Nobody else seems to have raised this item that has appeared in the UK press over the weekend, so what are people's views?

TBH around here I have seen 10 horrendous accidents and numerous cars have left the road and gone through hedges into fields along the A811 (the local main road) in the last 2 months, with 3 fatalities. All have been due to either of two causes:
inexperienced drivers driving way too fast for the conditions or
HGV's and farmers vehicles driving way too slow and causing frustration of drivers who then do irrational things like overtaking at or even on a junction without realising that there is a car about to pull out.

Because there isn't a viable optional route, whenever there is a serious accident the road has to be closed for most of the day causing untold losses to the local economy.
Personally I don't believe we need a blanket 50mph speed limit on A roads but we do need better policing of speed limits (the A811 has a 60 limit but I often get overtaken by whitevan man driving at speeds well in excess of this) - we have speed camera signs for miles and new ones have just been put inplace in the last week yet nobody ever seems to get done for speeding on the open road, the police are very active in the villages along the length of the road though.

Maybe there should be a trade off - strictly enforced 50 limits on A roads and an increase of the limit on motorways to 80. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
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Last edited by Tim in Scotland on Mon Mar 09 2009 1:45pm. Edited 2 times in total

In saying that some of the accidents are caused by inexperienced drivers, why not introduce a blanket speed for inexperienced drivers having to display a 'P' plate. After this time (i.e. more experience) then they are permitted to drive at the national speed limit?

70 on m'ways is archaic and based on cars on old tech tyres/drum brakes/lack of electronic driving aids.

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The limit on motorways is pretty much 80 anyway isnt it?

In 2008 Chester saw significant changes in its infrastructure. Particularly around A roads and the management of safety on them. The vast majority of A roads around Chester are now 50 mph limits with some sections dropping to 40 or even 30.

Few sections are left where the 60 mph national limit applies. Its likely these sections are the areas where more accidents occur. Sudden sharp bends to a boy racer can mean serious injury or worse. I buy into safety management in these areas.

What I don't buy into is plod making a revenue stream out of a safety issue. Supposed "safety" cameras blatantly being position for maximum income rather than maximum effect. Many accident blackspots go untouched whilst high traffic areas of relatively low accident rates are heavily monitored.

I have 9 points on my license as things stand today. 6 points were accrued on Motorways where temporary speed restrictions were in force with cameras placed near 200 yards past the first warning signs of the change in speed limit.

All 9 points are less than 10 mph over the stated limit. The last three points were incurred doing 35 in a 30 - I was slowing down yet again due to the change in speed limit. All of the above points were from business travel up and down the UK.

To make things more amusing the last 3 points also incurred a £430 fine as I was not living at home at the time but living with Mrs Woz whilst work was being undertaken on my house. As a result I did not respond within 7 days and a summons was issued resulting in the case going to court. How on earth would this work for people on holiday or away for long periods of time with work?

Suffice to say I support safety cameras and speed restriction amendments and enforcement. I do not support these cameras as a means of generating revenue.

Amusingly last year the Times posted an article from one of the companies operating these cameras and highlighted some amusing parts of their P&L. No idea where they got the information from but lets just say the "Expenses" detail was incongruous and amusing in the extreme. Why on earth would such a company need an Xbox 360 and a pair of expensive Rayban sunglasses on expenses. Pfft!

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This kind of thing smacks of the same divide and rule approach taken with the shooting community over the last 20years or so.

Step1 demonise something associated with your target and make 'safety' a matter of 'public concern' i.e. harness the meeja to churn out long term anti (insert target here) propaganda.
Step2 Anyone highlighting the obvious incongruities or failures of reality to match with the spun version of what is being pushed, will be marginalised and held up for public ridicule as being not in favour of safety/green/other platitude
Step3 Attack the target group in slices using public safety, green concerns or any other populist trash.

So expect to have speed demonised (tick). Safespeed or similar to be ridiculed when they point out the flaws in the 'safety camera' money making scheme, sorry partnership (tick) and then expect further combination assaults on speed/green credentials/whatever other flavour platitudes and sops are going.

Then the killer punch

Step 4 bring out the magic ban stick
banning it works

Yeah right

watch years roll by as the public are educated to believe that the ban-stick is good and other doublethink. Even when their own statistics and experts call the governmental bluff on the ridiculous stances taken.

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I genuinely believe that reducing the speed limit on unrestricted roads to 50mph will do all to reduce fatalities. I am happy that it might reduce some injury RTC’s to slightly lesser injury ones.
I say this because the vast majority of fatalities happen to idiots that don’t follow the 60mph limit, or more importantly do it in inappropriate sections of road.
If speed was such a massive cause of fatalities on its own then highly trained emergency services drivers would be dying on a daily basis. Trust me it’s possible to drive the wrong side of 100mph on some of these roads in relative safety if you know what you are doing.... not that I’m saying it should be done.
The problem with roads policing in most of England and Wales is that it is just not ‘sexy policing’ these days, most forces concentrate on criminal offences and have pretty much disbanded it’s traffic departments, in favour of automatic devices or civilian squads that don’t actually stop the motorist at the time of the offence.
They have gone down this route on financial grounds since they can currently use the revenues gained to supplement future costs of similar policing. Great in principle but these methods seem to be used in high detection areas that create a fair amount of revenue which self perpetuates.
All the time front line traffic cops that deal with drink drivers, disqualified drivers and downright dangerous ones are no longer on the streets.... the result being more of the said drivers on the streets.
As for actually policing the end result of automated speeders, again it seems that only the normal Joe public are the ones that get penalised since proper offenders are likely to be disqualified and thus driving a vehicle not connected to them and thus evade further prosecution most of the time.

