Frank Erskine wrote:
On Fri, 11 May 2007 00:02:11 +0100, (Steve
Firth) wrote:

Frank Erskine wrote:

On Thu, 10 May 2007 22:55:58 +0100, Roger
wrote:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/85-mph/?
What's the significance of 85 mph?
I would imagine that it is close to the 130km/h limit common in the rest
of Europe and that it is de facto the limit observed by most drivers in
the UK.

So by that argument, if the speed limit was raised to 85 mph, "most
drivers" would then do 100 mph, then there'd be campaigning for the
limit to be 100....

I think there would be less pressure actually. 85 +10% is 90 and a
bit..and its probably more than adequate for most journeys. Its nice to
do 140mph down a deserted motorway but frankly one seldom gets the
chance, and anything more than 30mph faster than what is likely to pull
out in front of one is distinctly dangerous..with artics at 56mph, that
means 85mph is really the safe limit in company.

The fact of the matter is that in germany, where many autobahns are not
restricted at all, the bulk of the traffic is in the 70-90mph
range..fuel consumptions rockets at over 100mph, and its just a few
people with money to burn who are doing 100mph plus.

I've done it for the interest..but the nice thing about the Autobahns
are that when you come to a roadworks everybody DOES slow down to 60kph
or whatever because

1/. There is actually someone working on the road, and the cones are not
protecting 5 miles of empty carriageway

2/. you can always make up for lost time but doing 15 miles at 100mph...

In addition, congestion caused by Denniss' who have strayed from home
and who are sitting with their optimistic Ford Ka speedos reading 70mph
(in reality 63mph) firmly in the fast lane defying you to undertake them
(I always do, on principle)does not happen..since it is as illegal to BE
undertaken in Germany as it is to undertake. All traffic gives way to
anyone behind them, because that is the Law, and the Germans love being
Law Abiding. And because everyone does it, and there aren't speed
cameras everywhere, the law is respected far more. And you do not get
the huge trains of traffic behind someone who decides that they alone
are the arbiters of what is a safe or legal speed to do. In Germany it
is illegal to sit in the fast lane if someone faster comes up behind
you, period. Likewise people are far happier to let someone pull out in
front, because they know they will - must - pull in as soon as there is
room to do so. This results in far better road usage..all te
carriageways are full. Contrast a typical situation in te UK where
everybody sits in the fast lane, because there is a truck up ahead and
there is no way anyone will let you pull out to overtake it, because
stuck at 63mph by Dennis at the queue front, there is extreme pressure
to get to the front and hope the ******* will finally pull over and let
people with more accurate speedos get on their way.