Call for speed limit increase on the Pacific and Hume?

[tonys6550]

Originally Posted by HI PSI

Why not ????? He does have some relevant points.

I have often pondered such scenarios, where sufficiently trained drivers with "rated" vehicles, would have such limits increased.

Poorly skilled drivers, Poorly maintained ageing vehicles, With mixed fauna thrown in to contend with, I know which speed I would rather be doing.

When people can master basic driving skills like overtaking safely, Merging and staying left. IE, Not speed up when someone wants to overtake you, Not slowing down when merging, And lastly but not least of all, STAYING LEFT unless overtaking or turning right regardless wether your doing the posted speed limit, Then, And only then, Would raising the speed limit be half a good idea.

Give me a dual lane highway and I'll happily sit in the left hand land driving at a speed that I'm comfortable doing within the constraints of my vehicle and driving skills, And all of the temporary Aussies vying for the Darwin Awards can happily fly past me in the right lane

In an Ideal environment I could see it working, But here, In Aus, Pfft, Yeah rightj:

[MAD]

Originally Posted by G6AUII?

Yeh it's all good until the knob doing 110 pulls out in front of YOU to get around the truck that you're both approaching.

This is a common occurrence on the fabled Autobahns.

IMO, people are to stupid & arrogant to be trusted to do those speeds. Christ, the state limit is already an issue for some idiots.

And that's when you use your eyes and take notice of other cars and anticipate their movements.

Yeah yeah I know, it'll never happen.

[MAD]

Here's something else to ponder....
Increased speed limits may correlate to decreased complacency

[mechanic]

One day, when all the do gooders and revenue raisers have exhausted all their B--- S--- ideas we'll get a reasonable speed limit.
Anything less than 150ks is just a joke. If anyone [ including myself ] doesn't wish to drive any faster than 100ks then they stay in the left hand lane.
Cops can then start on the job of crime prevention.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by tonys6550

When people can master basic driving skills like overtaking safely, Merging and staying left. IE, Not speed up when someone wants to overtake you, Not slowing down when merging, And lastly but not least of all, STAYING LEFT unless overtaking or turning right regardless wether your doing the posted speed limit, Then, And only then, Would raising the speed limit be half a good idea.

Spot on, people know how to learn the basics first.
Unfortunately, much are made up of people like the attached pic. After parking at this station each day and witnessing the type of drivers, i think this one attempted it a good 3 or 4 times and said close enough.

[mik]

No doubt about it there are some less than good drivers on the road, and that is always going to be the case because we are all human , and even good drivers make mistakes,

by the same token , if we want to use the logic that we should never take chances we might as well send all cars and trucks into the motor registration branch for derating of the engines and fitting of speed governors to 40 kph, im pretty sure that would cut down the road toll pretty good .

[burnz]

increase in speed limit will never happen, to much revenue will be lost..

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by G6AUII?

Yeh it's all good until the knob doing 110 pulls out in front of YOU to get around the truck that you're both approaching.

This is a common occurrence on the fabled Autobahns.

Haha that's tame. In Germany you learn to judge the speed and distance of people coming down behind you at 200 km/h before you pull out! But it works. The party doing 200 is also alert for people pulling out.

I guess that's why the brakes on my BMW are excellent - so good in fact that I had to move forward the other day for a tradie in his Hilux behind me when I heard the sound of his brakes locking up and saw his white face in the mirror. (I think I'm going to need a bullbar on the back )

In any case we're talking about from 110 to 130 here, that's not a lot of practical difference.

[Cranky243]

If you manage your time well enough the speed limit wont need to be raised.

[turbodewd]

Remember everyone you will consume much more fuel the faster you go. Its exponential.

So its a choice between time saved vs extra fuel consumed.

Going from 100k to, say 110k will result in MORE than a 10% increase in fuel consumption.

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by Cranky243

If you manage your time well enough the speed limit wont need to be raised.

It's not actually that simple, unless you're retired and have all the time in the world. And increased journey time means increased fatigue and more chance of having an accident.

Originally Posted by turbodewd

Remember everyone you will consume much more fuel the faster you go. Its exponential.

So its a choice between time saved vs extra fuel consumed.

Going from 100k to, say 110k will result in MORE than a 10% increase in fuel consumption.

What are you driving, an Australian Ford or something

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by MAD

I find 130 to be a great cruise speed.
Quick enough that you know you have to be alert, but not fast enough that you end up with white knuckles.

It's also a good balance for fuel economy.

Fuel economy will slow people down. You hit a point were all the car will do is drink for little gain. Even in NT people were on the 130-140 mark.

Originally Posted by turbodewd

Going from 100k to, say 110k will result in MORE than a 10% increase in fuel consumption.

