Britain Considering Increasing Highway Speeds to 80 mph (128 km/h!)

[Fuyuzora]

Link:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/cars/story.html?id=5484480


Britain’s government is set to raise its motorway speed limit to 80 miles per hour from 70 mph (128 km/h from 112 km/h), saying the first change of its kind in almost half a century would benefit the economy.

...

Hammond added in an interview with The Times newspaper on Friday that with many drivers in Britain routinely driving at 80 mph the current law was undermining the notion of policing by consent.

“If 50% of the population are routinely breaking the law it’s actually the law that needs looking at,” he said.

:like

Canada too please~

[canada man]

i hope ontario does the same.. and they also need to get rid of the 50km/h and over law

[boyracer]

Prior to the oil crises in the 70's, our highways had a posting of 70 mph. Canada & the U.S. dropped the speed limit so fuel could be conserved. So, our roads are more then capable to handle those speeds. Again, it wasn't as congested at it is today. Lets not forget all those terrible drivers..... oh God some of them are horrible.

[loki]

Prior to the oil crises in the 70's, our highways had a posting of 70 mph. Canada & the U.S. dropped the speed limit so fuel could be conserved. So, our roads are more then capable to handle those speeds. Again, it wasn't as congested at it is today. Lets not forget all those terrible drivers..... oh God some of them are horrible.

the 400 series highways are designed for 160 kph. Only thing I paid attention to in Transportation Engineering course 8 years ago, and that's because of any bends in the highway etc (factor of saftey - reduce the limit to 100kph)

I'm not going to start a war over who drives better, the Europeans or the Canadians, however when I drive on the roads here, I see people doing alot of crazy and dumb things. There is the other extreme with people who go on the highway and drive at 80kph.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see the speed limit increased to 120 or 130 kph. The result would probably be quite scary tho, at least for the first bit, and before you go saying "people drive 120-130 all the time" I'm more thinking about the guys who drive 140-150 now since the speed limit is 100, imagine what they'll do when you increase the limit.

And as for the 50+ law....I get why it's there. It stops people from me from being an absolute nut head all the time. People need consequences to keep them inline, and believe me it does work for the most part.

[MistaChin]

the 400 series highways are designed for 160 kph. Only thing I paid attention to in Transportation Engineering course 8 years ago, and that's because of any bends in the highway etc (factor of saftey - reduce the limit to 100kph)

I'm not going to start a war over who drives better, the Europeans or the Canadians, however when I drive on the roads here, I see people doing alot of crazy and dumb things. There is the other extreme with people who go on the highway and drive at 80kph.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see the speed limit increased to 120 or 130 kph. The result would probably be quite scary tho, at least for the first bit, and before you go saying "people drive 120-130 all the time" I'm more thinking about the guys who drive 140-150 now since the speed limit is 100, imagine what they'll do when you increase the limit.

And as for the 50+ law....I get why it's there. It stops people from me from being an absolute nut head all the time. People need consequences to keep them inline, and believe me it does work for the most part.

+1,000,000

Fellow transportation engineer??

[Hoodzy]

Well supposedly they are SUPPOSED to base the limit off what the 85th percentile drive. That has been shown to be the safest way to set a limit. However they obviously don't do this as to generate revenue. Especially in spots where cops like to be.. they know full well a good chunk of the drivers will be going over the limit because the limit was set wrong to begin with. That's crazy that Britain would be doing that as they are probably the worst in the world for traffic cameras and the war on speed..
But if there limit was 70mph in 1965 damn I am jealous.. Stupid measly 110km an hour so pathetic.

[The Wolf]

Increase speed limits + enforce the limit. Done.

[loki]

+1,000,000

Fellow transportation engineer??

civil engineer

[stevenma188]

Increase speed limits + enforce the limit. Done.

Exactly! Like the Germans.

[Kiyomi]

Increase speed limits + enforce the limit. Done.

+1, you ever see the 404/dvp on a weekday morning from 7-9, just nuts!!!, maybe they need to create more highways etc for congestion

[The Wolf]

I like how the US does it on some of the interstate highways. 70 mph speed limit, 60 mph for trucks + buses (plus they are forbidden in the left lane)

[Mitchell3]

On my trip to Michigan we saw some Speed Minimum signs on highways. :D Excellent concept.

