Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

up north where we only have 2 lanes ....sometimes ....on our motorways ,tractors and other slow moving vehicles are banned during morning and evening peak times which does make a big difference to the flow of traffic which in turn will make a difference to the amount of accidents due to stop start traffic .

I see no benefit in increasing the limit to 80mph

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

l agree totally.

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

Apart from those who are convinced (and no education will change) that undertaking is necessary due to others hogging the outside lanes.

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

The comment that l would make on this, is that no matter what limit you place on roads or motorway's you have have someone breaking it.

The worst time of speeding is when it is bad weather, and l know l shouldn't say it, but l have no sympathy with people who end up fatally injured, l feel sorry for the people who get killed as a result of stupid drivers.

I have been driving for the past thirty years, and what l have seen would make your blood boil.

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

That's the point I was making - they can 'appear' to be freak events but they're actually often the culmination of serious and habitual negligence/recklesslness on the part of a hard core of drivers who like to drive as if they're in a GP. Sooner or later the inevitable occurs and we have carnage. The sad part is that these people can't be educated becuase they think it'll never happen to them, they're just too good to make a mistake.....

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

Undertaking actually works very well in many countries. Also it is not actually illegal within the UK. However it is discouraged in most driving circumstances.

The obvious country to use as an example where undertaking works well is the US. However there roads are much larger than ours & then is an advantage to the procedure.

Even on UK motorways due to the volume of vehicles & smaller size of lanes etc & also our habit of driving close I think if undertaking became the norm there would be more collisions.

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

Discouraged? The wording in the Highway Code is a bit stronger than that:

Paragraph 268 on http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAn...code/DG_069862

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

Most drivers fail to adjust their maximum speed to suit the driving conditions. This is often exacerbated by an inability to leave a reasonable distance between vehicles whcih unfortunately is made worse by our congested roads where if you do try an leave a gap someone else will fill it for you.

I was once told a statistic (which we all know can be manipulated) that in Surry 2% of serious accidents had drink as a factor, but 38% had speed as a factor (you could have more than one factor in the accident). Of course it's too much speed for the circumstances, not just breaking the limit. And that comes from driver judgement, or lack of.

In France some of their autoroutes do have a variable limit. It's signposted but not electronically enforced as we see on some of our congested systems on the M25 and around Birmingham. They allow 130km/h when it's dry but reduice to 110km/h in poor conditions. The question would probably be what determines poor?

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

There are several other parts of the Highway Code concerning 'undertaking' which you seem to have not bothered to quote. These give reasons when undertaking IS allowed.

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

Why do we not go back to the horse drawn carts and then this thread would be redundant, People should stick to the speed limits and also take due care and attention of the driving conditions as well.

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

And l concur with that sentiment 100%.

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

I think the limit should be raised to 100mph for cars and motorbikes should not be limited at all in national limit zones.

Well that's how I act anyway, would be nice if it was legal

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

I would not think that my old friends parents would agree, As he said he never went on a motorway less than 120mph. He was coming back from North Wales in the centre lane on the motorway.
As he was travelling back at 6am in the morning some one came down the slip road straight in to the middle lane and clipped the bike he was on. It put him straight in to the central reservation and killed him straight out (so the coroner said).

I think that the speed limit should be the same as it is now.

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

and you would feel the same should you kill someone ?.

Your post is the exact reason why the limit should not be raised because if you drive/ride like that now should the limit be raised you would just go faster putting more lives at risk

Re: 80mph speed limit 'would increase deaths by 20%'
 

They are banned from the outside lane anyway


The trouble is that many people over estimate their own skill level. So when they drive within what they believe to be their own skill level, they are actually way outside it.

If we all drove defensively, then roads would be a far safer place.