Safe Speed Forums

im a college student studying on a day release modern apprenticeship in motor vehicle, im preparing a disscusion to present arguments and information from differing viewpoints on 'Speed Limits in the UK', im looking for any current info on the speed limits and any other info that anyone may have, it would also be great to receive peoples views on the current speed limits and wether or not they should be reviewed.
Also if anyone knows when the current speed legislations came into force that would be very good!

thanks for any help i receive!
Tony

Speed limits were set years ago on the older vehicles fitted with drum brakes.

Modern vehicles are fitted with disc brakes all round, anti locking brake systems as very much standard. Traction control, which reduces vehicles power when wheels start to lose grip, are also starting to be standard.

Modern vehicles have far imporoved braking systems.

The speed limit was set by the reaction time available with the hazards presented on road layouts.

Speed limits are not the issue, it is the use of appropriate speed, for example a road that has a 30 mph limit may only be suitable for vehicles to travel at 20 mph, due to weather, traffic volume etch.

Speed limits are being reviewed, however they are being reviewed down, they then place speed cameras on the roads to create more revenue.

One of my loacl roads, was a 50 mph limit, has never seen a death on the road, have not seen an accident on it for years. The speed limit has just been dropped to 30 MPH, it was after this that i saw the first mobile camera on the road.

They could enter variable speed limits as they currently do in other countrys.

Motorways for example, in good weather the speed limit can be raised to 80 mph.

In poor weather 50 mph.

They should introduce motorway driver training. At present no drivers are trained in the correct use of motorways.

They should restrict LGV's (HGV's) to the inside lane on motorways during rush hours, this would free up the 1st overtaking lane to 70 mph limit traffic.

LGV's are limited to 56 mph, this restricts the inside lane & the 1st overtaking lane to 56 mph. Which causes the bottle neck on m/ways. This system is already in place over the EU and works very well.

Drivers that cause accidents should be prosecuted for their errors, at present accident reporting to the police has been stopped. Police are not interested, unless someone has been injured. Victims that are lucky to only get away with damage to their vehicle cannot have any justice for illegal behavior of bad drivers.

Traffic police have been replaced by Speed cameras.

How ever Speed cameras, do not prevent accidents

They do not detect drunken, Drugged, unlicensed or poor driving standards

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Steve

There's a lot of material about speed limit policy, not surprisingly, on my SpeedLIMIT site.

The official guidelines on speed limit setting contained in DoT Circular Roads 1/93 are essential reading. Unfortunately these are all too often ignored by anti-car local authorities who have a simplistic belief in the safety benefits of cutting speed limits.

Also take a look at the ABD page on Speed Limits - How they are set and your Right to Object.

In my view there's not much wrong with the official guidelines, if only councils would abide by them

Also it should be pointed out that the original purpose of speed limits was to give broad guidance to drivers and provide a means of prosecuting genuinely dangerous drivers. They were never intended to be enforced to the extent, or the lack of tolerance and discretion, that they are today.

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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

In my view there are several problems with the speed limits as applied in the UK:

There should be a national body that sets all speed limits, this would remove the ability of local councils to set incorrect limits on the whim of a few individuals. This would also mean that we could rely on knowing what a speed limit is wherever in the country you are.

Variable limits should be introduced, particularly in urban areas with hospitals, schools etc. 20 mph when needed, ie.e during school term time, weekdays during school hours (say 1 hour either side as well), reverting to the standard limit at all other times.

Motorway speed limits should increase to conform with EU standards, therefore 80mph. However this would also need increased driver training, the UK driving test is woefully inadequate at present.

All limits should be for guidance, there should not be an offence of 'exceeding the speed limit'. Instead where somebody is driving like an idiot prosecute them for dangerous driving or careless driving if not actually dangerous. On a quiet motorway in good weather why should somebody not travel at say 100 mph? This also needs the increased driver training. Also prosecute for careless driving for 'middle-lane owners', unnecessary fog-lights etc. Dangerous driving prosecutions for tail-gating etc.

In other words bring back the requirement to think about driving, rather than driving to a preset speed limit which is, more often than not, not correct for the circumstances.

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Regards

Kevin

The one problem I can see about enforcing careless/dangerous driving only is that the plod will have a hard time actually provng it in many cases. At least with an "exceeding the speed limit" offence they've got something that will stick. Well, not for driving like an idiot below the limit of course, but you know what I mean. This is why plod should be doing the bulk of the enforcement, not gadgets. Discretion!

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Yes, the problem with only enforcing "dangerous driving" is that the rich who can afford good lawyers will get off, the poor who can't will be convicted.

There is nothing wrong with strict liability offences so long as they are enforced with discretion.

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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