Britain Increasing Speed Limit to 80mph.

[csv8]

Interesting article in TG magazine Dec UK edition.
Britain is increasing the speed limit to 80mph, on the Motorways..
Some stats from the article. Australia has the second lowest speed limit in the world. Singapore has the lowest. Australia has at 62mph has 7 fatalities per 100,000 population.
Britain has at 70mph has 4 fatalities per 100,000 population.
Germany has unlimited mph and 5 fatalities per 100,00 population.
Makes a joke of our police and speed kills BS they keep spinning.

[Ben73]

I thought Britain Hated movement and loves speed cameras more then Australia.
That is unexpected to see them increase the limit.

Apparently the average age of cars on the Road is 13 years old. Much older then most other westernized countries.
Maybe if we had more new cars with all the safety equipment there would be less people killed

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Ben73

Maybe if we had less inattentive morons driving cars there would be less people killed

Fixed.

[Fev]

I wonder what the Top Gear celebration episode is going to be like - probably a big super car cruise haha

[davenl5l]

yeh mabee if they just oh i dont know how about fix the f*&^%*g roads !!!!!

[Burnout]

OMFG! Thousands more will die.
Still only Poms, so it doesn't matter....

[SSVPom]

Originally Posted by Burnout

OMFG! Thousands more will die.
Still only Poms, so it doesn't matter....

Careful ....

[BrisVegas]

80mph ~ 130km/h

That's a perfectly reasonable speed to drive on a motorway in a roadworthy vehicle. It will never happen here! :

[b055m4n]

Originally Posted by csv8

Interesting article in TG magazine Dec UK edition.
Britain is increasing the speed limit to 80mph, on the Motorways..
Some stats from the article. Australia has the second lowest speed limit in the world. Singapore has the lowest. Australia has at 62mph has 7 fatalities per 100,000 population.
Britain has at 70mph has 4 fatalities per 100,000 population.
Germany has unlimited mph and 5 fatalities per 100,00 population.
Makes a joke of our police and speed kills BS they keep spinning.

WAS in the UK in June and they seem like pretty good drivers, While driving on the Dover Motorway 80 to 90mph was the go . I just followed a few cars in the fast lane got to well over 120 mph, Now that's getting from point A to point B in a hurry.

[FPV8U]

Ahhh we can dream of such a time.

[theboxmike]

Remember If You Slightly Go Over 100 You Will Die! Your Such A Hoon And Should Be Jailed


Fml

[opto]

Stralya, not only down under but backwards also...

[Franco Cozzo]

What I found interested was the Calder highway here in Victoria, up to Bendigo, the majority of it is 110km/h, with sections going down to 100 where there are crossings, across the freeway.

Its just a 2 lane either direction highway, which is a bit dodgy in places, has an issue with Kangaroos and its still 110km/h.

Then you have the Monash freeway in the eastern suburbs, which is 4 lanes either direction, newly resurfaced and marked, no threat of roos, and its 80km/h for what feels like an eternity.

You'd think it'd be capable of 130km/h safely, when its actually moving in off peak times.

[CarTooner:-)]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

...Calder highway in Vic, to Bendigo, the majority of it is 110km/h, with sections down to 100 where there are crossings, ... a bit dodgy in places, ... Kangaroos and its still 110km/h.
Then you have the Monash freeway in the eastern suburbs, ... 4 lanes either direction, newly resurfaced and marked, no threat of roos, and its 80km/h for what feels like an eternity.
You'd think it'd be capable of 130km/h safely, when its actually moving in off peak times.

One of my few gripes: Inappropriate and inconsistent standards for set speed-limits.
I personally wouldn't like to see the 80kph sector of the Monash raised to 130; some people just can't handle it but 80 is painfully slow. I can't see why "the limit" shouldn't be increased to 100 once you're out of the tunnel and beyond the merge.
Ideally, if slower drivers would stay out of the far-right lane, I think the off-peak limit could be increased but when was the last time you saw a Highway Patrol book a right-lane-hog? (Me; never)... The fixed cameras can't rid right-lane-hogs so it's easier to slow everybody down to the lowest-common-denominator and ca$h-in on anybody that runs the gauntlet.

[Falcon_Crazy]

Like i said in another thread today, 130km.h on most of Hume Fwy between syd and melb - could cut trip time by 1.5 hours - maybe 2 hours which is when a lot of fatigue crashes occur - those last 2 hours.

