New 50mph Speed Limit

[Sonic]

I heard this mentioned over the radio the other day and have just seen this post on PH about plans for a 50mph national speed limit... lets hope this is another one of those crazy labour ideas that gets shunned when it comes into the public domain:

http://pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=19500

[Rusty]

Another pointless waste of tax payers' money... what's left after they've given it all to the banks for bonuses

[goodall]

heard this on radio my drive home yesterday, made me think myself oh great my journey time will now have increase

seems stupid as from what i heard be on all roads excluding trunk routes, which were i live means to roads in the entire country wont be affected. id be for increasing speedlimits as 60 on some roads in modern cars is slow imho

i say 80 on motorways(if not more) and 70 on a-roads

stealth tax more likely catch people out who are use to 60
also wa sin america were speed limits were lowered once for saveing fuel but because most cars had been tuned for old limit cruising they were in fact less efficient at the lower speed

[Fat Audi 80]

Unfortunately a handful of drunk / incompetent / chav / irresponsible / people (delete as applicable) spoil it for the rest of us responsible drivers....

A stupid idea that won't work, from a stupid government that doesn't work...

[Error404]

If they want to make the roads safer why not fill in some of the potholes we have to dangerous swerve around on a daily basis?
ANOTHER stealth tax and suveilance plan on the decent common man - makes my ****ing piss boil

When do we have another chance to get rid of this ****ing bunch of **** sucking stalinist ******s we call "The Government"?

[QuattroFever]

speed isnt the issue in road safety and they know it. Its just a way of making money and excuses to put up more cameras and compensating for all the irresponsible people who drive outside of there capabilities.

[philip walker]

OK, enforce the limits out side schools etc.



The Gov quotes most accident are on rural roads, perhaps engineer the dangers out, traffic calming on approaches to dangerous bends etc. Maybe 50 in accident black spots, but not a blanket 50 on all rural roads.


How would this be enforced?

[spink]

pie in the sky,can you imagine how badly the economy would suffer if this was put into force.ie everything taking twice as long to go anywhere etc

[QuattroFever]

the answer imo is more traffic police. To pull the guy over thats glued to your back bumper at 80 wen theres an outside lane...etc not the speed thats the danger so much as the prick behind the wheel.
could go on all day but everyone gets were im coming from. The kind of crap u see everyday that could cause an accident and neva an officer in sight to do anything.
Ive got the ragin hump just talking about it.

[QuattroFever]

you can bet your life though that after that person smashes their car up or worse theyll put up a nice shiny camera to catch the dangerous speeders.

[Keeper of The Kitten]

This has already happened on a stretch of road near me, and not a minor road either.

There was a "consultation period" of one year with the road set at a maximum speed of 50mph, after which opinions were asked of the local people ...and the local people all said it was a BAD IDEA.

The opinions were taken on board ...and totally ignored. The road is still set at a maximum speed of 50mph ...and that actually includes a section of dual carriageway.

The statisticians claimed it was a success as the "KSI" number had reduced on the road ...in fact it had only reduced by one or two and the number on other roads that people were using as an alternative, had gone up. The fact is, it DIDN'T WORK.

I think it is crazy to impose blanket speed limits on single carriageway roads ...there are narrow, winding country lanes where the limit is 60 - but generally motorists are smart enough not to push on too fast where it is impossible to do so, and we are unlikely to go 60 even though it is perfectly legal to do so. That's common sense.

I fear that this will happen and it won't be the end of the matter ...I saw a lady from "brake" (road safety tree huggers) saying that the next step would be 40mph and the idea was to get people into a "mindset" that speed should be reduced (rather neglecting the statistics - even the lying official statistics - which indicate that speed is not the number one cause of accidents and further ignoring the very real risk that attention wanders when speeds are artificially low).

Stand up for your rights and be prepared for a battle on this issue, our freedoms are being eroded yet again and we should not sit back and let it happen.

[Colesy]

It's scandalous.

The roads around Oxford are some of the worst for this already, mile after mile of unnecessary 50 limit. They also extend the beginning of the 40/30 limits up to a mile outside of villages so that most are now connected by their speed limits. It's just another misguided idea from a useless government.

If they actually maintained the roads that'd be a start. Roads are full of pot holes and most catseyes on rural roads just don't work anymore.

I think cats eyes are a key road safety feature and they are the last thing to be replaced/renewed.

Anyone else noticed the demise of the cats eye or is it just me?

[Error404]

the catseyes are a really good point - most busy dual carriageways I regularly use are now almost completely devoid of catseyes or road markings. So much for safety

I think we would all be a bit less angry if every road was smooth, flat and pefectly marked, free from uninsured, unlicenced drivers

[20Vcqdriver]

speed isnt the issue in road safety and they know it. Its just a way of making money and excuses to put up more cameras and compensating for all the irresponsible people who drive outside of there capabilities.

You hit the nail on the head. They have spent so much bailing out banks that they need an easy cash cow, heh presto the motorist of course?!! Hopefully its just talk but it would not surprise me in the least...

[Heat Seeking Missile]

It's scandalous.

The roads around Oxford are some of the worst for this already, mile after mile of unnecessary 50 limit. They also extend the beginning of the 40/30 limits up to a mile outside of villages so that most are now connected by their speed limits. It's just another misguided idea from a useless government.

If they actually maintained the roads that'd be a start. Roads are full of pot holes and most catseyes on rural roads just don't work anymore.

I think cats eyes are a key road safety feature and they are the last thing to be replaced/renewed.

Anyone else noticed the demise of the cats eye or is it just me?

When I used to live down there, they started making normal A-roads 30's and 50's for some unknown reason until it was leaked that apparently a road with a 30mph speed limit is not classed as a road of priority to be maintained, as its not deemed as a "high-speed" route any more.

Mark