80 mph is perfect. I wouldnt want to drive faster lol. But the least they should do is reassess city road speed limits, half of the ones in our city make no sense, a virtually downtown street is 60km, straight road with a few homes on the outskirts is 40km. Feels like someone could pass you in reverse.

[Kiyomi]

On my trip to Michigan we saw some Speed Minimum signs on highways. :D Excellent concept.

80 mph is perfect. I wouldnt want to drive faster lol. But the least they should do is reassess city road speed limits, half of the ones in our city make no sense, a virtually downtown street is 60km, straight road with a few homes on the outskirts is 40km. Feels like someone could pass you in reverse.

yeah, but why would they revise it when the police and insurance companies are making their quotas and super high profits?

[The Wolf]

On my trip to Michigan we saw some Speed Minimum signs on highways. :D Excellent concept.

80 mph is perfect. I wouldnt want to drive faster lol. But the least they should do is reassess city road speed limits, half of the ones in our city make no sense, a virtually downtown street is 60km, straight road with a few homes on the outskirts is 40km. Feels like someone could pass you in reverse.

UGH totally agree. I never liked how a lot of the streets in the Old Westmount area were littered with speed bumps and 40km/h limits.

[ElectroJay]

wow, I can imagine the drivers who routinely go 50km-over on the newly revised speed limits :S

[Mitchell3]

yeah, but why would they revise it when the police and insurance companies are making their quotas and super high profits?
tickets for driving under the speed limit which effect their insurance :chuckle

UGH totally agree. I never liked how a lot of the streets in the Old Westmount area were littered with speed bumps and 40km/h limits.

I dont know if your familiar with Heritage Dr. in Kitchener, fail, just a fail. speed limit is 40 because theres two schools on that Street. It had speed bumps, they took them out, put these STUPID STUPID STUPID indents in the road so traffic cant even safely flow both ways, you have to wait for each direction and zig zag down the road. then a year or two later they take them out.. and put speed bumps in:bang
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z320/theconjuedsubjugator/Heritage.jpg

Im surprised they didnt just design one of their dumb 3 roundabouts in 1 km of road plans.

[SomeGuy]

Ugh speed limits...like how do these things even become law? I can't understand how laws that no one believes in stay law, I think the speed limit should be more like a recommended speed, ie this road is good to travel at 130km/h ... not a, if you go faster than this even if it's perfectly safe to do so, we'll take your money for no ****ing good reason. I'm so fed up with it. TM3 movement to fix the driving laws?

[Strongjag]

Make it 80 minumum and 125 or 130 max. If they go 1 over ticket. Easy peezy.

[PCLoadLetter]

Ugh speed limits...like how do these things even become law? I can't understand how laws that no one believes in stay law, I think the speed limit should be more like a recommended speed, ie this road is good to travel at 130km/h ... not a, if you go faster than this even if it's perfectly safe to do so, we'll take your money for no ****ing good reason. I'm so fed up with it. TM3 movement to fix the driving laws?
Dude pulls up in a speed3 and asks for speed limit changes...

:chuckle

I'm happy with 100 km/h.
You can get away with 110 no problems on the 400 highways.
Why the need to go any faster?

[greaves82]

We have enough car accidents at 100 km/hr imagine if the speed was changed to 130km/hr.

[boyracer]

We have enough car accidents at 100 km/hr imagine if the speed was changed to 130km/hr.

Even though Speed has caused accidents, I do believe that most accidents are caused by stupid maneuvers (careless driving + bad drivers)... ie weaving in and out of traffic, changing lanes & not checking blind spots, cutting people off, following too closely, those slower drivers who insist on driving in the passing lane, talking on cell phone`s and the list can go on & on. Speeding is just an easy one to pick on.

[MistaChin]

civil engineer

Same. But I guess you aren't specializing in transportation considering you didn't listen much in that class lol

[MistaChin]

civil engineer

Same. But I guess you aren't specializing in transportation considering you didn't listen much in that class lol

[Hoodzy]

We have enough car accidents at 100 km/hr imagine if the speed was changed to 130km/hr.
Accidents caused by speeding only account for 5% of all accidents FYI. Even then I still count you as a bad driver.. not knowing the limitations of your speed. Accidents are caused by bad drivers period. The war on speed is all a sham.. it's simply to generate revenue. If the government truly cared about keeping people safe they'd prevent bad drivers from getting on the road. Implementing a much stricter testing system as well making it mandatory to pass driver education.

