OK, so most people know that the speed limit on NSL dual carriageways is 70, and on NSL single carriageways is 60. But what about where one side of the road has 2 lanes, and the other side 1, separated only by a solid white line? I have always taken these at 70 (on the 2 lane side), but realised that I'm not certain about the speed limit!

And if a 2 lane road is 70 - then surely that makes those ridiculously dangerous 3 lane roads 70 each way - if any of them actually exist any more.

Anyone any thoughts?

Cheers

Rob

It's 60.... 70 is just for DUAL carriageway, i.e both sides of the road have 2 lanes, separated by an embankment/central reservation. I made the same mistake once and got caught at 79mph - luckily was only 3 points and £60.... It was on a stretch of A303 in Dorset with simlar 2 lane/1 lane scenario.

If there is no central barrier or reservation then it's not a dual-carriageway.

Sal

Right, cheers for clearing that up - saves 3 points on me license!

They'll seem really slow now...

There's a section of road I could use on my commute which is 2 lane one side 1 lane the other, but there's about 200 metres of grass seperating the two and anyone unfamiliar with the area driving up the two lane bit could not even see the other side to see how many lanes it has.... I've always assumed a 70 limit for going up there as its 2 lanes and nothing oncoming even slightly close....

One of the most frightening roads I have driven was the old A77 Glasgow - Kilmarnock. Two lanes in each direction - separated only by a white line :eek::eek:

So there you are in the outside lane overtaking a 38 tonne truck, with someone going the same in the opposite direction :thumbdwn::thumbdwn:

It had a well-deserved reputation as a killer road.

Now replaced by the M77 which is fast...............................if you want to go fast ;)

Be careful on those few streches of road that have a different speed limit on each side. For example, there is a length of the A5 near Brownhills that is 40mph one side and 50mph the other....

Andy

If you're in NSL and you have 2 lanes in your direction it's 70.

If you're in NSL and you have 2 lanes in your direction it's 70.

Not with 1 lane coming the other way, and no more than a white line in the middle of the road. It needs that embankment/reservation there for it to be officially a dual carriageway and therefore a 70 limit. Otherwise it is treated as a single carriageway and a 60 limit. I learned the hard way.

I found this out a few months ago chatting to a trafpol about speed limits and roadworks. Basically dual carriageway refers to the number of "carriageways" rather than the number of lanes and a carriageway is a piece of road bounded by grass or a central reservation.

Therefore, you can have 2 and 3 lane dual carriageways and 2+ lane single carriageways....

All rather confusing!

Chris

and 2+ lane single carriageways....

All rather confusing!

Chris

Yup, that's what I was trying to get at. Without the physical barrier in the way, it's not a dualie. Still, I don't see much difference between a head on with a closing speed of 120mph, and one of 140mph.... Oh well.

And conversely there's a tiny country lane off the A249 in Kent which is marked with a blue dual carriageway sign as one lane is separated from the other by some trees etc, so technically you can do 70 there. Not that even I'd do that lol

Streetmap.co.uk- search results

Cheeky, I thing the piece of road you are thinking of is this stretch, Yellow road with blue line done the middle.

Streetmap.co.uk- search results

You can do over 60 along there Used to do it years ago in my Renault 11 Turbo

In point of fact, you can have a dual carriageway with only one lane in each direction.

In point of fact, you can have a dual carriageway with only one lane in each direction.

See the above link

And if a 2 lane road is 70 - then surely that makes those ridiculously dangerous 3 lane roads 70 each way - if any of them actually exist any more.

Anyone any thoughts?

Cheers

Rob

I don't agree that those 3 lane roads (and I assume you mean those with a "shared" overtaking lane) are "ridiculously dangerous".

There are still some too - on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road in South Wales - I was blatting along them a few weeks back.

They are only dangerous if people mis-use them. They are obviously safer than overtaking on a normal 2-lane single carriageway road, as there's an extra lane! Mis-using them is sitting in the middle lane as a normal driving lane, or overtaking when you don't have the power or speed differential to do so. But they aren't inherently safer than a normal 2-lane single carriageway.

See the above link

And? I have no idea where that road is, much less what it looks like on the ground.

They are only dangerous if people mis-use them. They are obviously safer than overtaking on a normal 2-lane single carriageway road, as there's an extra lane! Mis-using them is sitting in the middle lane as a normal driving lane, or overtaking when you don't have the power or speed differential to do so. But they aren't inherently safer than a normal 2-lane single carriageway.

That lane used to be known as the "suicide lane", back when I was still in primary school (so 1960s or at latest early 70s). The problem was never so much with people overtaking in the 3rd lane, as with people overtaking the one way, and someone launching an overtaking manoevre the other way without properly checking first.

These shared 3-lane roads also have potential to use "lane 3" for overtaking too, visibility, paint and traffic permitting! I chose to do just this on a road when an old dear was dilly-dallying in lane 2 overtaking a tractor!

Chris

AFAIK all dual carriageways start with a "dual carriageway" sign and end with the inverted Y sign. That may only apply to NSL, but that's what we're talking about anyway.

Incidentally, there is a stretch of single carriageway, single lane motorway near me, so 70 permissible. Solid white lines though so no overtaking