As I was dropping viewtopic.php?f=3&t=64182 that info for the Euro sprinter guys, I started to wonder about British speed limits…
Do you think that there is any chance of raising British speed limit? For example: 50 mph on the single A class roads for lorries… Or 80 mph for the cars on less crowded motorways?
That’s what most road users are doing anyway and we can’t see any carnage so far… Will the common sense win with the health and safety brigade?
The tories had put something in writing about the speed limit on s/c roads but they then got in and it has went quiet on the western front.
As for motorway I personally think 70 is adequate tbh.
merc0447:
As for motorway I personally think 70 is adequate tbh.
When I do 75 mph (My van is limited to that speed) I am overtaken by most… So I don’t think it will be any harm if we just legalise the present situation…
merc0447:
The tories had put something in writing about the speed limit on s/c roads but they then got in and it has went quiet on the western front.As for motorway I personally think 70 is adequate tbh.
This 40 limit for lorries on sc’s was debated in Parliament not that long ago. The topic was being discussed here & I quoted or linked to the Hansard write up of the debate. I seem to remember one particular female parliamentary member coming out with some rather unbelievable comments. (something along the lines of not being able to comprehend how a lorry doing 50 could not possibly follow a car doing 60).
Motoway for cars should be 80 in the dry, 65 in the wet.
Orys, what’s the maximum number of hours per day you’re allowed to drive a van by law?
Driveroneuk:
Orys, what’s the maximum number of hours per day you’re allowed to drive a van by law?
This vary from country to country with most of the countries have very unclear rules… The only ones clear about that are germans where all vans over 2.8 t have to follow normal tacho rules with manual records of the special chart…
TBH I am not too bothered with that, I stop when I feel I need to and I am able to do so, as in my company they don’t take shipments with unrealistic delivery times - most of the times I stop when I am tired, on the long distance driving I usually have some proper sleep and yet I usually have couple of hours to spare…
Whatever speed limits we have some Carlos Fandango will need to go faster than any limit. The limits we have are sensible when you consider the driving skills on general display. In fact, I’d argue for lowering them in certain instances!
orys:
Driveroneuk:
Orys, what’s the maximum number of hours per day you’re allowed to drive a van by law?This vary from country to country with most of the countries have very unclear rules… The only ones clear about that are germans where all vans over 2.8 t have to follow normal tacho rules with manual records of the special chart…
TBH I am not too bothered with that, I stop when I feel I need to and I am able to do so, as in my company they don’t take shipments with unrealistic delivery times - most of the times I stop when I am tired, on the long distance driving I usually have some proper sleep and yet I usually have couple of hours to spare…
UK rules are quite clear but little known, widely abused & rarely enforced.
Van driving hours review launched by government
Monday, 10 August 2009
A wide-ranging review of the laws that govern the hours worked by van drivers has been launched by the Department for Transport.
While people driving light commercials grossing at up to 3.5 tonnes do not have their working hours monitored by heavytruck-style tachographs and are not subject to the EU Drivers Hours rules, UK domestic legislation nonetheless limits
how long they can spend at the wheel. The maximum amount of daily driving permitted is 10 hours. A daily duty limit of
11 hours is in force too.
The domestic drivers hours rules affect thousands of workers across the UK so it is vital that they are effective in
keeping drivers, passengers and other road users safe, says transport minister, Paul Clark. This is a wideranging
consultation and we want to hear from as many drivers, operators and fleet managers as possible so that we can
understand how the rules are working on the ground.
Click here for further details. The consultation will close on 13 October and What Van? would urge readers to make their
views known.
See also:
orys:
merc0447:
As for motorway I personally think 70 is adequate tbh.When I do 75 mph (My van is limited to that speed) I am overtaken by most… So I don’t think it will be any harm if we just legalise the present situation…
The speed limit is 70 and most are doing 80-90. If the speed limit was 80 they’d be doing 90-100. If they made it 120 you’d still get idiots in Beemers and Audis doing 140.
The main problem with higher limits is some drivers are capable because they concentrate and are very aware of what is happening around them where as a lot are just oblivious of road safety and have thev wrong attitude towards driving.
As far as the 40 limit for trucks on A roads that has been on going for years.They always said the trucks do 50 now in a 40 limit so if it was raised some would do 60 which is too fast and thats why they leave it as it is.
In the old days the police would leave you alone at 50 but not now probably due to standards and proffesionalism going rapidly downhill.
Terry T:
The speed limit is 70 and most are doing 80-90. If the speed limit was 80 they’d be doing 90-100. If they made it 120 you’d still get idiots in Beemers and Audis doing 140.
This is not true. In Germany there is no speed limit at all on many motorway and still most of the drivers do betweem 120 and 140…
This is just most convienient speed to travel on the motorway, things are going on fast enough to do not be bored, and slow enough to be safe, and fuel usage is also acceptable for most of the vehicles…
orys:
Terry T:
The speed limit is 70 and most are doing 80-90. If the speed limit was 80 they’d be doing 90-100. If they made it 120 you’d still get idiots in Beemers and Audis doing 140.This is not true. In Germany there is no speed limit at all on many motorway and still most of the drivers do betweem 120 and 140…This is just most convienient speed to travel on the motorway, things are going on fast enough to do not be bored, and slow enough to be safe, and fuel usage is also acceptable for most of the vehicles…
Is that Miles or Kilometres per hour? 120-140 mph seems mighty fast for MOST drivers to be going.
