speed limit to go up.....theres a first!

France is 110 in the wet and 130 in the dry. They've got it about right IMO. I wouldn't mind sticking to the limit if it were more realistic, but 80 can be inappropriate in some weather conditions, and before anybody starts with the nanny state argument, you all ride motorbikes, and you all know your average car driver can't be trusted to make their own risk assessments!

The way it is at the moment, you might as well do 95mph as 80 mph, it's the same penalty, so drivers take the "in for a penny in for a pound" approach and decide if they are going to risk a speeding ticket, they may as well do it properly and reduce their journey times by a decent margin in the process. If the guidelines for a court appearance were kept the same at anything more than 25mph over, those same drivers would just do 105 in an 80 limit, instead of 95 in a 70.

If the limit was increased, enforcement would also need to be increased, ie: average speed cameras everywhere, but then I doubt most drivers would mind the speed cameras if they could do 80 through them.

[dizzyblonde]

Originally Posted by Bibio

but are you?

have you been 'tested' to see if you are capable?

at the moment according to your test standard you are only able to do 70mph

weelll I ain't caused any accident yet, nor fallen off at that speed.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

France is 110 in the wet and 130 in the dry. They've got it about right IMO. .

+1
Much more realistic, I found it most pleasant riding over there.

Originally Posted by Bibio

what would be better is a 'special licence holder' test which allowed you to travel at 90 on motorways but would only be valid for 3 years then a resit.

who would bother applying for that test, especially if the resit is 3 years later?

Chances are anyone applying to that would believe they have the means and financial ability to sit the test, so these same people would probably think doing 90 consistently for 3 years might be worth the trade off in terms of chances they'd get caught.

And if you sat this test, would you still not want to go over 90?

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Bibio

they would have to spend money on new signs

No they wouldn't, motorways are NSL which is just one sign not a "70" sign, they could just rewrite the rules a bit to say that the motorway NSL is 80.

Would be a more sensible progression, dual carriageways can still be NSL and have T junctions going across them, would make sense for these to remain 70, motorways with only easy sweeping junctions to become 80.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

No they wouldn't, motorways are NSL which is just one sign not a "70" sign

Bibio is quite correct, because he lives in Scotland, where there are 70 signs on entry to quite a few of the motorways.

[Bibio]

i can see your points but would you rather that everyone in the uk was able to drive at higher speeds?

the only people that moan about resits are those that scraped past their test in the first place. any capable driver should be able to pass a driving test at any time. if they cant then they should not be on the roads.

setting a strict test would ensure that those individuals that are not capable would not gain such a licence.

i'm also a firm belever in test resits after 10 years of first passing then when you get to 60 you take another test every 5 years then at 70 its every 3 then at 79 its every 2 years and if you are good enough to get to 90 then i think you should be given a 'free for all' licence which entitles you to do what ever you want on the roads coz lets face it at 90 you aint got that long to go so let them enjoy themselves they should also get a free car, insurance and road tax.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Bibio

i can see your points but would you rather that everyone in the uk was able to drive at higher speeds?

Yes, when conditions are safe to do so.

80 or 85 on the motorway would mean less people speeding. I'd also allow trucks to do 65 as the reduced speed differential would improve safety.

However I'd like to see it done with further policing to attack BAD driving not "illegal" driving which is never going to happen.

[Paul the 6th]

Originally Posted by davepreston

a white sign with a black line diagonally across it doesnt mean, warp factor 3 mr sulu

I think BP's words were "on a fine day where the road is suitable for it, a white circle with black diagonal line means fast as f**k in my book"

Paul

[Paul the 6th]

Originally Posted by Bibio

i can see your points but would you rather that everyone in the uk was able to drive at higher speeds?

the only people that moan about resits are those that scraped past their test in the first place. any capable driver should be able to pass a driving test at any time. if they cant then they should not be on the roads.

setting a strict test would ensure that those individuals that are not capable would not gain such a licence.

i'm also a firm belever in test resits after 10 years of first passing then when you get to 60 you take another test every 5 years then at 70 its every 3 then at 79 its every 2 years and if you are good enough to get to 90 then i think you should be given a 'free for all' licence which entitles you to do what ever you want on the roads coz lets face it at 90 you aint got that long to go so let them enjoy themselves they should also get a free car, insurance and road tax.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes where do I sign for regular re-testing. I would happily pay the test fee's if it means the moron's who some magically gained a driving licence were weeded out as a result of regular re-testing, and if I happened to fail a retest then atleast attention has been brought to my poor driving..

The only people who agree with me & bibio on regular retesting are the ones who are happy to have their driving judged more than once, and the ones who moan seem to say "well I ain't crashed yet" - if you're so confident that you don't need testing because you're so good, why not just go and pass the retest - you know you're good enough

Originally Posted by timwilky

Personally I would raise it to 100. and take off the governors from trucks. The governed speed is the root cause of the bunching that eats into 2 lanes of the motorway

It doesn't help, but by far the biggest cause of bunching on 2 lanes is all the silly c***s who just sit in the middle lane for hours on end when there is feck all in the inside lane.

Proper lane discipline should be taught from the outset.