Also check this video out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S75Rfva9O8

[boyracer]

Accidents caused by speeding only account for 5% of all accidents FYI. Even then I still count you as a bad driver.. not knowing the limitations of your speed. Accidents are caused by bad drivers period. The war on speed is all a sham.. it's simply to generate revenue. If the government truly cared about keeping people safe they'd prevent bad drivers from getting on the road. Implementing a much stricter testing system as well making it mandatory to pass driver education.

Also check this video out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S75Rfva9O8

LOL, now that video was funny! Nice find Hoodzy

[Mitchell3]

LOL thats a good one

This whole conversation is starting to remind me of..:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7aOOaZPoIE

[Hoodzy]

I've watched several seasons of that show.. The people that always start out being the bad drivers because of their speeding end up leaving within the first 2 episodes because they have the actual ability to drive. Obviously the speeds he was going in particular are extremely excessive and I would consider him a bad driver for that. However the rest of those people simply lack the ability to drive and follow simple road rules.. He at least I am sure knows how to stop at a 4 way stop correctly. Plus I would probably bet that he has been in far fewer accidents then others on that show.

[boyracer]

LOL thats a good one

This whole conversation is starting to remind me of..:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7aOOaZPoIE

This one was funny as well. But ... Wow, what an idiot!

[boyracer]

I've watched several seasons of that show.. The people that always start out being the bad drivers because of their speeding end up leaving within the first 2 episodes because they have the actual ability to drive. Obviously the speeds he was going in particular are extremely excessive and I would consider him a bad driver for that. However the rest of those people simply lack the ability to drive and follow simple road rules.. He at least I am sure knows how to stop at a 4 way stop correctly. Plus I would probably bet that he has been in far fewer accidents then others on that show.

I'd have to agree with you. So many people do not know the rules when 4 or even 3 cars approach a 4 way stop! Never mind the lack of understanding yield signs, I don't think most know what a yield sign looks like or what yield means, cause I've had to break and honk at many individuals running a yield & then they have the nerve to get angry at me & flip me the bird. :rant

[Mitchell3]

I'd have to agree with you. So many people do not know the rules when 4 or even 3 cars approach a 4 way stop! Never mind the lack of understanding yield signs, I don't think most know what a yield sign looks like or what yield means, cause I've had to break and honk at many individuals running a yield & then they have the nerve to get angry at me & flip me the bird. :rant

even with two people cant figure it out. Ive given up on this one, no body knows how that rule works. As for yielding, I partly agree. As I said earlier our city seems to love wasting money on roundabouts i.e. 5 roundabouts in 4 km of road being the best example. Yielding is the name of the game in this case. Mind you people just gun it through anyway and assume your making a right hand turn every time. One of the newest ones had been open for a few days and already saw 4 accidents according to the paper. This might seem off topic from speed limits, but these roundabouts make traffic so bad at rush hour there is no speed! They obviously didnt think of that, since they built a bunch of new stores there and plenty o' new homes Here (http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Erbsville+Rd&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&ll=43.444491,-80.569375&spn=0.012541,0.027874&sll=43.415491,-80.536952&sspn=0.02497,0.055747&geocode=FS_2lgIdbI8y-w%3BFQZ1lgIdktsy-w&vpsrc=6&mra=mift&mrsp=1&sz=15&t=h&z=16) if you want to see how tiny these things are. they all have two lanes, but its not worth your time to change lanes because you always end up merging back into one. That not mentioning how many damn times I get cut off in the middle of these things.

[Kiyomi]

We have enough car accidents at 100 km/hr imagine if the speed was changed to 130km/hr.

there are actually less accidents in countries and roads where there is no speed limit. fact. drivers actually have to pay attention and in many countries, driving stick is more common than automatic.

[stevenma188]

driving stick is more common than manual.

Huh?

[mazdabetty]

Unfortunately Ontario is cluttered with way too much "stupid" and the speed laws/limits will never change here. Or at least, the most we'll ever see is 110kph.

I feel like people in Ontario prefer having their hand held as far as laws and speed limits go.. Or maybe that's just Ottawa... Some of the absolute WORST drivers I've ever seen in my entire life live here, and figures, they're all federal goverent workers that help run our country.

*sigh*

[Hoodzy]

Huh?

He meant to say driving stick is more common than automatic.

