, 2010, 11:44pm

Of course it should be 80!!!

Google 85th percentile rule to find out why an 80 limit would cut the number of accidents on the motorway. And never forget that the 70 limit was the creation of Barbara Castle, a wrinkly socialist who never held a drivers licence in her life.

Back in 1980s England I used to cruise the length of the country at 90 to 110plus without drama or fuss. In fact, the only accident I ever had on a motorway was in a roadworks zone, well under the 50 limit; not found liable either. But Britain had an association of chief constables at the time that was campaigning for the limit to be raised, rather than seeking revenue & political kudos.

By sstvp on 25 June, 2010, 12:17am

Yes, up the limit to 80 mph

I think its time to increase the limit to 80 mph, but at the same time the government should take other measures to ease motorway 'rage'.
How many time do you see drivers speed off at well over the limit, after being held up in miles of road works with 50mph limit, when there are no workmen to be seen. If there were more sensible speed limits with regard to repairs being done on major roads, that could help.

Also, they should outlaw articulated lorries overtaking each other except in designated stretches of road - only the other week I timed 2 lorries 'racing' each other at 56 mph, and it took over two minutes for the overtaking lorry to complete its manouevre

By foshie on 25 June, 2010, 9:23am

80 sure, but its also time for undertaking

As a daily M25 traveller the reason for 'middle lane hogging' is abundantly clear: If one wishes to drive sensibly and cruise at a constant speed (when it's busier) or 60/70 or higher when conditions allow (to avoid having to constantly move from the left to the middle and back again) Ithen 'm afraid 'middle lane hogging' is an absolute must! And the majority of people who drive in a grown-up fashion (and also wish to avoid undertaking) clearly agree!.
Returning to the left just leaves one either (a.) soon to be stuck behind slower traffic joining or leaving at the next junction or (b.) constanty having to vary speed and move between left and middle and back again (making it impossible to use cruise control). The left hand lane has become relegated as virtually useless and the best option left to the sensible commuter is to simply use the middle and right hand lanes: hence so many people choose that!

Just as important as a higher speed is that it's about time we legalise undertaking on the motorway system: this fits todays traffic ebb and flow, would encourage better use of all lanes, promote use of cruise control, and therefore go hand-in-hand with more sensible driving, better fuel economy and lower emissions.
Oh, and we should also make 'merge in turn' the law where lanes narrow: to avoid the usual squabbling and chance of an incident at the front...

By kronalds on 25 June, 2010, 9:53am

Change the law because people break it?

I don't see the logic. Change the limit to 80mph because so many people break the law and drive over 70mph?
That's not how we change laws in the UK is it, change laws that people break, rather than expect people to obey the law?
On top of this, driving at 80mph is less ecomonical and currently everyone is going bananas about saving the planet and using less fuel. Driving at 80mph produes more emissions due to the higher drag than at 70mph.
I can't see why it needs changing. Leave five minutes earlier rather than drive like Lewis Hamilton.
We need to cure bad driving habits like middle lane hoggers, not the speed limit.

By Top90 on 25 June, 2010, 9:53am

limit should be 100mph

even the small cars today can comefortably travel at 100mph safely. germany has no limit and yet there are hardly any accidents. i regularly drive at 150mph when am in germany and its a joy many uk drivers are missing.

By dannyy on 25 June, 2010, 10:05am

If the limit is raised to 80mph then it needs to be strictly enforced. Otherwise leave it at 70..

By dilbert1969 on 25 June, 2010, 11:32am

Variable Speed Limits

Mandatory variable speed limits as on the M25, with a maximum speed of 80 and different speed limits for wet and dry conditions (as in France) would be the way to go. As for fuel consumption we wast more fuel driving in the start stop manor on our motorways than you would driving at a more consistent 80mph.

By cwalduck on 25 June, 2010, 11:48am

Better to crack down on law breakers, though agreed 80 mph makes more sense

Kronalds: You are breaking the law middle lane hogging increasing accidents, this lane is for over taking only! If 50% of motorway users are doing above 70mph and you are in the middle lane they are forced in to the third lane where 16% of people are driving above 90mph you have lost them the safety of overtaking in the middle lane.

With modern cars having better brakes, body control, traction control and aerodynamics driving at 80mph is way safer than driving at 70mph was 20 yrs ago. So I think not because 50% of people break the law we should change it. We should change it because it is perfectly safe to drive at these speeds.

Also costs the ecconomy as if holds up traffic and increases emmisions and costs steady drivers more in fuel, as going up and down through the gears, is the least ecconomical way to drive!

