Speed limits

[firestorm1997]

From the news today..

Raising the motorway speed limit to 80mph will cost society an extra £1 billion a year, campaign groups have warned.

The cost includes £766 million in fuel bills and more than £62 million in health costs, said the groups. They also estimated that the higher limit will lead to 25 extra deaths and 100 serious injuries a year, plus 2.2 million more tonnes of carbon emissions.

The Government is due to consult soon on raising the speed limit from 70mph to 80mph on English and Welsh motorways.

The groups, which include road safety charity Brake, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) and Greenpeace, launched a campaign - called No to 80 - protesting at the Government's plans.

They reckon an 80mph limit would result in extra annual costs of £62.4 million from road casualties, including costs to health and emergency services and human costs; £180.4 million in carbon costs and £766.6 million in fuel costs. The groups are writing to Transport Secretary Justine Greening to request a meeting on the issue.

Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: "The No to 80 campaign calls on the Government to listen to the overwhelming evidence that raising motorway limits is dangerous, costly and damaging. Experts predict it would lead to more lives being brutally cut short and more people suffering debilitating injuries."

CBT campaigns director Richard Hebditch said: "There is no compelling case for increasing motorway speed limits to 80mph. While the Treasury might benefit from more fuel duty revenue as drivers used more petrol, for ordinary motorists it would just make for a more dangerous and more polluting journey.

"Any change to speed limits must support moves to cut collisions and carbon, not add to them."

Roads Minister Mike Penning said: "The Department is carrying out work to assess the potential economic, safety and environmental impacts of trialling 80mph speed limits on motorways where variable limits are currently in place.

"This work is ongoing and no final decisions have yet been taken about which stretches of motorway would be included in any proposed trial. We plan to bring forward detailed proposals and start consultation during the next few months."

What a load of rubbish....most drivers on the motorway system are doing 80 and above now so what difference will it make if they raise the speed limit to 80. Ok so people will drive that much faster but I'm sure the penalties will be stiffer if your caught so that will offset any additional costs surely..

[seb421]

it works leave it as it is

i would have an off peak speed limit of 80mph between 10pm-6am and back to 70mph in normal hours

Also trucks and buses inside lane only, 56mph is your truck limit so why take an ice age trying to over take another truck doing 55.9mph

Also i would have as much trucking done as possible through the night free up the motorways and stop allot of crashes

[VTRDark]

What a load of rubbish....most drivers on the motorway system are doing 80 and above now so what difference will it make if they raise the speed limit to 80.

Totally agree.

So why stop at 80, they might as well increase that to 100 as most people on open motorways do that + and then have 70-80 for those annoying emission zones that go down to 50.

They also estimated that the higher limit will lead to 25 extra deaths and 100 serious injuries a year, plus 2.2 million more tonnes of carbon emissions.

25 deaths is that all How do these people come up with these numbers. And I love the way they all see death as a bad thing. We live in an overcrowded world (scientifically proven) that can not sustain itself. So we either kill ourselves to lower the population or nature will take it's course and do it for us. Just think how much housing, jobs, and space it will free up. And as far as carbon emissions go don't Cows farts create more damage than all the cars.

Have Fun.

(:-})

[oldbikeman]

I would ban all speed limits , insurance the whole lot and I bet folk would be a lot more cautious when they go on the road . In fact the law is just an excuse for theivin pen pushers to line their pockets.Cash don't bring loved ones back and I don't care about some ones dinted 50 grand car but if folk thought they'd get a good kicking for their crap driving it might save more lives than stupid fines.Speed doesn't kill useless pricks do.

[Furrybiker]

Gentlemen, and Ladies of course, may I point you in the direction of this website? http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/number%20watch.htm

Some of it may be bit heavy going but it does explain the junk figures put about by campaign groups and the press. Obviously a anti speeding/green group are going to be anti increasing the speed limit. Did they ask the British Boy Racers Association? I doubt it!

After all think of the cheeeeeldren and the whales and the low lying islands of the Pacific, which by the way are no less low lying than they were when all the global warming business (yes I do mean business) started.

Time for a lie down and take my pills.................

[benny hedges]

Experts lol..... Pffft.
100 years ago experts said the human body would disintegrate at over 20mph, forgetting tha horses can do 40 lol

Bring back the man with the red flag i say....

And emissions??? Engines are way more efficient now than theyve ever been, with catalytic converters as standard so emmisions are lower than ever.
And no acid rain causing lead in fuels.
These idiots need to stfu. If they spoke sense maybe people would pay mote attention

[agentpineapple]

i like sebs idea of variable limits depending on the time of day, 70mph 6am to 9pm......90mph 9pm to midnight.........110mph midnight to 4am.......90mph 4am to 6am
i'd even say that weather conditions have to be clear and dry otherwise the limit reverts back to 70mph......
these campaign groups are nonsense, you can make figures up to show whatever you want, how the hell do they come up with 25 extra deaths
surely we should all be living in bungalows because more people die and seriously injure themselves falling down stairs every year.
the goverment will only agree to 80 if it makes finacial sense for them, expect speeding fines to increase massively and your insurance will go up because i bet insurance companies will cash in on the idea of a 80 limit.
car and bike technology has moved at such a rate that a 10mph increase will not be a problem, can you imagine doing 70mph back in the early days in something like a........fill this bit in yourself, because there were tons of shitebox motors back then, way more dangerous than modern cars doing 80. the problem is with people and there driving ability, how many times do we see people drive to fast in poor weather conditions.....
bring on 80 and lets not listern to these silly campaigners....

[MJONESY]

oh dear, i thought you had to be 17 to drive? surely that makes you an adult and able to make a decision for yourself and make yourself accountable for the repercussions of those decisions, why do we need somebody else to tell us how fast is acceptably safe to travel on the motorway?

its about time things changed to make people fully accountable for their own decisions and on the back of that giving the people the freedom to make their own decisions

bring on the revolution................

[oldbikeman]

Here is an idea for the greedy gits because they have finally worked out that slowing down traffic is costing them revenue and stuff any other considerations.I,d be happy to pay £100 for a special test to prove I am as skilled and alert as a fighter pilot and within reason be aloud to drive as fast as I like.If I behaved like a nob then fine they could take it away again but it should also promote 'elite' drivers which is what we all want.I am sure a lot of drivers won't be able to drive to that standard but why should we put up with them .Modern machines are cleaner and more efficient at higher rpm and the journey quicker which will help de congest the roads.

[StormingHonda]

I think these safety campaigners are full of Sh*t, 80,90,110 mph it aint gonna stop people speeding, and these days cars and bikes are far cleaner and are able to do these speeds safely.

I don't hate people speeding on motorways and motorway style A roads, its the ones that drive like a Jackass and speed, and the ones who hurtle down 30 mph zones and back roads who need a good kicking or locking up.