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    Motorway Speed Limit Set To Rise To 80mph

    Sky News – Fri, Sep 30, 2011

    The motorway speed limit will increase from 70mph to 80mph in 2013, under Government plans - a move aimed at boosting the economy, the Transport Secretary has said.

    Speaking to Sky News, Philip Hammond said: "This is a clear proposal from the Government to increase the motorway speed limit to 80 miles an hour.

    "Principally this is about the huge time savings that would be available by improving journey times, hundreds of millions of pounds worth a year of time savings.

    "And also the benefit of bringing millions of ordinary motorists, who are otherwise law abiding, back on the right side of the law because frankly the current speed limit has lost legitimacy."

    The current 70mph national speed limit was set in 1965.

    Since then advances in vehicle technology and design have contributed to more than a 75% drop in the number of people killed on British roads.

    The Department of Transport has been reviewing the 70mph speed limit for some time.

    From its analysis, so far it has concluded that raising the motorway speed limit would generate "significant economic benefits, worth hundreds of millions of pounds per year, particularly from savings of travel time".

    A limit of 80mph would represent the best balance of costs and benefits, as well as bring the UK in line with other EU countries, it claimed.

    Although the move may be welcomed by some, the head of the RAC Foundation Professor Stephen Glaister was not convinced.

    Commenting on the proposal, he said: "Drivers travelling that 10mph quicker might reach their destination sooner, but will use about 20% more fuel and emit 20% more CO2.

    "There is also likely to be a slight increase in road casualties. And what about enforcement? If police follow existing guidelines, many people could do 90mph before action is taken.

    "Local authorities already have the power to set 20mph limits, and that's how it should stay.

    "Before you change a speed limit, you have to know whether you are doing it for safety, economic or environmental reasons. Unfortunately not all of these are compatible."

     

    818 comments

    • JCGIBBS
      JCGIBBS  •  7 months ago
      Great news for the petrol stations in UK now then.
      The faster you go the more fuel is consumed, so the more fuel you buy.