Yes half the people driving are also breaking the law but most accidents occure whilst changing lanes, not speeding. Get out of the middle lane, learn to drive and stop being lazy sitting in the middle lane. I would like to see compulsary motorway tests for new drivers and people that get caught hogging the middle lane.

By Focus_your_mind on 25 June, 2010, 1:03pm

OMG Kronalds are you completely insane?

I've just read your post all the way through. You should not be allowed anywhere near a motorway. You want to legalise undertaking? Probably the craziest thing I have ever read; you would have people over and under taking at will we would be looking at carnage on the motorways on a daily basis. I

f you and other idiots like you stop cruising in the 1st overtaking lane (the middle lane as you incorrectly call it) people would not be forced to undertake. I get frustrated by people like you as I can't use my cruise control either but I would rather that than risk undertaking anyone. That is plain madness. Please take some motorway lessons before you kill someone!

By Focus_your_mind on 25 June, 2010, 1:15pm

Yes to 80mph limit

One reason for having a speed limit is to allow other motorists to have an idea of how fast someone might be travelling when planning a lane change - if people do 80mph then make this the rule. BTW, we should also adopt the EU mainland habit of having a lower limit in bad conditions (such as rain).
Note that driving safely and with concern for the environment is often nothing to do with the speed limit posted for a road... but that's a *whole* other debate!

By aje21 on 25 June, 2010, 1:40pm

Undertaking madness, or not

Regarding "Focus_your_mind"'s response to "kronalds" suggestion of allowing undertaking - having driven in the U.S. where this is allowed I'd have no problem with it being done over here too. How about adopting the "turn on red" common sense while we're at it. The U.S. has some crazy ideas, but some of them make a lot of sense.

By aje21 on 25 June, 2010, 1:43pm

80 mph fore sure!!!

If you think about it, the 70 mph was introdused 50 years ago but from then till now cars have hugely evolved from acceleration to breaking performance as well as in car safety, (I'm a lorry driver and I see people walking away unharmed fom accidents at 80/90mph on a daily baces), and we also need to educate ourselfes at driving on motorways and I am refering hire the old lady that pools out to overtake a lorry when you come from behinde at twice the speed she's traveling at, and the buzy man who can't be bothered to travel in the aviable lane sutable to the speed He is dooing, while he uses his hadsfree sistem to pay his bills as he did not have the time to do it at home."Fule econommy!?!
" I think we all have the choice to spend more or less on fule depanding on our poket and of corse, who whants to drive economicaly can freely do it in the first lane with the lorrys and the old lady and the buzy man ... and let the man who enjoys driving and pays attention to it, safely use the aviable lane space and that way well have a trafic free motorway with people using 21st century cars at 21st century speeds, but then comes in the green party and I have one answer for them, stop asking people to be green becouse it dosen't make any diferece any way and start puting presure on the government to bring in the new thecnology, why not, they have it, even more Hond use it in California, and I am not talking about electric non sens, I'm talking about hidrogen/oxigen thecnology, why not, is it becouse they invested in the petrol industry and the contracts are to big and the influence is to great? 80mph??? bring it on.

By gabriel on 25 June, 2010, 2:41pm

80mph would be good if the roads were maintained

i think 80mph would be much better as it obviously means getting from A2B will be quicker.If it was raised to 80mph it wouldn't encourage me to drive at 90mph,i find driving at 70mph frustrating especially off peak when roads are generally quieter,where as driving at 80 just feels right not too fast or too slow,that said the conditions have to be right.Modern cars can do 80mph without breaking a sweat when the 70mph was introduced cars had no real safety features poor brakes and thirsty polluting engines.
I dont think however it would be safe to increase speed limits on most motorways at the moment due to the appalling state of the road surface.Its odd given the last goverments obsession with health and safety,that we have millions of holes in the road surfaces and barely visable worn out road markings.
Hopefully this goverment might realise how important it is to have a good road network,to move people and freight around the country as there is no real other alternative at this time.Our road system is this country's lifeline

By nickbsmooth on 25 June, 2010, 8:30pm

agree with nickbsmooth

The condition of the roads in the UK are just not up to the standards of Germany as a good example where there are parts that are de-restricted. I'd like to think de-restriction could work for certain sections of UK motorways but there are are 2 issues. The first would being finding a section that is in good enough condition but the more greater concern would be the drivers who would insist that 70 is just fine and try and force others the remain at that speed. These are the drivers who would pull out in front of an overtaking car without checking their mirrors correctly.

