The Government is planning to raise motorway speed limit to 80mph in an effort to boost productivity.
According to transport secretary Philip Hammond, an increase in speed limits on the motorway could help to shorten journey times and support the economy.
http://www.rac.co.uk/news-advice/motoring-news/post/2011/3/plans-to-raise-motorway-speed-limit/

I drive at 80 on the motorway(road conditions permitting of course) anyway so it wont really make much difference to me.:shrug:

but lorries are limited to 57 (i think) anyway so it will only be the smaller transport that gets sped up

strange, fuel prices raise and now there thinking about letting us drive faster and therefor using more petrol :chin:

what happened to going all green

But surely if people are travelling faster, when someone does have an accident it is more likely to become fatal due to having to have more braking distance and leaving more space between cars

I'd have thought that given the high price of fuel and "green targets" there was more of an argument to reduce the limit. Don't have a problem raising it to 80 though. Speed alone isn't the factor in most accident - its inappropriate speed to the conditions that is the problem.

FiatAndy said:

But surely if people are travelling faster, when someone does have an accident it is more likely to become fatal due to having to have more braking distance and leaving more space between cars

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the speed limits where set when cars werent capable/safe to do 80mph

modern cars are safe to do such speeds and can do (many of us know)

in Germany where the limit of a few Motorways is unrestricted the fatality rate is much lower than our own. (yes for many reasons)

Does anyone actually stick to 70 now anyway???

For every 100 miles you travel at 80 mph instead of 70 mph you save 11 minutes

i dont really think thats worth the amount of petrol its going to cost

How much extra would it cost?

ben said:

Does anyone actually stick to 70 now anyway???

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Me.

Dom

ben said:

How much extra would it cost?

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depends on the car but it can be worked out

ben said:

How much extra would it cost?

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Well based on my 1.4 8v GP:
60 mph - 50mpg
70 mph - 44mpg
77 mph - 39mpg (70 after speedo accuracy adjustment officer!)

So about 10% more - I guess it depends how important that episode of Eastenders is (you still have that over there right?)

ben said:

So about 10% more - I guess it depends how important that episode of Eastenders is (you still have that over there right?)

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unfortunately :bang:

Is Janine still in it? :yum:

ben said:

Is Janine still in it? :yum:

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i just asked my housemates and apparently she is

Great.

Well then to reply to your original comment, it would be worth me paying the 10% extra to get back in time for Eastenders, especially if that was that episode where she was in her pants ...

ben said:

Great.

Well then to reply to your original comment, it would be worth me paying the 10% extra to get back in time for Eastenders, especially if that was that episode where she was in her pants ...

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People do 80+ anyway tbh.

My 1.4 16v is only a little be less economical than at 60-70 anyway. 80mph is bang on 3800rpm right in the torque sweet spot.

Role on the day. Id be quite happy to sit at 100mph. But 80mph is better than nothing.

Just because the limit is 80 doesn't mean you have to do 80. hopefully the greater allowance in speeds would make a motorway flow better rather than getting stuck behind people for longer, if it was raised to 80, most people would still do 70ish i reckon..

Won't happen though. and if it does no one will be able to afford to do 70 let alone 80 lol.