      BTW, speed does not always give you edge anyway.
      I used to ride a motorcycle and I got forced to stop by a moptorist overtaking me near roadworks. I arrived at my destination before he did. He took a double look. I waved at him and nodded. I had many a laugh about that.
    • WILLIAM D
      WILLIAM D  •  7 months ago
      What a lot of questions and answers on this one.
      Firstly anyone travelling at 70 mph on the motorway is going to find themselves in the slow lane. Most of the traffic is doing nearer 90 than 80 . Secondly changing the limit will not change peoples driving behavior , just reduce the need for police speed monitors.
      In line with Europe ? Obviously the voice of reason on this one has not driven in Germany.
      I doubt very much if it will either increase or decrease the accident rate . Driver incompetence cause accidents and boy are there some incompetent drivers on our roads .
      Finally to those who circumnavigate the M25 at peak time , to travel at something in excess of 50 would be heaven .
      • kez
        kez 7 months ago
        Your absolutly right i wouldnt trust most drivers on the road to arrange a blow job in a brothel. Having recently sat the hazard perception and theory tests i think it should become manditory for anybody who hasnt taken the current tests to sit the exam. Also in many parts of europe there are flat insurance rates, high quality glacier smooth road surfaces, a public transport network that is both clean and prompt (imagine such a thing) and additional training is also manditory in many nations. Over here people are just braindead. at 80mph your still not keeping with the traffic flow, infact at 80 you'll be overtaken by vehicles towing trailers. Much of the M4 middle lane is circa 85-90mph outside lane 90mph+ when the M25 is clear all lanes seem to flow at over 100mph.
      • Janice
        Janice 7 months ago
        Having been driving in Germany for several years I have found that whilst some roads are 80mph many are unrestricted and two lanes to boot! YET, lane discipline is usually good, you overtake, you get back in. If you dawdle in the overtaking lane you will be in the way and 100mph is a fairly usual speed to travel at. Yes, I have witnessed a few accidents in my time, but more to do with driver error rather than speed, i.e. a caravan and 4x4 which had 'jacknifed' and blow out and a stubborn lorry driver not giving in to a motorist trying to get in when the road went from 3 to 2 lanes! I love driving in Germany, the freedom and a chance to actually drive my car at the speed it was designed to do. If you do see someone on the road driving at low speed you can bet your boots there is a GB sticker on the back! Usually some old fart who learned to drive in the war saying "No need to speed Doris, we'll get there is our own good time"
    • Gary
      Gary  •  7 months ago
      Traffic can only move as fast as the slowest thing on the road ( same in a production line the slowest process governs everything else)! So to increase traffic average speed they need to increase truck speeds! Or as they do in Germany ban trucks from over taking at busy times! Our as in most of europe trucks are not allowed on roads from 10pm Fri too 10pm Sunday.
    • Take me to your leader
      Take me to your leader  •  7 months ago
      If my car made it to 80mph i'd have to drive back again to pick up the bits.
      • Inja K
        Inja K 7 months ago
        at least you could slow down and turn around. last time i took my car to 70 the wheel bearing shattered and put a hole in the master brake cylinder = no brakes at 70 mph. that was exciting.
      • MACALLAM
        MACALLAM 7 months ago
        The master cylinder is on the front of the bulkhead above the engine. I think you mean the wheel cylinder. get it right numb nuts
      • Inja K
        Inja K 7 months ago
        i think i know my car better than you do nobneck
    • justinwil69
      justinwil69  •  7 months ago
      Big mistake you have HGV doing 55 and 60 then you have cars now doing 80 to 100. California has a split speed limit and the accident are much worse. And the face is you only get to you destination couple of minutes faster if you need to get there sooner leave earlier. And with the price of oil the oil company will make more money. The is a big mistake that will
      cause problems.
      • simon
        simon 7 months ago
        On what planet do you live? lots of cars on the motorways are doing 80-90mph during normal working hours. I was doing 115mph down south, (my journey was a really long one so speeding actually made sense) overtaking cars doing 90-95 and I got overtaken by an AMG mercedes as if I was stationary. As long as you are travelling only 30mph more/less than the person in the lane next to you, its fine.
    • Ian H
      Ian H  •  7 months ago
      All the government gives a #$%$ about is you having to fill your tank up more often and so pouring more money into their coffers. Full stop.
      • Sarah
        Sarah 7 months ago
        That's the very first thing I thought after reading the article.
    • MALCOLM
      MALCOLM  •  7 months ago
      If there is a desire to speed up traffic around London then get rid of the tolls at the Dartford Crossing.
      • Lowfields Rd
        Lowfields Rd 7 months ago
        Absolutely correct. Have suffered the queue there so many times. Nightmare.
      • SUSAN
        SUSAN 7 months ago
        Sign the HM Government e-petition No. 1878, calling for an end to the tolls - if it gets 100,000 signatures, it has to be considered for debate in the House of Commons. Tolls due to go up in Oct., and again next year! If the company running it can't get rid of the toll booths and use car number registration plate camera technology to charge, and keep the traffic flowing, then they don't deserve to keep hold of the right to charge the tolls at all.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  8 months ago
      Why 2013, can anyone from goverment tell me that?
    • nathan
      nathan  •  7 months ago
      70mph was TEMPORARY in 67-68. cars are made now to do 150mph+. get a grip england, take a leaf from germany.
    • I saw it coming
      I saw it coming  •  7 months ago
      I see the eco-terrorists have already objected to the speed limit rising to 80mph. From a practical pov I reckon a lot of drivers already do close to 80mph already. When the 70mph limit was set, cars had drum brakes and cross-ply tyres no wing mirrors, no seat belts, dubious wipers etc and being of an age where I can say I have driven both technologies, you really wouldn't want to drive a car without ABS, power steering, radial tyres and disc brakes all round, stability control, and these are just the standard features !
    • Chris
      Chris  •  7 months ago
      I think this demostrates far the Government are out of touch with the real world. We all do 80mph now so changing it will make no difference. What is needed in this country is Road Management. We need a people who will be pro-active and not these stupid idiots (Road Safety Partnership and Old Men in traffic control vehicles) who profess to have our lives at heart, but really only want to balance the books each month with fines. We need people with driving skills who understand driving and have shown this in there advanced abilities, then maybe we can get down to the subject of driving and our roads and rid ourselves of this simple minded hysteria about speed.
    • Lowfields Rd
      Lowfields Rd  •  7 months ago
      Might move to Germany, no speed limits, lots of sausages, standing areas at football, lots of sausages, leather shorts, lots of sausages, German beer, not bad.
    • Mark
      Mark  •  7 months ago
      Well every time im out in the fast lane most people are doing 80 and over anyway every time
    • ANTHONY
      ANTHONY  •  7 months ago
      That'l mean 90-95mph then.
    • MICHAEL
      MICHAEL  •  7 months ago
      This will not really change the speed people drive, just mean a that it will no longer be illegal. People should drive at a speed that is relative to the road and traffic conditions, and individual ability, not simply because it is law. Not all drivers have the same skill or reflexes, or apply the same level of concentration, but we are all made to follow the same laws.
    • Bobcat
      Bobcat  •  7 months ago
      Anybody who uses the motorway system already knows that 50% of the vehicles glue themselves to the outside lane and travel nose to tail at 80+mph anyway!
      ...Unless it's the M25 of course!

