Safe Speed Forums

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... 0&t=478202.
We are a bit late on this discussion, and it could be C+ ringing up the ABD posing as media..
but

Monday has been and gone and I can't pick it up on google news search.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Stop Press.

Government wants to take Britain back to 1930s.

Spokesman Clement Attlee said "This will be a real step forward and reduce our dependence on the efficiency of cable operated drum brakes."

Mr A. Hitler, from the German motor industry association, said "Zis vill make the advance of unserer Mercedes mehr langsam when zey cruise through England."

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

( as i could not find one for extracting the urine )( but perhaps it's true )

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

After seeing the 60mph Motorway limits in Holland, I'm not at all surprised.

Another stealth Euro ruling I suspect which will in turn be adopted Euro-wide.

Rather like the American "55" Double Nickel".....

And it will be ignored just the same as all national speed limits are and always have been.

And they know that.

And they will make money from it.

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Andrew.

Yes, I suppose so, but as long as we can keep ignoring it and keep their grubby little hands out of our pockets, that's OK.

My real concern is what happens when it becomes more difficult to ignore with impunity - and that's a consideration for another day, but one we should be prepared to face up to and fight as necessary.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

The 55 MpH speed limit was inflicted upon us [Yanks] as a result of the gas crunch of the '70s. At the time, lack of supply always beat rises in price to the punch. Since this gov't saw raising the price of gasoline as an untenable position, it imposed "the double nickel" on us, knowing that, by 60MpH, almost every car's MpG begins to drop. To sell the new speed limit, it gave birth to what I believe is one of the oldest and most famous manipulations of the public by an insult to intelligence:

SPEED KILLS.

It effectively halted the improvement of driving education wherever it took hold, while simultaneously generating profit upon whichever state embraced it and some sort of technology (it gave birth to radar, laser, and anti-radar and anti-laser laws, not to mention speed cameras).

It may also unnerve you to find out that a member of an environmental activist group - sorry I forget who - has been quoted as saying,
"Speed limits should be made very low and rigidly enforced to take all the glamour out of motoring"
Why allow people to make the right choice, when it's so much more profitable to control them?

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The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:
1) No one gets hurt
2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#1
3) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not
4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone's
Do not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others
5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

I haven't seen/heard anything apart from that Pistonheads topic so hopefully its nothing more than a rumour.

But if true, then what did we really expect from this government? It won't stop the government created problem of lots of repearter signs - it just means that at some point later, "dangerous" A - roads will get blanket 40 limits instead of blanket 50 limits, so that authorities are still "seen to be doing something" about accidents.

awww stuff it, lets go back to horses, barges steam trains and bi-planes or balloons.

sounds fantastic !

I was living and working in the US during the double-nickel era. Yes, it was a fuel saving measure introduced c1975 by Gerald Ford, I believe. As The Rush says, "They" were very quick to seize on the "safety" aspect of this speed limit, and even quicker to get the cash machines in gear. Very soon, bumper stickers proclaiming that "55 saves lives" were seen on many cars.

Of course, in a country the size of the US, 55 was unreasonable, especially for truckers who had vast distances to cover in a limited time. And, as Rush says, it spawned an array of electronic wizardry to combat the limit. I never had a radar detector - couldn't afford the one I really wanted which was called "The Escort". The double nickel also spawned several movies such as "The Gumball Rally" and "Convoy", all about defiance of the double nickel.

Eventually, individual states, beginning with Nevada, began to abolish the limit. In NV, the limit became 70, but you could still get a $5 ticket for doing between 56 and 70 for wasting fuel. Other states followed Nevada's lead, and the whole nonsense was ended. As far as I know, many western states like Arizona and Colorado now have a 75mph limit.

In Britain, a 50mph limit was tried in 1973/74 to save fuel. And the do-gooders were quick to point out that it saved lives and should be made permanent. And then, in Feb 1974 while the nationwide 50 limit was still in force, there was a major crash on the M1 which involved all six lanes and 123 vehicles, and 5 people were killed. That put paid to the argument that such catastrophes would be impossible with a 50 limit.

The fuel "shortage" had been caused by panic buying, and by many retailers closing down, knowing that the value of the fuel in their underground tanks was about to skyrocket. Following an 8p/gallon rise, the fuel started flowing again! And more and more people began to ignore the 50mph limit, leading to its abolition.

A Europe wide 60 NSL? I don't think Germany would agree to that...

After New Labour came to power in 1997 there were several reports that they were contemplating reducing the SC NSL to 50 mph. In the end, any such plans were shelved, but as we know it has effectively come to pass in many local authority areas, and the latest speed limit guidelines actively encourage it.

See The New Stealth NSL on my website.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

And not just SCs if the greyed out '50' signs on the DC A56 Haslingdon-Edenfield Bypass are to go by!

I believe it's being watered down now and not the full stretch? It always a feel a bit iffy as your going North down the hill towards the Rawtenstall turn off but the rest of it is all good for NSL.

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In a former life I was Capri2.8

... on her rejection of her party's proposal that would create a 130KpH - 81MpH - speed limit on currently unlimited sections of Germany's autobahns.


Here in the Republik of Amerika, the vast majority of drivers lack the ability or the desire to drive safely at speeds above 130KpH, which is to say that, besides professional drivers, the only people who want to drive at speeds above 80MpH are generally considered antisocial, reckless, etc.
Referring to Guenther's quote, the suspensions and braking systems on most cars in America are setup to discourage or even punish driving above such speeds, and our roads frankly weren't designed that well either.

_________________
The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:
1) No one gets hurt
2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#1
3) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not
4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone's
Do not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others
5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

I think you'll find that Neulabour are still going to reduce the speed limit, by adjusting the nsl (saves money on sign replacement) on both sc, dc and m/ways. I think you'll find the new argument will be that: "lorries can only go to 60 mph so anything higher for cars poses problems" Ditto for sc and dc roads. You'll actually be presented with (eventually) sc=40, dc=50 and mway=60.
It is a back-burner thing at the moment, but local councils are the "frontline" troops, getting the flack for the reduced limits. But the gov are behind all the speed reductions.

Meanwhile ,I'm going to nip out and buy some shares in the firm making red flags.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Speaking personally now, I travel daily on the recently reduced A580 East Lancs Road (Liverpool-Manchester dual carriageway). Reduced from 70 mph to 60Mph.

All that this has achieved is that "one" nervous driver in the 2nd lane (usually a Micra or similar) who WILL NOT overtake those 2 lorries in lane one because he/she will be speeding by 2-3mph is causing 20 or more cars of frustrated drivers because of a stupid and flawed presumption that "speed kills" and "I'm driving at the limit therefore "I" am a safe driver!" attitude..........GRRrr!

This results in an empty 1st lane, a bunched up 2nd lane, ALL waiting for someone to brake excessively and cause an accident!

STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!...........

Road Safety my *rse!..............

When it was 70mph people would have overtaken and returned to the 1st lane at the speed at which they wished to travel, thereby getting out of the way who wished to travel faster. By the next traffic light or island vehicles would have sorted themselves out.....Now it's a road full of frustration and a major accident just waiting to happen......