So your saying my Turbo pulling low 8's at 120 could have been lower? Jeez.

[Mesa]

Originally Posted by Bill M

There was this interview on the ABC -
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-0...ghways/6749158

Minister Gay...

In other words, it won't happen unless it's overwhelming guaranteed vote grabber with minimal noise from those in the media opposing it.

An increased limit would be good but almost useless on the M1 until you get past Wyong. Too much traffic. Particularly on Fridays and long weekends. However an increased speed limit would be effective once past Raymond Terrace.

[malazn mafia]

Just scrap the enforcement of 110kph zones altogether and instead focus on 100kph limits and below. Nothing more ridiculous than a cop wasting his time facing the wrong way down a remote dual carriageway at 2am in the morning, trying to bust someone who poses no risk to anyone but themselves...

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by new2ford

I guess that's why the brakes on my BMW are excellent - so good in fact that I had to move forward the other day for a tradie in his Hilux behind me when I heard the sound of his brakes locking up and saw his white face in the mirror. (I think I'm going to need a bullbar on the back )

Given that Hilux is pretty popular on Australian roads do you think they should be doing 130kph?
the popular Toyotas don't seem to be designed for speed. like the Europeans cars
from personal experience even My Territory stops on a dime compared to our Prado.

let alone the fuel they both use at 130kph

[new2ford]

Although Toyota is not among the biggest sellers in Europe, there are plenty of them belting along with the throng at 130-160. Whether they can stop is another matter! The scariest sight I saw was a Landcruiser belting along the motorway at 160!

Territory has great brakes but you need to go for the Euros if you still want good fuel economy at 130.

Hiluxes need to be restricted to 100 along with the other trucks

[burnz]

Originally Posted by turbodewd

Remember everyone you will consume much more fuel the faster you go. Its exponential.

So its a choice between time saved vs extra fuel consumed.

Going from 100k to, say 110k will result in MORE than a 10% increase in fuel consumption.

ah not for me, I actually use less fuel 120 than I do at 100.

5th gear 1600 rpm (100kph) or 6th gear 1300 rpm (120kph)...

[speedy]

It is about time the brain dead Pollys looked at these 'interstate' freeway speed limits.

110kph was probably the correct speed back in the 60s and 70s. Fairdinks , you can do 100kph ok on a windy 2 way potholed highway then you can go a 'wopping' 110kph on dual lane divided smooth as interstate. Man you gotta be joking.

I find 110 down right dangerously slow. It creates an in attentive mind cause its so slow you need 130 to stay awake and switched on.

These roads were engineered to well over 160kph and to be honest if you cant drive safely on them at 120 even.... God help us.

Its bout time the next big Govt campaign is to get people to under stand common sense and courtesy and get outa the right lane unless passing a vehicle, and that's not crawling past either.

People who dont want drive at 130 kph just stay glued in the left lane this is really not that hard.

I find the safest and correct speed for me on these roads is 130 -140 kph

[Cranky243]

Cant concentrate at 110kmhr now I have heard it all.

[speedy]

Originally Posted by Cranky243

Cant concentrate at 110kmhr now I have heard it all.

hehe ! I can concentrate but its hard to 'focus' when your at parking speed.
Maybe the non drivers have trouble at 110 kph .. mmmm !

[mechanic]

Originally Posted by speedy

It is about time the brain dead Pollys looked at these 'interstate' freeway speed limits.

110kph was probably the correct speed back in the 60s and 70s. Fairdinks , you can do 100kph ok on a windy 2 way potholed highway then you can go a 'wopping' 110kph on dual lane divided smooth as interstate. Man you gotta be joking.

I find 110 down right dangerously slow. It creates an in attentive mind cause its so slow you need 130 to stay awake and switched on.

These roads were engineered to well over 160kph and to be honest if you cant drive safely on them at 120 even.... God help us.

Its bout time the next big Govt campaign is to get people to under stand common sense and courtesy and get outa the right lane unless passing a vehicle, and that's not crawling past either.

People who dont want drive at 130 kph just stay glued in the left lane this is really not that hard.

I find the safest and correct speed for me on these roads is 130 -140 kph

Agree 100%with everything in your post. 160kph is only 100mph in the old money. Working for Ford in the early 70's we used to test GTHO's at that speed and that's 40 years ago.
Biggest problem even then was cops, not the car the road or the braking ability.

Notice the mental midget has poked his nose in again about the gun laws, it's all about raising revenue while restricting any sort of individual activity or thought, let alone relying on us to use our common sense.
We'll all just be grey little people poking along too frightened to do anything slightly different.

[speedy]

Thanks mechanic..

... Look I am am not trying to be silly but most of you would understand what I was saying.

