Safe Speed Forums

It doesn't worry me either way whether i can go up 70mph, because I am quite happy to chug along at 60 but exactly where does the speed limit become 70. I was driving across the otherside of my county the other day and came across these barriers:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie= ... 1,,0,15.51

Are they 70 mph stretch of road?

Also what about central grass verges?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 01206&z=20

I don't feel the highway code explains this in enough detail. And we all know that alot of plonkers even think that if their side of the road has got dual lanes (regardless of a barrier) they can do dual carridgeway speeds

From what I can see they are both dual carriage ways and unless signed otherwise would have 70mph limits.

I would say each of those examples are dual carriageways (if NSL, a ceiling of 70 limit).

There are examples of NSL single lane, dual carriageways, where I believe NSL would translate to NSL = 70mph ceiling. The A31 near Upper Froyle is an example.


An example of a dual lane, single carriageway.

When it was NSL (it used to be NSL on that stretch, changed to 40mph in 2007), the ceiling would have been 60mph.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

As I am quite local to this area I can assure you that both these locations are dual carriageways and are NSL. We have discussed this distinction on here before but, in general, if there is a non-surfaced gap between the carriageways then it is classed as "dual" even if there is no barrier.

If you know the A36 between Salisbury and Southampton then, in parts, this is an example of a single carriageway marked as "two lanes one way, one lane the other" and the limit is thus 60mph. The SCP van sits in a layby just to the south of the end point of the dual carriageway at Alderbury to catch unwary people still doing 70mph.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Thanks chaps

I'm sure you can see why i made the thread, although perhaps pointlessly going over a similar subject that as said, has been discussed.

I've just past my 2 years of driving and still learning things, regardless of how much i drive about, there is always something new to find out. It's the busy advanced city systems I'm struggling with the most at the moment.

And yes Malcolm, i know the place, just near the hill you go up/down i think. I remember driving in a daze along there at 70, not realising the carridge way had ended once.

dont forget certain vehicles have a reduced speed allowance on NSL roads

One situation where I am not clear about whether the road is dual or single is when they put fixed plastic bollards (fixed in some kind of socket) down the middle. That prevents you doing a U turn - which is my normal rule for distinguishing dual carriageways - but I am not sure.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I would say if they're just deformable bollards it's still a single carriageway. This nonsense at Barnstaple, for example, certainly remains single:

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

This is a dual carriageway, with a 70 limit, very small central reservation and no barrier:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53 ... .9,,0,8.06

This is a four-lane single carriagway with (regrettably) a limit:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53 ... 69,,0,9.08

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed