uk motorways.....

just got back from UK been on a bit of business and coming back down the M1 to luton airport,,,how many gantrys for cameras are being put up , :shock: ,,also went up the M40 thats just as bad and the M6 around brum,, :shock: ,,its a night mare,,,,had a great little car and could only take it upto about 80 for fear of getting flashed,,,,,bugger....

Motorways have always been boring, now they are super boring!

Why on earth the speed limit hasn't been raised to 80 mph is beyond me? All modern cars can cope quite happily with a cruising speed of 80 mph and the existing speed limit (established in 1994/5) desperately need reviewing.

The reason it has not been raised and cameras are solely for revenue generation, to put this into some kind of context we need to look at the National Debt; when the current administration came to power every man, woman, and child in the UK is in debt to the tune of £16,000 per person; compared to just under £250 per person when the previous administration came to power. We had the means to pay that debt by having assets in gold reserves until gay Gordon sold it off at the bottom of the market.

This means that we have a Fractional Reserve Economy and if the loans are called in the UK is bankrupt.

Hence the reason for my previous article; if only people really knew what was happening.

Tom Mc wrote:

Motorways have always been boring, now they are super boring!

Why on earth the speed limit hasn't been raised to 80 mph is beyond me? All modern cars can cope quite happily with a cruising speed of 80 mph and the existing speed limit (established in 1994/5) desperately need reviewing.

Tom All modern cars may cope with 80mph,

But not all modern people can.

Can't argue with that Yoda, there are some real numpty's out there. I wonder, do driving schools nowadays teach motorway driving - anybody know?

As for cameras on motorways, I'm not in the least surprised they are there to generate revenue. The 'variable speed' cameras on the M6 are often working when clearly the traffic is light.

£16,000 per person???

Yes Tom, everyone in the UK, man, woman, and child is in debt to the tune of £16,000 due to the alleged politicians who are supposed to represent us and the interests of the UK; look at the legacy of Labour and their PFI projects as merely one example of many examples. Are you aware that 76% of the Poll Tax went in paying the interest alone on the countries debts, that is interest alone and not the capital.

Research shows us that the average motorway speed is actually 88 MPH, hence the reason for speed cameras; easy targets and financial pickings, and due to people's apathy and guillablity they just pay up without even knowing if they were the driver of the vehicle at the time.

yes i agree,,,,,its a farce,, ,,,,,,most of the motorways around here are camera free but we have a lot of traffico police and they will stop you and fine you on the spot for anything and everything,, ,,,they are just trying to make money as most of them havent been paid, :shock: ,,,,sad state of affairs,,,,

Tuggy:

Most of Europe is in debt, most are worse off then the UK due to the Euro, so they will all employ money grabbing tactics in some form.

Tom Mc wrote:

Motorways have always been boring, now they are super boring!

Why on earth the speed limit hasn't been raised to 80 mph is beyond me? All modern cars can cope quite happily with a cruising speed of 80 mph and the existing speed limit (established in 1994/5) desperately need reviewing.

I think I must be the only one who would see it REDUCED. YES, reduced. Taking it down to 60 would save an awful lot fuel. 55 would save even more, but from experience, this is not a good speed to drive at for me - sends me to sleep!

Don't know how you can say they are boring either..there is always some t**t doing something they shouldn't!! I was on the M1 last week and I reckon the average speed must have been just above 90 - everyone in a major rush to get nowhere, cutting each other up, hogging the middle lane and not for the first time saw a foreign HGV in the outside lane!

I will confess that only a few years ago I was one of them...always belting around at, well,I'm not actually going to say it in case a policeman is reading, but you get me drift. There were never enough hours in the days let alone days in the week. But now I just go with the flow and it's a lot less stressful. That's my tuppence worth.

I do the same, get up to 70 and stick the cruise on, listen to my favourite CD's, and get to my destination refreshed or sit one car behind the idiot who rushed past me doing 100 MPH 30 minutes earlier when we hit the next accident or roadblock.

"Fifty is thrifty" - when did that expression spring up?

1970's oil shortages.

Assassin wrote:

1970's oil shortages.