[Dreamliner]

Keep the 50km/h + law in place. Speed kills, no ifs ands or buts. I don't care what you say about it, it's a good law.

As for speed limit increasing, I'd like to see at least the 407 have speed limit increase of 10km/h. It's a pay highway so the vehicles using it can easily go 110km/h+ (not like the 401 with all the rusted out crapboxes). Plus, make it an incentive for drives to pay their tolls by allowing them to drive faster...

[Hoodzy]

Keep the 50km/h + law in place. Speed kills, no ifs ands or buts. I don't care what you say about it, it's a good law.

As for speed limit increasing, I'd like to see at least the 407 have speed limit increase of 10km/h. It's a pay highway so the vehicles using it can easily go 110km/h+ (not like the 401 with all the rusted out crapboxes). Plus, make it an incentive for drives to pay their tolls by allowing them to drive faster...

There are plenty of ifs ands and buts my good friend. Speed accounts for only 5% of all accidents. That doesn't mean there needs to be limits set PROPERLY. 50km/h is acceptable in certain areas. Residential areas yup. But on that road that's marked 50 when it really should be 60-70 and the cops sit there all day.. Its simply to generate revenue that is all. IT has absolutely nothing to do with SPEED KILLING.. Speeds should be set to the 85th percentile of what people driver comfortably on that road. Clearly that is not the case in pretty much every speed trap set up by police.

[SomeGuy]

There are plenty of ifs ands and buts my good friend. Speed accounts for only 5% of all accidents. That doesn't mean there needs to be limits set PROPERLY. 50km/h is acceptable in certain areas. Residential areas yup. But on that road that's marked 50 when it really should be 60-70 and the cops sit there all day.. Its simply to generate revenue that is all. IT has absolutely nothing to do with SPEED KILLING.. Speeds should be set to the 85th percentile of what people driver comfortably on that road. Clearly that is not the case in pretty much every speed trap set up by police.

+1 I agree 110%

My fave saying though: "Speed doesn't kill, it's the sudden stop that does"

Regardless, if I drove at what I felt was a comfortable speed on all roads on a dry day, I would have lost my license long time ago. The thing is, lets say a stretch of road goes 1km without a single road or driveway on it, and then there are a bunch of houses...the limit would be say 50km/h but really that 1km without anything I can very safely do say 80km/h on it, but when I get to the residential spots I would slow down myself without a speed limit telling me to. It's pretty simple, travel at a speed and with enough space that you can stop if anything comes out in front of you you can stop in time. That means if I have good visibility and no obstacles then I will travel faster, but if there is the potential for a car or kid to come out then I slow down. It's not hard.

Oh another thought...there's some residential near my house where lots of cars park on the road but it's still 2 way traffic so it's a tight squeeze...I slow down to 30km/h instinctively on there as that's what feels safe...the speed limit is still 50km/h, so should I just race along there doing 50? I think not! Driving as per the situation is key and speed limits mean **** all and don't help anything be it higher or lower.

Lastly, I should be more paying attention to my driving then constantly watching my speed and trying to pick out cops hiding in stupid ****ing spots....people not having to worry about getting caught can focus more on driving!!! It seems like such a simple concept. If I were a cop I would never pull people over for speeding unless it was stupidly excessive given the situation and risky (150km/h on an empty road with no traffic is fine in my books, but in the middle of traffic is a no no). I would be pulling over people who don't signal, follow too closely, run red lights, aren't paying attention and generally making driving less than their #1 priority. Those are the people who cause accidents...not the people who do 30-40 above the limit.

[boyracer]

There are plenty of ifs ands and buts my good friend. Speed accounts for only 5% of all accidents. That doesn't mean there needs to be limits set PROPERLY. 50km/h is acceptable in certain areas. Residential areas yup. But on that road that's marked 50 when it really should be 60-70 and the cops sit there all day.. Its simply to generate revenue that is all. IT has absolutely nothing to do with SPEED KILLING.. Speeds should be set to the 85th percentile of what people driver comfortably on that road. Clearly that is not the case in pretty much every speed trap set up by police.