In a good modern car, it just seems easy to be come unfocused at 110. I guess its why some authorities do realise there are circumstances where a bit faster is actually safer.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by speedy

hehe ! I can concentrate but its hard to 'focus' when your at parking speed.
Maybe the non drivers have trouble at 110 kph .. mmmm !

Non drivers seem to struggle at 60kph. Doesn't excuse their rubbish driving.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by burnz

ah not for me, I actually use less fuel 120 than I do at 100.

5th gear 1600 rpm (100kph) or 6th gear 1300 rpm (120kph)...

Really?? I've always found 90 or so to be the optimum, regardless of gearing, because of the way air resistance builds.

[Beastie]

A lot of interesting replies....

In my view, there will ALWAYS be drivers that just shouldn't be doing 100+ in any car on any road, so changing the limit will mean little.

Perhaps some sort of addition to your licence where you can complete a 'government recognised' advanced driving course (including regular refreshers) that will then give you the 'privilege' of driving at a nominated speed above any written speed limit?

Just a thought....

[castellan]

Originally Posted by mik

No doubt about it there are some less than good drivers on the road, and that is always going to be the case because we are all human , and even good drivers make mistakes,

by the same token , if we want to use the logic that we should never take chances we might as well send all cars and trucks into the motor registration branch for derating of the engines and fitting of speed governors to 40 kph, im pretty sure that would cut down the road toll pretty good .

You could be right, but how about them new cars that slow down radar gismos they have nowadays as well.

But then again an idiot will always be a problem and people will just become less involved with the task of truly driving.

[PridenJoy]

Well the speed limit along a reasonable stretch on the Calder freeway near Taylors Lakes was RAISED from 80km/h to 100km/h couple of weeks ago. So anything is possible.

[AussieCJ7]

Originally Posted by new2ford

Pretty much the situation in Europe too. But you see, those countries/states most likely don't have an expected revenue level, that has to be met, built into their state budgets.

Axe the state governments and only have fed and council, millions saved less bickering over who is responsible and common approach across the country instead of 7 times replication of systems doing the same function

Freed up budget means they dont need this revenue

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by burnz

ah not for me, I actually use less fuel 120 than I do at 100.

5th gear 1600 rpm (100kph) or 6th gear 1300 rpm (120kph)...

What happens if you put it in 6th at 100kph?

[mik]

Originally Posted by mechanic

Agree 100%with everything in your post. 160kph is only 100mph in the old money. Working for Ford in the early 70's we used to test GTHO's at that speed and that's 40 years ago.
Biggest problem even then was cops, not the car the road or the braking ability.

Notice the mental midget has poked his nose in again about the gun laws, it's all about raising revenue while restricting any sort of individual activity or thought, let alone relying on us to use our common sense.
We'll all just be grey little people poking along too frightened to do anything slightly different.

yes same here, before speeding was a capital offence, and as young tear asses we used to religiously go for a run up the highway at least once a fortnight just for the fun it (seymour or albury for a hamburger anyone ? depending on fuel money),
usually at late night when there was less chance of being pinged, and the cruising speed was 70 mph+ and when the coast was clear 90/100 mph or a little bit faster(not much faster), depending who`s car we happened to be in and what the traffic was like and the vehicles speed capability.

and we where not driving high performance cars just run of the mill often well worn 60`s or 70`s cars , that by todays standards would be considered death traps and on highways/roads you would also consider very, very average by todays standards.
you would think nothing of going to bendigo in a dirty old 186 hr holden and sitting on 80 or nearly 90 mph (the vehicles max speed)where you could , it was a bit harder on the ears , because we didnt have the benefit of over drives, and they handled like shockers and sway bars where an optional extra, but that was the norm in a lot of cars from that era.
on occasion we would get a run in a V8 and 90 mph or 144 kph would be like chalk and cheese to the lesser cars, you would easily sit at those speeds all day long , roads permitting with the only downer as watching the fuel gauge mt a bit faster.

cars of today imo with their handling , even a corolla or or an i30 or the lowest base model fleet special,falcon/commy/aurion/whatever you could think of would do the run on todays roads at 130 kph so ridculously easy its not funny .

130/140 kph in 68 cortina with fluffy shockers or a hr holden or a mini , you knew you where motoring because of the engine screaming and probably was really being a it unsympathetic to the vehicles, but as youngsters car longevity was probably not really on our minds so much, but the higher cruise speed was still ok.

some of my friends and relo`s that where from that era that did not make it to older age or got mamed or killed in car or truck related mishaps where generally under the influence or died of fatigue,

non died of sitting on a higher cruising speed and my bet is that would be the more often than not the norm across the board if you where to look at most country outer highway mishaps on todays roads..