Yep, I can remember when 4* petrol went up to 75p for a gallon...and we all moaned

Have to agree all cars should have inbuilt speed limiters, I can not understand why manufactures make cars that can go faster than 100 mph, their is no where safe to do more than that.

Has for the cost of fuel the first gallon I bought was 4s 11p yes less than 25p in new money, at the price now for 1 litre £1.44 back then I could have bought just over 6 gallons.

What has gone wrong

just took management to malaga airport this morning,, :o ,it cost me 15 euro each way on the toll road as the normal road is pants at this time of the morning and 20 euro fuel so total cost was 50 euros its about 90km each way,, ,,,,,sat on the motorway 120-130 kmph no traffic so took me about 1.5hrs each way and at times i was doing 180kmph, ,,no camera no police no traffic, ,,,so well worth the extra euros,,,,

But who can remember 5* petrol, garages that didn't sell diesel, and the good old 3* when they used to mix a gallon of 4* to a gallon of 2* on the forecourt.

Assassin wrote:

I do the same, get up to 70 and stick the cruise on, listen to my favourite CD's, and get to my destination refreshed or sit one car behind the idiot who rushed past me doing 100 MPH 30 minutes earlier when we hit the next accident or road
block.

Yep - i do the same, our works cars & vans are on trackers so they can check speeds driven and quite frankly I cannot be bothered with it , the astra and the bakkie do their best mpg around 60mph and the Iveco doesn't reach 60mph so in a hurry is defined as 70mph, can't be bothered with all the stress of driving faster

80mph on motorways - no way, it raises the defacto speed limit and uses so much more fuel raising polution levels. You are also increasing speed differentials between hgv and cars which can be a killer.

I like the variable speed limits, the m42 around the south of brum used to be unuseable but have gone thru quite often last year and it was flowing at lower speeds so they do work.

Better education to ensure people don't sit in the middle lane, as this causes people to under take and reduces the carrying capacity of the motorways. Make it an offence which carries points as thats the only thing the british would understand. When ever i have driven on the continent the motorway discipline is way way better than here with people moving over when they have finished overtaking and the use of the indicator to signal to the guy in front that you wish to go faster then them, it all works. There should be a fast lane, which people can do 80 mph. I'd love to be able to stick the cruise control on but whenever i try within 30 seconds someone who thinks 50 mph is acceptable pulls out in front of me and makes me have to brake or move around them. If you aren't going to do at least 70mph in a car on the motorway how about you stick to the A road where you can conserve all the fuel you like whilst holding up the traffic and lorries. I find it really annoying that in the last year or so no one seems able to travel at 60mph anymore in a national speed limit zone. What is it with 45-50 mph? And for those that say its economical, no it bloody isn't as my d2 does not lock up in top till 56mph and it gets my goat especially when any slight incline, bend or road sign seems to be cause of a variation in road speed down to 40 mph usually involving braking. I live in the country and frequently see Mr pensioner, nose pressed on the windscreen, pottering along at 40 mph oblivious to the 5 mile queue of traffic sitting behind him. If you really can't cope with whats happening at 60 mph then i question whether you should be driving in the first place. Rant over

Sounds like you need to chill out a little

No there should not be a lane for 80mph, its wastefull and does very little in dropping journey times and increases the risk of road accidents which affect everyone on that road. Trucks are speed limited yet use motorways, my Iveco travels with the trucks

One of the biggest risks on motorways is the fly boys who motor along at higher speeds , almost no matter what th weather or visability or traffic , jamming there brakes on , changing lanes frequentlyand generally causing issues. I agree with hogging of the middle lane is an issue but actually less of an issue if you obay the speed limits

Big Trucks are limited to 40mph on single carriage roads now anyway and the 60mph national speed limit might be doomed , and quite frankly thats a good thing too - if you are on a bike, horse or walking then having vehicles trying to do 60 mph on smaller roads is very dangerous

As for driving in europe, you driven in Italy, or around paris, the driving standards are a joke. Remember that these countries have far higher road death numbers than we do - or is that the acceptable cost to you of speed ?

Its not a matter of coping with the higher speeds its not feeling the need too. Better planning and a little thought just makes life less stressfull.

