Morris Minor Owners Club

How many of you lot knew of the governments proposals to reduce the National Speed Limit for single track roads to 50mph?

I didn't, until I saw it on fifth gear this morning!

Theres aready a petition against it
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/noNSLreduction/

Most roads around us are now 50mph, and this has had a dramatic effect on driving on these roads. Unfortunately the change is not for the better as we now have worse driving and more dangerous overtaking even on double white lines and blind corners.As ques of traffic build up, especially behind trucks which are limited to 45mph on these roads. Overtaking opportunities are less due to bunched up traffic, which makes certain drivers more desperate and foolish in their overtaking.
My view is that in areas of danger then a limit is fine, everywhere else leave well alone.

Dan_Harris wrote:How many of you lot knew of the governments proposals to reduce the National Speed Limit for single track roads to 50mph?

Single track roads? It's not often that you can see far enough ahead to safely do 50 on a single track.

Single track roads? It's not often that you can see far enough ahead to safely do 50 on a single track.

but some you can - like the A9 right through scotland, where 60 is fine as they give ample warning about junctions etc. and you can often see for over a mile when overtaking trucks etc..

I think we might be confusing terminology here. There isn't room to overtake on a single track road unless the vehicle you're following pulls into a passing place for you.

In which case Alex, I have got my terimonoly wrong. Should be single-carriageway.....

As a driver of an over 2ton small van I am limited to 50mph on these roads already.
I Don't see a problem. Most roads I use that fall in this bracket are iffy over 50 anyway.

Its more noticable that I can only do 60mph on dual carriageway as the average speed past me here seems more than the supposed 10mph.

How would they enforce it and what is its stated purpose? Would it apply to BMW drivers (Sorry, shouldn't stereotype )??

I remember they brought it in for all formerly 70 limit roads during the oil crisis of 1973/74. Thereafter, non dual carraigeways went up to 60 mph, with only dual carriageways and motorwaqys going back to 70mph. I don't recall people sticking to 50 mph in those days.

Sorry Jonathon. Truck speed limits are:-

Single carriagway 40MPH

Dual Carriagway 50MPH

Motorway 60MPH

E.U. Regs, Trucks are not allowed to be powered beyond 89KPH(56MPH)

Just had mt wrist slapped by Mary for not saying a very good comment.
These are limits, NOT targets.
Opps.

Nah, they must be limits, you are allowed to exceed targets

Mary's comment
Exceed targets, you make money. exceed limits, you lose money but make points.

hehe

Not that far out then Steve, only 5 mph. Must admit I must have done hundreds of miles over the last few years behind either trucks from Wolesley, or Royal Mail all registering 45mph on my speedo.

Maybe your speedo reads low !

We interpret the rules differently If we didn't, nothing would get delivered

Surely it would be high BM if the trucks are limited to 40mph

This reminds me of a TV series hosted by James May, he said if the car was introduced as a brand new idea now it would never be allowed due to health a saftey.

Why are the limits imposed years ago, when cars had drum brakes and handling was dire by modern standards, now un-safe? Surely improvments in car development and saftey has made the current limits even safer.

There was less traffic years ago and I think less aggression and over large egos (It wasn't until the '60s that there was an overall speed limit; before then the "National speed limit" sign meant de restricted. It is said that AC Cobras on test, on the M1, caused the 70 mph limit to adopted). So my father tells me, in the 1950s, if you were driving a Jaguar XK and you came up behind an Austin A50, the A50 driver expected you would overtake and didn't try to go faster in order to try and prove something. Nowadays if there is someone in a bestriped Fiesta, often they seem to think that they can mix it with anything and if they find that they can't, the result can be road rage.

The other thing to remember is that speed limits are maximum limits; you don't have to drive at the speed limit. Some of the older cars were a bit of a white knuckle ride at speed (The Morris Minor is not typical of many saloons of the 1950s in that respect), especially if the road was bumpy. However they didn't disguise the speed the way modern cars do and I think they approached the limit more vociferously, so were more predictable. I don't drive modern cars very often but I drove a Passatt recently, that was fitted with PAS. I found it vague. It reminded me of the way the "Streering" used to feel on fairground roundabouts, where the wheel was just nailed to the bus, car or aeroplane in which you were riding.