dennis@home wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
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.


I think you will find my speedo is calibrated to be correct within 1 mph.
8-)

I seriously doubt it, because the wear on your tyres and the temperature
of them will make more difference than that.

Not to mention substituting a different make. Rims are exact. Tyre
outside diameters are not.


I don't slow down when there is a speed camera like you do.
I bet you do 35 past the 40 mph cameras.
Do you modify your driving if you notice the police car following behind?
Why?

Because they are like you. Dickheads by and large with quotas to make
up, and axes to grind.

And as bad a set of drivers as anyone else by and large.

Look at how many peoole have been killed by speeding cops, versus the
general public..its rather shocking.