So what is the solution......fecked if I know.... not 50mph that’s for sure!

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Big Brother is the answer.

Your RRS has a black box than can be interrogated to see what speed and how long you were doing it etc etc etc, if it is was required. Whats to say in a year or so this will be compulosary with a monthly download at the local nick.

I always find it strange the manufacture has no part or blame in providing more power and speed.

With roads so damm busy nowadays, constantly watching the speedo for fear of 3 points or a ban, hardly helps road saftey.

Perhaps as you drive into a different speed limit, your speed could be governed by elctronic means removing the need to ever issue a speeding ticket again, keeping your eyes free to watch the road and gain proper stastical facts on what speeds are appropiate for which roads.

A 50 limit will make no difference what so ever. There are plenty of roads that our 50's down here and no one takes any notice

The average speed on the M40 and A34 in Oxfordshire is 90-100mph and makes no difference whether the Police are visibily present or not. I think the public are past caring to put it politely.

If you are prepared to drive at that speed then you have to accept that if some other D makes a mistake then the chances are you won't survive to tell the tale. TDV6 - gone
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Frankly a preposterous idea.

Speed kills nobody, it's the drivers inexperience or exceedance of said limit that causes the majority of issues. At the end of the day, it is a limit not a compulsory amount and I would like to think the majority of us adhere to the road conditions, dependant on conditions. That aside, you cannot foresee "muppet moves" by other drivers, "lemming actions" by pedestrians, cyclists etc, but at the end of the day, they too, as road users, have a responsibility to follow the rules of the road, we all know the price for being plain stupid or "otherwise engaged" when your concentration should be on the road ahead, behind and to the side of you, especially on A roads.

As for motorways, a flat limit such as today's 1960's based 70mph is utterly crazy. IMO the way forward is variable.

Empty motorway, as it is the majority of the time between the hours of 11pm and 5am - 100mph
Peak outside these hours - dependant on traffic / weather conditions

If we spent as much money and effort on the required additional signage to do this as we do in trying to catch out genuine drivers, who incidentally ARE insured and DO pay Road tax and ARE generally respectable people, then I am convinced most of the fatalities off the motorways would reduce dramatically, this based on people changing mindsets and using what are our safest roads to speed or as we like to call it, progress at a year 2009 pace.

As for the imbeciles who appear weekly on Road Wars and who unbelievably seem to get FA done to them week in and week out, probably claiming they are from a poor background, blah, blah and that they are simply too thick to understand what they are doing and that they have chavlawyersareus waiting in the wings if Plod even so much as touch one of their grimey white half socks from Peacocks.........THESE ARE THE SCUM THAT the word persecution was invented, GET THESE SOCIAL RETARDS OFF MY ROAD AND PREFERABLY OFF THIS PLANET. No license, No insurance, No Road Tax, No MOT.........ahahahahahaha, that's ok sonny, we told you last time about this - LAST TIME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I had been caught once without even one of those items, based on my pecking order position, bank statements, car driven etc etc, I would have been trialled and made an example off...........where's the logic in that??? I fine you £3000 and ban you from driving for 12 months therefore screwing up your tax paying ability for the next 12 months at least and also your future insurance etc etc...........utterly retarded justice system.

The twerps who star in the fodder that is Road Wars (the convicts, not the Plod ) seem to get £20 to £40 fines, leave court and go do it all again, only when they have been caught for the 58th time do the white wigged wonders suddenly twig that the 2 hour community litter picking activity and the £1.50 fine hadn't taught him a lesson............you just could not make the UK justice system up.

I digress. Just my 2 pennies worth on the roads  L322 Big Daddy SUPERCHARGED 5.0 Autobiography - Here & Now!

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not bothered

Kaine wrote:

not bothered

agree, in OZ the lower speed limits are very rigidly enforced, speeding is up there next to genocide and mass murder.. and thats no joke..

Agree with WW in terms of the limits being a hangover to very early days in terms of vehicle safety and technology. Perhaps they could up the limit by introducing minimum speeds (as on some German Autobahns) on dual carriageways and motorways, so if you want to play in the outside lane, you have to do say a minimum of 80, ban Caravans to the B roads or even better static pikey sites, and allow for the deliberate harrasment of those who hold people up by their ineptness and Sunday driving techniques..Citizen arrest, impound their vehicles and burn their slippers  Another Pommie Bar Steward down under

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So to abridge and summarise WW....

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agreed, lets hope no tree hugging hijackers see this god forbid our opinions suggest we ban their Prius's from hogging the middle lane of the M4  Another Pommie Bar Steward down under

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