This comment goes against my first comment however after spending the past 17 years driving on German roads I think I can make a fairly decent comparison. however I feel the ignorance and stubbornness of the average driver would create more accidents if the limit were to be raised in which ever capacity that may be sadly.

Lastly anyone who hogs the middle lane because they are too bone fricken idle to change lanes should have their license taken off them, and have their arms and legs removed for good measure.

By W00DZ on 25 June, 2010, 10:52pm

mack236

Of course the speed limit on motorways should be increased they were introduced in the 1960s and car safety and technology has improved beyond recognition since then, even if the road surfaces have not? Move forward not back. In the sixties most cars were unsafe at 70mph now its a cruising speed.

By mack236 on 26 June, 2010, 6:04pm

yossi613

yep definately up to 80 there will not be a significant increase in co2 as i worked out on my verso t180 it costs less on a 120 mile trip at 80 than at 70 as most modern cars are designed for higher speeds HOWEVER there should be some sort of system that first lanes speed limit is 60 second 70 and third eighty. And how about a system where at night and on empty 'safe' roads up to 100 or is that hoping for 2 much and one more thing how about a vote to ban hybrids from our uk motorways. Thanks for reading

By cholentFAFFER on 27 June, 2010, 3:41pm

80 is the right number!

Since its a fact that so many people travel well over the 70 national speed limit and the number of accidents didnt go up because of that, so the just prove speed doesn't KILL all the time and people are confident and feeling comfortable traveling at that speed.

I think the government should use the speed limit system they use in China. 1st lane for lorry or buses with speed limit of min 60 kph & max 80 kph, 2nd lane for normal driving with speed limit of min 70 kph & max 100 kph, while the 3rd lane for overtaking with speed limit of min 100 kph & max 120 kph. With this system its enforcing the speed limit and there's no such thing as lane hogging over there.

By Alexi on 28 June, 2010, 2:19am

Resonse to cholentFAFFER

why not reverse the spped limits ... Lane 1 - upto 85 / Lane 2 - upto 80 / Lane 3 - upto 70 ... that would encourage folks to think about moving to left and using the miles of currently empty roads!
;-)

By RobertMason on 28 June, 2010, 3:26pm

Police fault

When police is going to fine middle lane hoggers and undertaking! Sadly I need to say its really big mess on motorways. Left lane is usually empty even on 4 lane motorway, why goverment is spending our money for widening when drivers can't use them properly! People, when someone is flashing a headlights on you it means MOVE TO THE LEFT IF YOU NOT OVERTAKING!

@kronalds You can have a constant speed and use left lane and middle lane or even the right lane if necessary! If you moved to the left lane having even 70 mil/h then when you come to the junction or to slower moving vehicles SIGNAL RIGHT, cars on the middle lane should move to the right one allowing you changing a lane. That works in Germany and other European countries!!! What you said about your driving style resulting bigger congestion and worse traffic flow!

Police please do something with this!!!

By michal_z8 on 31 July, 2010, 12:47pm

All motorways that are dual carriage should be at least 80mph and where there are three lanes plus it should be about 100mph has motorways are safe to do these speeds because all traffic flow is moving in the same direction. My opinion is that fast speeds dont kill its these slow bloody drivers who hogg the lanes that kill peolpe because you have to brake hard to avoid hitting them. Alot of peolpe say before upping the speeds we need more trainning and i say NO to this because when you are learning to drive you have to do an hazard perception which makes you spots out hazards and the practical driving test is alot harder then it used to be. The only places that should have a lower speed is round near schools. Motorways are so safe to have a faster speed limit,

By stevenofdonny91 on 28 December, 2010, 9:31pm

Engineers know that setting the posted limit on main roads at the 85th percentile speed of free flowing traffic under good conditions tends to produce the safest and smoothest traffic flow and the lowest accident rate. Per DfT, the 85th percentile speed on motorways NOW is 79 mph, so 80 would be the safest limit to post. Actual travel speeds would NOT change by more than 1 or 2 mph, if that, but the flow would likely be smoother. Predictions of 5% to 10% higher casualties are utter nonsense, usually put forth by groups that are in the revenue stream from traffic tickets. Regards, James C. Walker, Board Member - National Motorists Association Foundation, www.motorists.org (similar to the Association of British Drivers), Ann Arbor, Michigan USA and a frequent visitor to Britain to see my wife's family in West Yorkshire.

By jcwconsult on 17 March, 2011, 5:51pm