Chritmas Eve on the M62

26 Cars in a pile up on the M62. As usual weather conditions blamed.

When are people going to slow down when its foggy.

I forgot to mention yesterday that my mate Henry hit a bank of fog when he died doing a ton on the Autobahn.
And some off you still want to raise the speed limits!

(RIP)

 

What you fail to realise though is that these people can easily and safely go at 100mph because they know what they are doing, they see and hear everything, they know their limits, they are such competent drivers and just plain frigging invincible.</p>

And of course while such nobheads continue to believe that, we will forever be shovelling poor souls up from the tarmac of Britain's motorways.</p>

 

you can safely go to 100mph in the right conditions

the problem is that the limit is too low in ideal conditions and way too high in dangerous conditions. take the 26 car pile up for example, it was foggy so 70mph was too high but it is the speed limit.

 

hear hear !

a blanket limit is ridiculous-30 is too fast on some occasions-yet 100 is OK on others-if your reactions are poor take it into account and slow down

 

RE: you can safely go to 100mph in the right conditions

1. There would probably have been matrix signs showing a revised speed limit
2. It is a maximum speed - not a recommended one! If the conditions don't allow then slow down regardless of what the speed limit says. You remind me of the guy who phoned the police to complain that the signs said 50mph in thick fog and asked the police how they expected him to go that fast!
3. You could say that people can drive ok at 100mph if conditions are ok - however the problem is with patchy fog...you can be driving fine with good visibility and suddenly, without warning, hit a wall of fog - you need to be able to cope with such eventualities.

 

why do I remind you of that guy?

All I said was that it is safe to go at 100mph sometimes (a lot of the time) and going 70 rather than 100 would not avoid pile ups in fog.

 

RE: why do I remind you of that guy?

Because just because the limit says 70mph does not mean people have to drive at that speed.

It doesn't matter what the limit is, slow to a speed that is safe for the conditions regardless.

Oh and I meant that you reminded me about that story - not specifically that you would do such a thing and I thought you were like him....if you see my meaning!

 

precisly people should slow down to a safe speed

so raising the maximum to 100 should not cause accidents because like 70mph they should only do that when the conditions are safe to.

if it is foggy or rainy etc then you shouldnt be doing 70mph even though it is the limit. slow down to say 30 and you wont crash.
likewise if it is foggy or rainy etc then you shouldnt be doing 100mph even thought it would be the limit.

 

RE: When?

When exactly are the conditions on our motorways safe to drive at 100mph?

(RIP) (RIP) (RIP)

 

clear open road

no sharp bends just gentle curves at the very worst, perfect visibility, low levels of traffic. 100mph is perfectly safe. The speed limits were set when the stopping distance of a car was much higher, performance, safety and brakes have been vastly improved since th elimit was introduced yet the limits have not changed to reflect this.

 

Doing 100mph on the Autobahns can be perfectly safe

In fact doing 70 or 80 makes you a bit of a traffic hazard at times. I lived there for three years and found a lot of two lane autobahns which are a lot less safe than three lanes of course, but I still felt safer there than on British roads. It's all a question of control and common sense - you don't go that speed in heavy traffic or bad weather (well, some do but I don't). Question of balance - when your life is at stake you don't risk it!

 

Did ya know

that , they did a test with drivers(simulated) behind the wheel and they found that drivers actually speed up in fog .</p>

mad as fek I know , but a natural reaction..apparently </p>

 

RE: clear open road

Where the **** are they then? Clear and Open Roads.
I have seen traffic volumes double in the last 20 odd years.
I never see a fecking clear and open road. I see tail gateing at 90+mph by idiots who think they are safe and I have to share the road with the feckers.

One thing you haven't mentioned any improvement in is driving standards.It's still a human being behind the wheel.We have evolved much slower than the car has in the last 100 years.

In the 38 years I have been involved in the motor industry I have seen many improvements. Road holding and braking improvements just a few of them.

One thing that hasn't improved is driving standards.Yesterday at the Royal Oak traffic lights in Wombwell a white pick up overtook 5 cars to make a right hand turn onto Kings Road he nearly hit the first car which was also turning right.
Any brain doner can do 120mph if they want to. But good drivers are safe drivers not fast ones.The grave yards are full of fast drivers.

Thats why the speed limits are there.To protect against the guy who thinks his last name is Montoya.

In the 17 years I taught in FE Colleges I lost a student every year in a car crash. 100% of the time it was there own fault and in nearly every case they took somone with them.

50 mph is too fast for half the drivers out there.

How many accidents have you lot who want higher speed limits had and how many points have you got on your licence?


(RIP) Henry P.

 

RE: Did ya know

Where did you find that then?

(RIP) Henry P.

 

RE: Did ya know

it was on some telly prog.</p>

<font face="Arial"></font></p>

<font face="Arial"> Apparently as the fog gets thicker, the brain thinks that we are driving more slowly. and </font><font face="Verdana">they found that because the brain could not work out the distance to the horizon  it was unable to calculate distance altogether and not being able to calculate distance at 60mph could be bit dodgy.</font></p>





*off on net search to find evidence*</p>

 

RE: Did ya know

I can understand that one. The driver can't see and he/she hasn't got any reference points to judge their speed.

Not so sure about speeding up though.
I'm lucky enough to have a speed-o-meter fitted to my car and I find it quite useful for judging speed.

There are sections of the M62 and other motorways where speed is hard to judge because of the wide open spaces.There is a down hill section where you think you are on the flat but anyone crusing at 70mph when you get on it is doing 100+mph before the road levels out. Yep, guilty Iv'e done it. So I dont claim to be an Angel on the road.

I just think that driving standards and attitudes are too poor to raise speed limits to 100mph on Motorways.

There is an optical illusion call "Electric Brae" on a Road on the West Coast of Scotland. You park the car up facing either up or down the hill. Drop the handbrake off and the car will start to roll up the hill. There are warning signs informing drivers that there maybe cars stationary in the road. Just one example of why drivers need to use their cars instrumentation.

I would be interested in the knowing the age of the advocates of raising the speed limits and their jobs.

(rulez) (RIP) Henry P. RIP.

 

RE: German v UK Road Deaths.

Germany comes out on top here.
Perhaps German speed limits are a significant factor.


Germany (1998) 7,792 Deaths. Figures supplied by the German Federal Statistical Office.

United Kingdom (1997) 3599 Deaths.


(RIP) Henry P.

 

none and none actually!!!

 

52

 

RE: RAC Foundation says Motorways are the most dagerous roads

On Fridays between 4 and 9PM.

So they are not that safe then?


(RIP) Henry P.