Cycling UK Forum

This should be aired on British TV.
Even 70mph on the motorway has me feeling tense. I just don't think anyone needs to be travelling at those speeds.

That's a powerful vid. I've seen it before but it needs repeating. It should be shown on main channel TV

Though while that speed - 68mph - on an A road approaching a junction with a car waiting to exit is unsafe the same same speed on a motorway is perfectly safe in appropriate weather and traffic conditions.

irc wrote:Though while that speed - 68mph - on an A road approaching a junction with a car waiting to exit is unsafe the same same speed on a motorway is perfectly safe in appropriate weather and traffic conditions.

Agreed. Motorways don't have T junctions for precisely this reason!

IrishBill76 wrote:This should be aired on British TV.

Absolutely agree with you on this.

IrishBill76 wrote:Even 70mph on the motorway has me feeling tense. I just don't think anyone needs to be travelling at those speeds.

Maybe you should consider a post-test motorway driving skills lesson? Being tense takes up valuable brain processing power that would be much better employed in the act of driving safely!

I don't drive. Never learned as I always had my bike
Its when I'm a passenger that it affects me.

IrishBill76 wrote:I don't drive. Never learned as I always had my bike
Its when I'm a passenger that it affects me.

In that case, maybe a blindfold would work better!

I am always ultra careful when approaching side-junctions and slow right down if I either can't see the approach is clear or I can't see the approach. This all stems from being hit by a car coming from the left whilst on my bike many moons ago. I still get really twitchy whenever I see a car approaching from the left. In fact, if the accident had happened to me in "modern" times, I would probably have been suing for long-term psychological damage, as almost every ride I go on has one moment where the adrenaline levels get so high that I go into fight or flight mode!

I have no problem at all with 70mph on the motorway though and even 50-60mph on two wheels on a good descent, provided there is no left hand side junction!

The ‘National speed limit’ in the UK is 60 mph on a single carriageway road.
The ACPO guidelines

http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/uni ... -roads.pdf

Where the ‘limit’ has been reduced to 50 mph, the ACPO guidelines suggest 57 mph and a ‘fixed penalty’ threshold.

Many county councils are reducing to a 50 mph signed limit, knowing the motorist can drive at up to 57 mph without prosecution, not for safety but because 50 - 56 mph ( 80 - 90 kmh ) is the most efficient and least polluting speed of an ECE certificated motor vehicle.

NOT safety. Carbon Footprint and emissions targets.

Ayesha wrote:Many county councils are reducing to a 50 mph signed limit, knowing the motorist can drive at up to 57 mph without prosecution, not for safety but because 50 - 56 mph ( 80 - 90 kmh ) is the most efficient and least polluting speed of an ECE certificated motor vehicle.

I find it almost impossible to believe that all cars are "most efficient" in that small a range - although it is a much wider range than I have seen quoted previously (when 56mph was deemed "best").
At least in our car the most efficient journeys aren't necessarily those taken on clear A roads, but those taken with most luggage...


My guess is that the additional load means that the gearbox and torque converter are pushed into a more efficient operating range than they are when lightly loaded - and that makes more difference than any minor difference in engine efficiency.

[XAP]Bob wrote:My guess is that the additional load means that the gearbox and torque converter are pushed into a more efficient operating range than they are when lightly loaded - and that makes more difference than any minor difference in engine efficiency.

My guess is that manufacturers recognised the significance of 56mph in previous legislated fuel consumption figures so optimised their drivetrains at that point. Newest cars use emissions drive cycle consumption figures, so should have a wider efficient operating speed band.

IrishBill76 wrote:Even 70mph on the motorway has me feeling tense. I just don't think anyone needs to be travelling at those speeds.

70mph on a motorway is safer than slower speeds on non-motorway roads, all the stats bear out that motorways are the safest roads. It isn't absolute speed that's the problem, it's speed inappropriate for the conditions and road you're on.

Same way going downhill on a bike at 30mph on a wide road is less dangerous than doing 20mph on a shared use path in a city centre.

Ayesha wrote:Many county councils are reducing to a 50 mph signed limit, knowing the motorist can drive at up to 57 mph without prosecution, not for safety but because 50 - 56 mph ( 80 - 90 kmh ) is the most efficient and least polluting speed of an ECE certificated motor vehicle.

NOT safety. Carbon Footprint and emissions targets.

Really? Do you have a reliable source for that claim? At least round here safety was cited as the primary reason for the reduction from 60 to 50 on many main roads. The central government proposal to make 50 the norm for rural main roads which got the motor lobby so worked up the other year was also based upon cutting the disproportionate number of KSIs on these roads rather than meeting emissions targets.

Not sure I like the video, I like the concept but I watched it once and it seems the driver is slow to react to the car pulling out, and the cars are too close when the driver pulls out and too close together when the drivers are chatting, not emphasising the stopping distance.

Postboxer wrote:Not sure I like the video, I like the concept but I watched it once and it seems the driver is slow to react to the car pulling out, and the cars are too close when the driver pulls out and too close together when the drivers are chatting, not emphasising the stopping distance.

Agreed. It makes a good point, but it's probably too subtle for many viewers to get the message ( I can imagine some people thinking that it's an ad for keeping calm and avoiding road rage after a near-miss) .

james01 wrote:

Postboxer wrote:Not sure I like the video, I like the concept but I watched it once and it seems the driver is slow to react to the car pulling out, and the cars are too close when the driver pulls out and too close together when the drivers are chatting, not emphasising the stopping distance.

Agreed. It makes a good point, but it's probably too subtle for many viewers to get the message ( I can imagine some people thinking that it's an ad for keeping calm and avoiding road rage after a near-miss) .

I don't think it's too subtle - in fact I'd argue there's little that's subtle about it. It's simply showing that even if you think you're a good driver (and most people do) you can't discount a mistake made by others.

The danger (and I think Postboxer is guilty of this) is 'over-thinking' what is a fairly simple ad.