Should The Motorway Speed Limit Be Raised To 80mph?
At the dawn of the UK’s motorway network, there wasn’t a speed limit at all. That ended in 1965 as 70mph speed limits were introduced, but over 50 years have passed, so is it time for an update?
Improvements in crash safety, brake technology and even road technology since then have been massive, so it’s no surprise that the idea of an increase in speed limit has been raised by both campaigners and members of parliament in recent years. It’s even been discussed in the House of Commons, but proposals have never been given the go-ahead.
Upping the speed limit would mean quicker journey times and this will benefit the economy, not to mention making long trips less frustrating and slipways more entertaining…
Thanks to new ‘smart’ motorways with variable speed limits it’d be easy to introduce 80mph limits in test areas, or even roll out a higher speed limit on all newer sections of motorway, leaving older, less safe parts at 70mph.
On the other hand, bumping up the speed limit could still lead to an increase in accidents, even if the 315 foot 70-0mph braking distance given by the Highway Code is rather generous (with most modern cars, you’re looking at around half that). You’d get a substantial increase in emissions across the motorway network, too.
So with these things in mind, what’s your opinion? Get voting!
Comments
There has been many studies that actually show that when a speed limit is raised on a freeway serious accidents and deaths are lowered. also as someone who has driven on an 80mp/h in the states in a pickup truck it is possible. In the next province over from me they just raised their’s from 110 to 120km/h and have so fare seen less accidents as a result.
No, The chance of survival in a crash at 80 is strangely a lot lower than a crash at 70. Also, engines use 25% less fuel at 70 Mph:)
That depends on each and every car and it’s engine
Ever heard of safety distance? If they rise it to 80 you can still drive 70 for your economy.
No speed limit here in Germany :b
I looked up some statistics about crashes in Europe. Spain, France, the UK and Germany all have 0-60 accidents per 1mio. people. It seems, that raising the speedlimit wont kill everyone. I mean, we aren’t scared of dying every second on the “Autobahn” in Germany, either.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/statistics/index_en.htm
You lucky basturd.
Yes, just f*ck it and say yes.
In Canada the limit is 100 Km/h, or arund 62 mph. Everyone already goes 120 Km/h, so theres really no point in raising it. Everyones gonna go even faster, and will ultimately lead to more accidents.
Single lanes are 100, divided highways are 110
Absoutly NOT
Now I’m a petrolhead, and I do like to drive fast sometimes, but if you ask me, doing 80 with masses of traffic, sometimes rain and fog prevents sight, is TOO DANGEROUS.
It’s scary as a passenger when you are close to other vehicles paranoid that you are gonna crash. This happens to me many times when the driver is doing 60 in the rain.
So upping it to 80mph is just going to cause more stress, more fear for passengers, and more fuel consumption. And higher risk of accidents, which of course is a terrible thing.
I don’t know about you guys, but road safety is a vital thing for all drivers and passengers for all vehicles, an important thing. We should really save our passion for speed and 0-60 times for the track.
But as he said in the post the new smart motorways allow for variable speed limit so can be altered in poor conditions.
WRONG! If you are scared you can travel behind a lorry at 50mph or drive 70mph. Always keep safety distance too!
You have a very good point, but one of the benefits of variable speed limits is that those can be lowered in poor conditions.
So rather than having 70mph limit for any day, time and weather you could have 90 mph when its off-peak time, clear weather daytime, 80mph when it gets busier or darker and 50 or 60 mph when its foggy or raining
This would in fact increase safety
I don’t think its a good idea to raise the speed limit anywhere. It’ll just increase the speed at which idiots speed at. If you want people to drive a little faster, just loosen up on punishing people going slightly above the limit and keep 70mph as a safe recommendation for the less experienced drivers.
I can say that when I was a lad, my dad would drive at around 80mph, it was raining like hell and there were a hell of a lot of cars around us, honestly, I was scared out of my mind, I couldn’t relax due to the stress of the speed, conditions and volume of traffic
Keep the limit and make the insurance cheaper. I think that’s a real win, I mean come on, you’re having the most fun on the twisty country roads anyway.
Ich not care tun
because AUTOBAHN!
we germäns dön’t häve pröblems with speedlimits
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