Cycling UK Forum

Government had announced plans to cut in the speed limit from 60 to 50 mph.

Damn!!! I've have to get a speed limiter on the trike!

Government had announced plans to cut in the speed limit from 60 to 50 mph.

Really? Are you pulling at our legs?

I found this http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article5870886.ece

Looks more like something being bandied around to see how people take it rather than anything serious though.

I agree with the tone - most of the national speed limit areas around me just don't have people travelling at 60mph on them, for the most part they're just not safe enough!

(Oh I think Wildduck is pulling our leg - I heard tell he struggles to hit 15mph on the downhill sections!)

having spent more time driving a mini bus rather than a car this year I haven't really felt that it's gotten me anywhere appreciably slower having a nat limit of 50!

Kwackers wrote:
Oh I think Wildduck is pulling our leg - I heard tell he struggles to hit 15mph on the downhill sections!

47.8mph last year. 50+ is my target for this year and I promise to wet myself if I hit 60mph

The lane past our place, is narrow and steep with tight corners, it also is a National Speed Limit road.

If a Ferrari was do drive through, I doubt it would be able to get to 30mph.

Do you think 50 instead of 60 would make any difference?

Mick F wrote:Do you think 50 instead of 60 would make any difference?

no, as where a driver considers doing 90 or 100 is safe from accidents or prosecution, they'll do it.

The speed limit on a 3 mile stretch of rural road in my locality was lowered from 60 to 50mph last year. The vast majority of drivers comply with the new limit and most of the speeders realise it is not worth overtaking one car just to catch up with another. As a cyclist I notice a considerable reduction in dangerous overtaking manoeuvres with cars apparently more prepared to wait behind me for a safe overtaking opportunity rather than squeezing through at speed as they frequently did before.
I hope this proposal is adopted.

I think that it sends out a good message whether the majority of drivers are doing under 50mph anyway, or not.

Quite often I would prefer to be going at a more leisurely pace but feel pressured by the drivers behind. I think this might remove some of the stress (regardless of whether you're on a 50mph or a 60mph road).

I don't buy into all the wailing about how it will cause more dangerous overtakes. The fact is, on a single lane road where all the traffic is going at 50mph, there is just not much advantage to ragging yourself up to 60mph and overtaking every single car. People just won't bother with the hassle after a week or two.

It might take a little bit of time to adjust to the sensation of the new limit, but I don't find myself staring at the speedo at the moment, and there's nothing magic about 60mph in that respect I don't think.

Speed reduction is also one of the most positive things for cyclists. It reduces the chance that someone will hit you by opening up the time available to react, and braking distances, and of course it reduces the damage if you are struck (although you're still not going to be that pretty!)

Both the stretches of national speed limit carriageway on my commute will be downgraded to 50mph under this, as one stretch is quite short between a 30 and 40 zones, so hard to justify an increase, and the other is narrow and well cycled with a blind corner. I'm all for it!

Our very curvy A road is a 60 limit except for the half mile section which is perfectly straight. At this point the majority of road users continue at the 70 mph that they were doing, some slow down to 60 or even 50 mph and others accelerate to make an attempt to overtake regardless.
This results in a complete mis match of all the different vehicles speeds. As a cyclist on that stretch I am subjected to cars who are doing the legal limit getting caught between me on the inside and mad harry overtaking on their outside into the oncoming traffic.
The limit was probably introduced because of all the accidents occuring on the straight when people finally got a chance to see that the road was clear.
It perversly is effective because the law abiding motorists are slowing down which aids the speeding motorists to get through.

We have recently had a bit of the road reduced to 20mph past the school. If anyone dares to obey this limit they just have a stream of cars flying past them at 30 -40mph.

Without enforcement the limits are a joke. Remember this is the same bunch of idiots who bought in the theoretical ban on using phones while driving.

When Ireland changed all their signs from mph to km/h they reviewed all the speed limits. I think we should do the same here.

As a plus, many existing "30" signs could stay, and we'd quickly have the situation common in the rest of Europe where residential areas are limited to 30km/h (19mph).

The wider use of average speed cameras was included in that 'plan'. It would be more use than the idea of changing speed limits to apply those that we've already got and would solve the racetrack driving frenzy thing. I don't expect it to happen though because motoring pressure groups won't want it. It seemed to me that the papers were trying to whip up objections to the idea before it got off the ground

The "blanket" speed limit will never be ideal, but there are advantages.

Remembering that the speed limit is the maximum on a stretch of road, it does not matter if it is not achievable.

Lets take a road which has a straight stretch, a blind corner, a wiggly stretch and another straight stretch in any order.

Which is easier - to change the limit three or four times or set a limit that can be met on some stretches, but driven under on the more hazardous parts?

I am a supporter of speed limits, and accept that there are all too many drivers who cannot judge or manage an appropriate speed. It is for these that we need the guidance speed limits offer - but rapid and frequent changes make it difficult......

Wildduck wrote:Government had announced plans to cut in the speed limit from 60 to 50 mph.

Damn!!! I've have to get a speed limiter on the trike!

The National speed limit is 70 mph.
The single carriageway speed limit is 60 mph.
Local speed limits vary according to the District Council.
John.

Cunobelin wrote:Lets take a road which has a straight stretch, a blind corner, a wiggly stretch and another straight stretch in any order.

Which is easier - to change the limit three or four times or set a limit that can be met on some stretches, but driven under on the more hazardous parts?

I am a supporter of speed limits, and accept that there are all too many drivers who cannot judge or manage an appropriate speed. It is for these that we need the guidance speed limits offer - but rapid and frequent changes make it difficult......

I wasn't aware that they were planning to micro-manage the speed limits as you suggest, though. In this example the straight, corner, wiggle and straight will all get a 50mph limit rather than 60mph, to encourage drivers to moderate their speed.

Even if the straight bits are a mile long, it will still only cost drivers just over 10 seconds. That's nothing when you consider that a red light sequence in Edinburgh at a single junction can be two or three minutes!