Cant see it happening here - so many highways with low traffic volume 110 or 100. 130 would be much better for those that wanted to drive at that speed. Many oin NT still sit on 100km/h but rarly gt stuck for long before you can safely pass

[gcg2503]

Lived in the UK for 6 years and I can vouch for their driving prowess

On the Motorways most of the traffic moves along at 80mph-90mph with little intervention from the police

plus there was a lot more respect for fellow road users over there than here...that much is for sure!

[cupic]

The lower is encourage as more and more exceed this BS policy and the more coin to the collector.if they raised it it would mean less coin the collector would cry poor

[bigsta]

darwin use to always be almost zero road fatalities over the holidays, since spped limits have been introduced there is always a few

biggest killer on the roads is fatigue and lack of driver training, speeding wont cause an accident on its own but the driver not knowing how to drive their car will

[falconnut]

I cant even legally drive at the 110 speed limit, go figure.

But i am sure its the same for the P's in Ye ol English land too.

[FalconForce]

Originally Posted by falconnut

But i am sure its the same for the P's in Ye ol English land too.

they dont really have P plates in england, it is optional to put a P plate on your car to let other drivers know you a relatively inexperienced driver

[Venomous1]

Amazing that in a big country like ours with amazing vehicles such as we all drive we have to do 100-110 max. what a joke.

[TMC]

The English know how to drive especially at speed and there motorways are awesome. Everything leaves the motorways from the left off a ramp, and everything enters from the left. No trucks are allowed in the fast lane and no one undertakes as it's illegal. If you sit in the fast lane and you can sit in the middle or slow lane, they'll come up behind you and toot you to move over. None of this crazy undertaking junk that WA drivers do. Also everyone does 80mph, and the cops don't care until you're over 90mph.

As for speed cameras there are a few marked fixed ones, but very few hidden multinova style cameras like Perth is peppered with.

It's a very fair system over there and they can move enormous volumes of traffic without grid lock. It was a pleasure driving in the UK. Would love to drive the Territory over there on the motorways. It would be awesome.

We also drove in Italy and over there, everyone drives at 150kph and the cops don't care until you're over 200kph!!!!!! We were doing 150kph in a 2L Mercedes Vito with 9 people on board and Lambo's were flying past us. Italy was just amazing. They would hate Perth and the way you get booked for 1kph over the limit.

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by TMC

The English know how to drive especially at speed and there motorways are awesome. Everything leaves the motorways from the left off a ramp, and everything enters from the left. No trucks are allowed in the fast lane and no one undertakes as it's illegal. If you sit in the fast lane and you can sit in the middle or slow lane, they'll come up behind you and toot you to move over. None of this crazy undertaking junk that WA drivers do. Also everyone does 80mph, and the cops don't care until you're over 90mph.

"Undertaking" is unfortunately necessary in Australia because of the huge number of drivers who won't keep left unless overtaking and the lack of enforcement of that (indeed I understand NSW has recently reduced the penalty points for not keeping left, which sends out a great message!).

Here is a rundown of speed limits by country:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_by_country

[dimka100]

I’m pretty sure that Australia will follow suite pretty soon …. Only we will replace the 80Mph with 80Kph … but hey the K is cooler and it saves more lives …

[TMC]

Originally Posted by new2ford

"Undertaking" is unfortunately necessary in Australia because of the huge number of drivers who won't keep left unless overtaking and the lack of enforcement of that (indeed I understand NSW has recently reduced the penalty points for not keeping left, which sends out a great message!).

Here is a rundown of speed limits by country:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_by_country

Yes, a necessary evil here. It comes down to poor road design and coupled with that poor driver training.

So many of our major highways in WA have traffic lights with no overpasses, which means you often have to leave them from the right, which means going into the fast lane, and when that intersection doesn't flow, the stopped traffic all banks up into the fastlane.

We had traffic lights on the Kwinana Fwy up until a few years ago. Every couple of km's you "left" the Freeway to get back onto it again after the lights. Ridiculous.

We now have ring highways around Perth which take just as much traffic as the north south freeway system and they are only just putting overpass bridges onto them. The trouble is, they put lights at the end of the off and on ramps where they should have roundabouts that self govern like they do on the motorways in England. WA seems obsessed with traffic lights. I used to work in the Engineering Dept of one of the local councils and the cost of a good roundabout was about half that of a set of lights, and they flow more traffic.

