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* 57% of cars were exceeding the 70mph motorway speed limit
* 9% of cars were exceeding the 60mph single carriageway national speed limit on rural roads
* 58% of cars were exceeding the 30mph built up area speed limit
* 27% of cars were exceeding the 40mph built up area speed limit
If drivers set their speed to "speed limit+x" as some seem to claim, we would expect the proportion exceeding the speed limit not to vary with road type.
The conclusion drawn is that drivers are selecting a safe and appropriate speed. Actually, drivers are selecting what they think is a safe an appropriate speed. Trying to get to 60mph on a rural single carriageway is difficult. Not only are these roads frequently unfamiliar to users, but they are filled with dangerous oncoming vehicles, pedestrians, livestock etc. The roads are frequently bending and winding, its often impossible to see more than 20 metres ahead on these roads. The average speed on these roads is listed as 50mph. Perhaps the conclusion we can draw is that the speed limit here might possibly be a lot higher than the average safe and appropriate speed.
In a built up area people tend to cruise at about the same kind of speed: 35mph, whether its a 30 or a 40 zone. Is this a safe speed, or is this the easiest speed to travel at in a normal car in fourth gear?
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The simple fact that crashes are rare is absolute proof that drivers are very good at setting safe and appropriate speeds.
Remains false logic. I am not saying its not true, but the logic doesn't flow. The simple fact that crashes are rare is absolute proof of the rarity of crashes, and that is the only conclusion that can be drawn. In order to draw the conclusion you have with any certainty is by having having a large group of people obeying the speed limits and selecting what they believe to be the safe and appropriate speed within those limits. And by having a large group of people who select what they think is the appropriate/safe speed whilst being able to ignore speed limits. If the latter group have less accidents then you can draw your conclusion.
To answer the question: Why do Drivers Speed, we can look at research performed by the Insititute for Advanced Motoring and Radio 4:
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The research was confined to drivers likely to commit ‘marginal’
speed violations in 30mph limits, not those that greatly exceed the limit. All the participants had manual transmissions and 79% had modern, five speed gear boxes. Drivers were asked: “Do you ever find the car tends to ‘creep’ above 30 mph without you realising it?” 74% of those taking part in
the poll answered “Yes”. They were then asked what gear they would normally use when trying to maintain a steady 30mph. 54% thought that they should be in either fourth or fifth gear.
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