http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/2...it-raised-80mph

so what do people think of this? yay or nay?

Discuss...

"driving at 80mph will cause more pollution"

Many cars are actualy more econimical at 80mph ahh thank you.

^ really? how exactly does that work? Higher rpm, higher wind resistance, can't possibly be more efficient unless you have a car with such long gears that it's rpm is too low at 70mph, which 99.999999% of cars certainly don't.

I'm dead surprised by this, I never expected any government to do this as I just thought there'd be too much resistance from the tree huggers and the "OMG speed kills, someone think of the children!!!!!!11111oneone" brigade.

It's about time though really. The 70 limit isn't enforced anyway, it's an archaic limit from when cars had drum brakes all round with no servos, pretty much no crash protection to speak of at all and plenty couldn't actually manage 70mph. It's about time they modernised the absolutely stupid stopping distances in the high way code too which are also based on very old cars and so irrelevant to modern cars that no one pays any attention.

I don't see this changing much other than at least admitting that the 70 limit is a waste of time anyway.

Who goes 70 anyway? I rarely do

The Government should look at Germany, who dont have speedlimits on certain motorways lol. They seem to manage perfectly fine with them...

I read a story similar to this many, many, many years ago. I think its bull but yeah some cars run more efficiently at a specific engine speed, or at least my fuel economy is better at slightly higher speeds

"driving at 80mph will cause more pollution"

Many cars are actualy more econimical at 80mph ahh thank you.

How you work that one out lol......

And it won't happen so don't get your hopes up! More likely to reduce it to 60mph.

That's fine, but some people will just get more pissed off at trucks doing 56 and people in their 1.0 polos plodding along doing sub 50.

I hate sitting on the motorway doing 70, it sounds horrendous. :/

70mph was designed for the 1970+ years.

100mph now would be safer than 70mph was back then.

and as for the pollution, who says you HAVE to drive at 80mph? if 70mph is more efficient, then drive at 70?

I think it will happen, and 20mph in urban areas would be good, as long as they dont go mental with it.

please somebody think of the children!! that made me laugh

20mph in urban areas would be good, as long as they dont go mental with it.

Or push the green cross code (or whatever it's called) more.

Edited 29 September, 201114 yr by MattLoaf

Who goes 70 anyway? I rarely do

The Government should look at Germany, who dont have speedlimits on certain motorways lol. They seem to manage perfectly fine with them...

i agree with toby weather that sarcasim or not +-

as for pollution and global warming who really cares?

as for pollution and global warming who really cares?

PLENTY of people .

as for pollution and global warming who really cares?

PLENTY of people .

What many people within this forum?

What many people within this forum?

Well none on here obviously.

I know someone well, who is in a position to know whether this is true or not - and he told me about it a couple of weeks ago.

The government wanna get everything moving, business etc, so there are less working cameras and some limits are being raised, whilst existing proposed reductions are being scrapped.

But hold your horses before you go on a red-bull fueled white knuckle ride - police will be having a field day watching for people breaching the higher limits, as penalties for doing so will be higher.

After all, the reality is that the fast lane is typically 80+ anyway, so little will actually change. It just means plod can linger about on motorways more, nicking people for doing 90, without everyone dangerously panic-braking down to 70.

this is a good idea, it could mean cars decrease in efficiency and more fuel being bought and maybe enough for govt to lower prices, also more wear on the car, so more parts being bought, possibly faster moving traffic so more efficient for firms... all good for the economy, but will it work like that or even make a difference if they do raise to 80... i doubt it

either way, i can barely go 70 in my polo without my ears/engine blowing up so wont affect me much

it is a limit though remember, Not a target

it is a limit though remember, Not a target

I know dad.

One of the mothers friends are a traffic cop, and openly admited its very rare they pull anyone on the motorway for going over 70mph, but under 90mph as they just wait for someone to be going 100+ and send them to court and get them banned. More of a "result" with same amount of paperwork.

IMO we will never get de-restricted parts of motorway (like german autobahns) because people dont have lane discipline here like they do there...

Middle lane bandits etc...

Just my 2p's worth lol

I'm not particularly bothered by this possible change because my nearest Motorway is 25 miles away and I rarely need to use it. Also, I will still continue to drive at 60-65 because, like already mentioned, it's a limit and not a target. Plus, I can't be having the treasury gaining too much from the increased fuel consumption!

If the limit is more rigorously enforced it is unlikely to make a significant difference to journey times as most traffic is doing 80 nowadays.

With regards to pollution, there will be an increase but probably not so much as you think. VW's chief Test Engineer once said that if Autobahns were restricted to 70mph, the decrease in CO2 would only be 2%. Mind you, this was 21 years ago, so things may have changed and a car manufacturer is hardly going to be impartial on such matters.

A far greater concern should be the appalling traffic engineering. This is mainly with regards to lengthy dwell on traffic lights and misguided traffic calming which slows traffic to a crawl or has it at a standstill. Cars pumping out pollutants but going nowhere. This increase to 80mph should form part of a range of methods to make traffic movements more efficient. To some degree, the blinkered nature of the road safety lobby is making it increasingly difficult to get around efficiently.

I doubt it will make the slighest difference. I will still drive at the same speed i do know because i know if i go slower it takes me longer and if i go faster it takes me longer to get from plymouth to hastings as i have to fill up on the way for the sake of 5 mph.

IIRC to drive on autobahns theres a minimum driving experience required and a separate rigorous test involved. Also the german version of the MOT is alot stricter which could mean safer cars in germany

I doubt I will be rushing to cruise at 80mph, my fuel economy massively drops when I get up to that speed.

In my old polo I could get ~325 miles to a fill up doing motorway miles at 65-70mph (36mpg). When I started doing 80-85mph I would only be getting ~250 miles to a tank (28mpg).

I do around 75 miles a day 5 days a week, all on the motorway so I tested it out over a few weeks to see.

It's not concrete proof as many other things could have corrupted the results but it was big enough of a gap for me to keep at the lower speeds.

I used to have a 1.4 8v 6n2, now have a SDi 6n2 and enjoying 600+ miles to a fill up!!!!

Who goes 70 anyway? I rarely do

thats only because you can't

The majority in Britan.cannot drive, failing to move to the left lane after overtaking and many thinking a lane belongs to them because they are turning right in 2 miles, causing others driving at a faster speed to either queue up in the outside lane or undertake.

The standard of driving in Britan has dramatically dropped in my 9 years of driving. The economy I acheived in Europe was unattainable here, 50mpg in a 170bhp g40 by simply maintaining a constant speed without having to brake for slower moving traffic!