Temporary motorway speed limits

[mdon]

In one breath you say reducing your speed is not dangerous and to suggest otherwise is complete nonsense, and in the next breath you suggest that a safe and competent driver would slow from 70mph to 40mph only in lane one, therefore suggesting that slowing to 40mph in lanes two or three is less safe?

The advisory reduced speed limit applies to all live lanes...

And this is exactly my point. Rightly or wrongly very few motorists adhere to advisory speed limits (compared with temporary legal speed limits where most tend to do due to enforcement).

Call it nonsense until you are blue in the face but to slow to 40mph past signs similar to those above when no one else does, especially on a quieter faster flowing road would be foolish and less safe than continuing with the flow of the traffic.

I can't be bothered explaining driving on muti lane carriageways anymore. I'd suggest you have a read of the Highway Code. Edited 30 December, 2014 by mdon

[Miz]

Call it nonsense until you are blue in the face but to slow to 40mph past signs similar to those above when no one else does, especially on a quieter faster flowing road would be foolish and less safe than continuing with the flow of the traffic.

 

Do you really believe  that if you slow down, then the car behind you will not ?

 

I find that as soon as you get to the start of any speed restrictions most vehicles start to back off and slow down, maybe not to the posted speed, but they all slow down.

[silver1011]

I'm not saying the following car won't slow down. But when you have a car doing 40mph surrounded by several other lanes of vehicles travelling at double that speed then the chances of the following car not slowing down, or the car behind that is greater.

 

Picture this. A motorway, all three lanes travelling at between 60mph and 80mph.

 

A vehicle in lane three steps of the accelerator and coasts down to 40mph. Meanwhile all traffic in the surrounding lanes ignores the advisable speed limit.

 

It's one thing willingly slowing down to obey a speed limit - something done when that limit is enforced.

 

It's another thing to come upon a much slower vehicle when not expecting to.

 

I'm not saying it's certain to cause a collision, what I'm saying is that significantly reducing your speed, even gradually when no one else is or is expecting others to do is risky, and in my opinion best avoided.

[simonsheil]

With advisory limits I will stick with the flow of traffic but increase the distance to the vehicle in front.

[StevesTruck]

As a wise ex traffic Sargent explained it to me having the words 'it was my right of eay' on your headstone are little consolation.

Yep, dropping to the speed limit in Lane is the correct thing to do, but if the bloke streaming up behind you doing 100 in his range rover is too busy on the phone to see the sign, then it's probably not the best course of action.

Always assume everyone else on the road is going to do the most stupid thing imaginable, and avoid getting involved in it.

Edited 30 December, 2014 by StevesTruck

[mdon]

I'm not saying the following car won't slow down. But when you have a car doing 40mph surrounded by several other lanes of vehicles travelling at double that speed then the chances of the following car not slowing down, or the car behind that is greater.

Picture this. A motorway, all three lanes travelling at between 60mph and 80mph.

A vehicle in lane three steps of the accelerator and coasts down to 40mph. Meanwhile all traffic in the surrounding lanes ignores the advisable speed limit.

It's one thing willingly slowing down to obey a speed limit - something done when that limit is enforced.

It's another thing to come upon a much slower vehicle when not expecting to.

I'm not saying it's certain to cause a collision, what I'm saying is that significantly reducing your speed, even gradually when no one else is or is expecting others to do is risky, and in my opinion best avoided.

So if your in lane three going slower than those in lane two would you not move over to lane two then lane one as soon as it is safe to do so? I cannot understand why you can't understand this? Obviously your sriving is blow the current standard expected these days.

[bealine]

Also remember.. that signs can be set for MANY reasons....

Reduced speeds are not always for traffic flow..

There could be an incident of some sort.

You may come across a problem in any lane... So reducing speed IS the correct, safe and sensible thing to do.

 

You want to try driving the M25 at 3.00 am on a few occasions when the bloody Highways Farcery forget to turn the speed signs off - stuck at a mandatory 20 mph for three nights running over a 12 mile stretch for absolutely no pigging reason at all!   Luckily, there were no working cameras on that stretch and most drivers used a bit of common-sense - slowed down to start with, then whacked it up when they realised the limit was spurious!

Fully agrere that wide speed differentials are more dangerous than the slight excess speed we see on  motorways.    In clear, freely flowing conditions, it is perfectly safe to drive at 80-90 mph - it's what Adolf Hitler sanctioned building 7000 kms of the autobahn network for!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8691249.stm

Edited 31 December, 2014 by bealine

[silver1011]

So if your in lane three going slower than those in lane two would you not move over to lane two then lane one as soon as it is safe to do so? I cannot understand why you can't understand this? Obviously your sriving is blow the current standard expected these days.

Yes I would, but my point is you are the only one doing 40mph. Whatever lane you are in then if everyone around you is doing 80mph then you are needlessly putting yourself and others at risk.

If its a legally enforced temporary speed limit then chances are everyone else will also be reducing their speed so 40mph is fine.

If only one vehicle slows to 40mph in an advisory speed limit then you are potentially a sitting duck.

So going back, way back, to the beginning of this thread then I fully understand why the person in question decided not to slow to 40mph in the example given.

[stever750]

So I have a question, several miles of reduced variable motorway limits, say 60mph.

 

A motorist passes 5 or more gantry mounted cameras at an excessive speed, is that 5x 3 points / loss of licence, or would they class it as one single offence?

I've often wondered this.

 

I can vouch that the variable overhead limits on the M42 are also active when a limit is displayed, even the National Speed Limit. Only when there is nothing displayed (i.e. off) are the cameras inactive.

 

Apparently, here in Wales, speeding offences have tripled year on year 2013 to 2014. Most of this is due to the introduction of SPECS average speed cameras along the M4 around Port Talbot, and also along sections of the A465 Heads of the Valleys. It's rather disturbing how many drivers just cannot understand the word average, many times when I've been commuting to North Yorks through the roadworks on the M1 around mansfield I've seen drivers flying along, braking to pass the cameras, then speeding up again!

[vindaloo]

Sorry but that is utter tripe, it is never unsafe to slow down for these gantries as you can see them in good time and if traffic is moving freely then just move to lane 1 and slow down. If other people want to exceed the limit, they can overtake you.

 

"Slow down at all", I tend to agree. Though the western section particularly, it's sometimes not "wise" to try to change lanes.

[Miz]

Though the western section particularly, it's sometimes not "wise" to try to change lanes.

 

How do you get onto and off the motorway without changing lanes?

 

I think the idea is to move to the left hand lanes adjusting your speed to suit and then slow down more if you want to, not stand on the anchors and then try to change lanes.

[stever750]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-30378801

 

Jeez, 98mph. Anyone who has driven that stretch would realise that's nothing short of moronic.

[silver1011]

Credit where it is due to GoSafe, they are certainly doing everything they can to alert regular users of the road that enforcement is due to begin.

 

No excuses if you are caught by the looks of it.

[stever750]

Credit where it is due to GoSafe, they are certainly doing everything they can to alert regular users of the road that enforcement is due to begin.

No excuses if you are caught by the looks of it.

Absolutely. I have no issue with reduced speed limits as they reflect the level of increased risk, hence there really is no excuse to be driving faster than 30, 40, or 50mph when specifically imposed.