Kilometres, as in Germany speed limits are in kilometres. Sorry that I did not made it clearer.
orys:
Kilometres, as in Germany speed limits are in kilometres. Sorry that I did not made it clearer.
NO probs Orys. In Ireland (the republic of) distances are in miles, limits are in Kilometres and I’m resisting the temptation to comment further. 
orys:
Terry T:
The speed limit is 70 and most are doing 80-90. If the speed limit was 80 they’d be doing 90-100. If they made it 120 you’d still get idiots in Beemers and Audis doing 140.This is not true. In Germany there is no speed limit at all on many motorway and still most of the drivers do betweem 120 and 140…
This is just most convienient speed to travel on the motorway, things are going on fast enough to do not be bored, and slow enough to be safe, and fuel usage is also acceptable for most of the vehicles…
Having no limit is different as you can’t break that limit. You’ll always get drivers who will break whatever limit you put in place.
As has already been said, the standard of driving in the UK is pretty dire and raising speed limits is only going to make things worse.
Driving attitudes vary from country to country too. Try going to far east countries and check their driving. I rented a scooter in Thailand and it was terrifying. Germans might stick between 120-140km/h on their roads but even with a 70mph limit in the UK there’s a sizeable portion of drivers already going much faster than that. Sit in the inside lane at 70 and watch how many cars (and white van men) fly past.
Terry T:
Having no limit is different as you can’t break that limit. You’ll always get drivers who will break whatever limit you put in place.As has already been said, the standard of driving in the UK is pretty dire and raising speed limits is only going to make things worse.
Driving attitudes vary from country to country too. Try going to far east countries and check their driving. I rented a scooter in Thailand and it was terrifying. Germans might stick between 120-140km/h on their roads but even with a 70mph limit in the UK there’s a sizeable portion of drivers already going much faster than that. Sit in the inside lane at 70 and watch how many cars (and white van men) fly past.
Yes, this is true, except that I am of higher opinion on the British standards of driving than you are…
But if, as you said, there is always a fraction of idiots who do 100 mph no matter what the speed limit is, what’s the problem with raising the legal speed for the considerable drivers? This idiots will do 100 mph even if we put 30 of all motorways…
This thinking reminds me Poland: my friend lives next to the wide dual carriageway and they put 50 km/h sing there. He asked why, if the road is good enough to go safely twice faster. They said "yes, but due to newly build gas station, we have to slow down the traffic there to 80 km/h and if we put 80 km/h sign, everyone will do 110 anyway, so we have to put 50 in hope, that they will slow at least to 80 km/h…
But the only result of that is that drivers who see 50 km/h on the straight road ignore this sign as being stupid. In my wiev it would be much better if we put 80 km/h sign there with a small sign saying “Garage exit ahead” - that way drivers will know WHY they should slow down…
I think the same way of thinking is here in UK, as British speed limits are in many places far to low. For example: what’s the point of 50 mph on M77 all the way down towards Newton Mearns? I can understand it the other way due to likely queues, or at M8 in Glasgow city centre, but that way it’s simply an absurd. I was trying to stick to it recently (I’ve been traveling that way to work on Prestwick over last 10 days) and after the heavy loaded trucks were overtaking me uphill, I gave up and just started to drive as everyone else…
Always amazes me when I’m sat in the inside lane plodding along, to see the speed of some of the cars that go flying past (easpecially in the small hours when there’s less traffic) - It always makes me wonder how fast they’re really going.
There are speed limits on German motorways in fact there are not so many unrestricted ones now and they are closely monitored.If you drive at a stupid speed for the conditions or travel too close to the vehicle in front you will be nicked.
Have you seen the number of people killed on their motorways?There death rate is higher than ours because the speeds are higher and the accidents are more severe.
I agree some speed limits some places in this country are ridiculous but on the other hand a lot of drivers disregard limits a lot of the time and driving standards are so poor maybe it is a necessary requirement to try to slow people down.
Can anybody tell me why some drivers seem to think they have a right to totally ignore speed limits late at night or very early in the morning?
If some drivers were not so irresponsible the better ones might have an easier life!
Was just talking to my father on the phone who’s stuck on the M40 as it’s shut. No doubt down the appalling driving we see on the roads today. He said on the way to work this morning on the M6 he was in the outside lane doing 75 and a Mercedes came past him at about 100mph in between him and the barrier. And people wonder why the motorways are shut every day.
How people can say the driving on display today is anything but shocking is beyond me. I had a truck overtake me last week on the wrong side of the road going through a speed camera. And it’s not like these are isolated one off incidents, they happen regular.
I always overtake the numpties that panic brake to 28mph for 40/50 cameras whenever its safe to do so.
Driveroneuk:
I always overtake the numpties that panic brake to 28mph for 40/50 cameras whenever its safe to do so.
Unfortunately for this moron, I was doing 30 and the camera was 30. I saw it flash. He’ll now waste some or all his shift money on the fine. Better off staying in bed.