+1 I agree 110%

My fave saying though: "Speed doesn't kill, it's the sudden stop that does"

Regardless, if I drove at what I felt was a comfortable speed on all roads on a dry day, I would have lost my license long time ago. The thing is, lets say a stretch of road goes 1km without a single road or driveway on it, and then there are a bunch of houses...the limit would be say 50km/h but really that 1km without anything I can very safely do say 80km/h on it, but when I get to the residential spots I would slow down myself without a speed limit telling me to. It's pretty simple, travel at a speed and with enough space that you can stop if anything comes out in front of you you can stop in time. That means if I have good visibility and no obstacles then I will travel faster, but if there is the potential for a car or kid to come out then I slow down. It's not hard.

Oh another thought...there's some residential near my house where lots of cars park on the road but it's still 2 way traffic so it's a tight squeeze...I slow down to 30km/h instinctively on there as that's what feels safe...the speed limit is still 50km/h, so should I just race along there doing 50? I think not! Driving as per the situation is key and speed limits mean **** all and don't help anything be it higher or lower.

Lastly, I should be more paying attention to my driving then constantly watching my speed and trying to pick out cops hiding in stupid ****ing spots....people not having to worry about getting caught can focus more on driving!!! It seems like such a simple concept. If I were a cop I would never pull people over for speeding unless it was stupidly excessive given the situation and risky (150km/h on an empty road with no traffic is fine in my books, but in the middle of traffic is a no no). I would be pulling over people who don't signal, follow too closely, run red lights, aren't paying attention and generally making driving less than their #1 priority. Those are the people who cause accidents...not the people who do 30-40 above the limit.

+1 well said, couldn't agree more.

[xxSlidewaysxx]

Until the requirements for getting a license actually become, um don't know... what the word here...... a real TEST... then all of this is just conjecture. I got my license without driving on a multilane highway and not even on a freakin 80 km/h road.

And I give a +1 to Someguy too, instincts, gotta have em.

[vinnierap]

+1 ^^^ The regulations and testing for driver lic need to be way tougher. There are way too many morons who drive. 80% of people on the road have no clue what they are doing and cause a hazard for the rest of us. Like i have stated in a previous post, i consistantly drive at 120-130kmh on 400 series hwy (when there is no traffic). If im doing 120-130 in the left lane the person in front of me doing 100kmh should switch lanes and allow me to pass, but they dont forcing me to have to switch lanes and go around or slow right down. But ill get the ticket for speeding before the other person for not leting me pass.

The rules of the road have gone to sh*t and there is no coming back. No matter what they do now there are already waaaaaaaaayyy too many horrible drivers that it cant be fixed.

[ElectroJay]

+1 ^^^ The regulations and testing for driver lic need to be way tougher. There are way too many morons who drive. 80% of people on the road have no clue what they are doing and cause a hazard for the rest of us. Like i have stated in a previous post, i consistantly drive at 120-130kmh on 400 series hwy (when there is no traffic). If im doing 120-130 in the left lane the person in front of me doing 100kmh should switch lanes and allow me to pass, but they dont forcing me to have to switch lanes and go around or slow right down. But ill get the ticket for speeding before the other person for not leting me pass.

The rules of the road have gone to sh*t and there is no coming back. No matter what they do now there are already waaaaaaaaayyy too many horrible drivers that it cant be fixed.

+1 I hate when people do that or, worse, when people do that when they are driving at the same speeds as the middle lane drivers.

[Soulsofmischief]

+1 I hate when people do that or, worse, when people do that when they are driving at the same speeds as the middle lane drivers.


ahhhh.. the dreaded box in scenario.. nothing gets me all ready to road rage then being boxed in by a truck on my right, a minivan in front, an old lady with blue hair on my left..... makes me wish I had GO GO GADGET WHEELS! and driver over them...

but more importantly here..... YEAHHHHH... that chick is totally hawt Electrojay.... im pretttyyy sure shes day dreaming of a little alone time with yours truly.

[ElectroJay]

ahhhh.. the dreaded box in scenario.. nothing gets me all ready to road rage then being boxed in by a truck on my right, a minivan in front, an old lady with blue hair on my left..... makes me wish I had GO GO GADGET WHEELS! and driver over them...

but more importantly here..... YEAHHHHH... that chick is totally hawt Electrojay.... im pretttyyy sure shes day dreaming of a little alone time with yours truly.

hahaha go go gadget wheels to drive over them rather than fly over them... perfect for raging rofl.

Ah, you have good taste! Here's a clickable link below ;)

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/498/bustyasiancomputer2.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/bustyasiancomputer2.jpg/)