      Having said that, it won't stop all the lorry drivers traveling parallel to each other, mile after mile at 50mph, in a vain attempt to overtake one-another.

      Perhaps that's why so many cars stick to the outside lane! ...it's the only one left free!
    • PyL0N
      PyL0N  •  7 months ago
      John Prescott will be able to drive faster on the hard shoulder if he's late for another meeting, flanked by traffic cops again. Sadly the rest of us will have to put up with 10 mile gridlock due to somebody who went over the old speed limit and caused a pile up by breaking that bit too late by (((80-70 divided by one eighth - (size of vehicle (drag) expressed as increased windspeed) ) - increased grip of tyres equalling decreased breaking distance) subtracted from top speed of vehicle at time of brakes applied expressed as a 'fractional part' of decreasing ratio of speed over distance) * total braking distance / 'fractional part') + (weightofcar*speed/breakingdistance) nanoseconds IF'd by a boolean representation of luck, 1 or true indicating luck, meaning that your guardian angel lassooed your car with a golden rope just as you would have crashed, and cruel fate was averted, and destiny split and the railway points of life took you to a green land of clear roads, and you left your nagging wife in the parallel universe which the split from mortally unavoidable evil left behind as a by product. 0 means you'll be buried or cremated and your wife will eventually marry Kristoff the big pouched builder.
    • Zulu
      Zulu  •  7 months ago
      Yes it will " help the economy"-people will use more fuel=more tax,trouble is this windfall may be used up on the million pounds each fatal accident costs-cars have improved,but driving skills?
    • A Yahoo! User  •  7 months ago
      Could someone please tell me which motorway you can drive at 80mph!!! All the ones I use are more like 40mph!!!!
    • Bullster
      Bullster  •  7 months ago
      Higher speed = big crashes
      I've seen some right pillocks in near misses who tailgate at 70 so 80 is just daft.
      The government might think it looks good for them on paper but as it says the environmental costs and fuel consumption costs do not justify this.
      Cars may have advanced but these new more powerful cars are often driven recklessly so people can use the potential of the car.
      To use an excuse of benefiting the British economy is disgusting to be honest. Safety and the environment are not mentioned in that statement and for the majority of safe road uses, it would have been nice to have been asked if they would mind more idiots bombing past you. Is the government liabel then if you do 60 and someone hits you doing 80 - 90 mph because they say it's safer?
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