Another thing we are seeing over here which is destroying the driving experience is the amount of seriously dangerous poor driving skills. You know the "driving the wrong way onto a freeway" sort of stuff. Generally due to foreigners (I have nothing against foreigners or immigration to this country) who can't read the signs or just can't drive.

Over here, you can get a license way too easily and I don't know how some taxi drivers, courier drivers etc are getting there licenses. I would like to see all professional drivers (taxi, courier, etc) having to do advanced driver training, and having to resit a test every 5 years.

I wonder how many can just get a license here, because back in Kazikstan, they owned a donkey and once drove in a tractor. "Here, become a taxi driver in Australia" It may not be that simple, but the proof is in the pudding. You can't blame someone for a course of action, if they honestly don't know it's wrong. The government has got to train drivers so much better. I could go on and on, so I'll stop now.

That's why we don't have high speed zones in most of Oz. Oz drivers couldn't handle it.

[wrongwaynorris]

Several people have already said it but it is absolutely true , 90% of the English know how to drive as opposed to the 10% of Australians who do , also their attitude is so totally different .

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Several people have already said it but it is absolutely true , 90% of the English know how to drive as opposed to the 10% of Australians who do , also their attitude is so totally different .

In regards to painfully low speed limits:

"if you treat people like idiots, they will behave that way".

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by theboxmike

Remember If You Slightly Go Over 100 You Will Die! Your Such A Hoon And Should Be Jailed

yes, you baby-killing anti human. sheesh, some drivers get treated worse than some more serious crimes.

Originally Posted by Falcon_Crazy

Many oin NT still sit on 100km/h but rarly gt stuck for long before you can safely pass

That's a good point. divided highway is good because you can overtake with leisure. on single carriageway you want to spend as little time as possible in the oncoming lane.

Originally Posted by cupic

The lower is encourage as more and more exceed this BS policy and the more coin to the collector.if they raised it it would mean less coin the collector would cry poor

maybe they should increase the limit and also increase the fine for exceeding it, to balance things out?

[rancidpunx]

America is the same from what I saw. Keep the traffic flowing and as long as your not being a ******** then the cops let it slide. 150kph was a cruising speed with 180kph being hit at times in the fast lane with everyone else in that lane doing the same.
The standard of driving in Europe is hugely superior to Australia. To get your license in the UK is a massive undertaking and hard to get. Its not a prize in your cornflakes as it is here. People understand whats going on around them and how to keep the traffic flowing. Here everyone is in there own world once the doors are closed. The powers that be have no intention of changing that stigma either. The dumber you are the easier it is to control you.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by rancidpunx

America is the same from what I saw. Keep the traffic flowing and as long as your not being a ******** then the cops let it slide. 150kph was a cruising speed with 180kph being hit at times in the fast lane with everyone else in that lane doing the same.
The standard of driving in Europe is hugely superior to Australia. To get your license in the UK is a massive undertaking and hard to get. Its not a prize in your cornflakes as it is here. People understand whats going on around them and how to keep the traffic flowing. Here everyone is in there own world once the doors are closed. The powers that be have no intention of changing that stigma either. The dumber you are the easier it is to control you.

Ah the old "Australians are bad drivers" agument. Its a load of crap. Europeans can be just as rude, aggressive, inattentive on the roads as any Australian, its just that the higher speeds force you to concentrate and pay attention. If you have the same speeds here as you do in Europe you will start to see driving levels at European levels.

The licencing system in Europe is arduous but an Australian P-plater will gain more driving expierience in a fortnight than a UK learner driver does in a couple of months. Kind of like how the mummy bird throws the baby birds out of nest forcing them to fly we do the same to drivers over here and in my opinion a young Australian driver will typically be better more confident and better prepared in an emergency situation than a UK young driver who grabs an instruction book to see what they need to do when a dog runs across the road. Just my expierience with young European drivers is that they are skittish and nervous on the roads.

The problem then becomes that we dumb down driving over here to such a low level that no one pays attention.

No matter where you go in the world, Asia, US, Europe whatever. People adapt to the conditions and behaviour around them, what seems to be universal is that the faster you drive the better you drive.