If you get stuck behind my Iveco or my bike then its your problem not mine. Get a manual and then you can change gear when its safe and right, not when the car tells you to.

Windup mode off

Driven in lots of countries and whilst true standards are poor in some generally i note that motorway discipline seems much better. Agreed that fly boys changing lanes and tailgating are a pain but many folk who want to travel along at 80 mph are good drivers and not boy racers. I don't know the figures but would be interested in how many accidents are actually caused by excess speed. Surely by their nature accidents are caused by driver error. Focusing on speed takes the emphasis away from actually making sure you are driving carefully. By saying its just speed thats the problem you excuse all the bad drivers. If you maintain a sensible gap and observe the road, mirrors etc why is 80 mph any more dangerous than 70? No one wants to see people killed but by focusing on speed you play straight into the governments pocket and the machine set up behind speeding fines and the infrastructure to catch people. Cycling on main roads is dangerous, and a blanket speed limit does not take into account the safety or not of any particular road. Motorways are amongst the safest roads we have. lets not fall foul once again of the dumbing down culture of this country where we have to legislate for the lowest common denominator, let common sense prevail. Who says 80 is not safe, the limits were not based on any real research anyway somone guessing in the ministry in 1965 hardly scientific. I am only stressed by the terrible standard of driving i see daily where for example people are too lazy to indicate off a roundabout because they can't lift their chubby little finger far enough to knock the indicator stalk, hell they even cancel themselves these days so even less for the lazy to do And don't get me started on all this lane rubbish at roundabout now where the rules of the highway code seem to have been totally forgotten in lane marking causing chaos on our roundabouts.

I can give you the statistics for speed as a factor in accidents. According to official Police Accident Investigations:

Speed is a factor in less than 5% of all accidents.

Speed is a significant factor in less than 2% of all accidents.

So why do we need speed cameras based upon these official figures, that is unless they are solely for revenue generation.

The government are rubbering their hands together, with all the people traveling at 80mph all that extra tax they get for all the fuel you are wasting, so you keep giving them your hard earned money.

The drive from Malaga down to Gib/Tarifa is quite nice. the old coast road is even nicer, better motorways than here!


My parents always moan about speed cameras being a tax for the motorist... I disagree, as it's a voluntary "fine"... you have the choice whether to get charged with it or not, and the choice is under your right foot.

(The funniest thing, is dad is an "advanced" motorist, got the posh bumper badge to prove it, yet he got caught by the SAME speed camera twice!! )

jellybenitez wrote:

for example people are too lazy to indicate off a roundabout because they can't lift their chubby little finger far enough to knock the indicator stalk, hell they even cancel themselves these days so even less for the lazy to do And don't get me started on all this lane rubbish at roundabout now where the rules of the highway code seem to have been totally forgotten in lane marking causing chaos on our roundabouts.

Another of my pet hates, drivers who are in their own little world and never indicate - they know where they are going, it would be nice if they could let me know as well. Grrrrr!!!!!!

Don't know about the idea of a separate lane just for 80mph, still reckon modern vehicles with their modern tyres/brakes/etc. could cope with a national speed limit of 80mph ... in conjunction with an awareness campaign of basic motorway practice -

Don't tailgate

Indicate

Constantly changing lanes and undertaking won't get you there any faster - well, a morgue perhaps!

Keep left unless overtaking

Mmmmm, now I've seen what it spells, maybe I ought to rethink my awareness campaign?

This paranoia about spped cameras is easily solved, your only getting stressed about it cos you speed.

Stop speeding and it ceases to be an issue.

Its totally voluntary if you pay speeding fines or not unlike VAT etc.

As a cyclist I like slower traffic , its alot safer for me out and about on my bike. Cycling on main roads is not dangerous. The way many drivers treat cyclists on main roads is.

By the very nature someone travelling at 80mph cannot be assumed to be a good driver because they are breaking the law.
And as you have pointed this out , many who now travel at 80mph will go to the new defacto standard of 90mph. Most will not increase gaps between vehicles, or slow down in bad weather

Roamingman is right - keep speeding , keep paying the fines and putting more fuel in your vehicles, just what Mr Osborn wants