motorways and roof bars

[joe-90]

That's because your point exacerbates the problem. Trucks have limiters (as should cars). So if a truck is in he slow lane doing 56mph and you are in the middle lane doing 78mph (your figure) then the differential is 22mph - that's a hell of a speed difference yet you expect me to jump in and out of the slow lane to let some other plonka get past at an even more dangerous speed!

Forget it! They can wait behind me for ever for all I care.

I gave you the link - and that's how I drive. If you think the information is wrong then tell the people that have advised the government badly. Why doesn't everyone stick to the speed limit then there'd be no lane changing as we'd all be travelling at the same speed. Speed Cameras on the motorways - that's what we need.

 

[Softus]

That's because your point exacerbates the problem. Trucks have limiters (as should cars). So if a truck is in he slow lane doing 56mph and you are in the middle lane doing 78mph (your figure) then the differential is 22mph - that's a hell of a speed difference...

I don't see the speed difference between the trucks and your car as being of much importance. My suggestion of driving faster is to reduce, and maybe even eliminate, the speed differential between your vehicle and those coming up behind you and then overtaking you.

...yet you expect me to jump in and out of the slow lane...

Please show me where I've expressed any expectation that you need to do any such thing. Maybe other people have, but I haven't, so please get your facts right.

...to let some other plonka get past at an even more dangerous speed!

You're overplaying the "all speed is dangerous" card there.

On the one hand, I generally agree with you that speed limits are important and should be stuck to.

However, motorways are known to be generally safer places than most other roads, most of the time. Speed is only one ingredient of danger, and the decision to stick precisely to an upper limit needs to be a pragmatic one, not the dogmatic one that you claim to make.

There is no small number of nutters who drive a modern car at 50mph on a busy motorway - these people should be on A roads, or at home on the sofa. Equally, there are people who get frustrated to the point of danger if they can't do 100mph in a BMW. The happy medium is somewhere between those two points, and isn't determine by adhering to an arbitrary (yes, it's arbitrary, no matter how entrenched in Road Traffic Law it might be) limit that is made a mockery by extreme variations in road surface, weather, light, temperature, car condition, driver alertness, and visibility.

Forget it! They can wait behind me for ever for all I care.

That's right. That's what it comes down to. You appear not to care.

I gave you the link

No - you posted a link. That's a very different thing to a gift, and a very different thing to me being interested in following it when you can't be bothered to respond to some very relevant and polite points that I've put to you.

Why doesn't everyone stick to the speed limit

The world is a grey place, and an insistance on things being black and white does nothing to contribute to reducing frustration on the roads and keeping them as safe as possible.

 

[joe-90]

If the speed limits are wrong - then lobby for change.

If they are right and everyone adheres to them then we all travel in a safe, same-speed convoy.

As long as I am passing trucks I'll stay in the middle lane.

If you want to drive at an illegal speed then that's your choice.

Oh and the reason you won't look at that Government paid for link is that it proves me right. (But you knew that when you looked at it)

 

[Shytalkz]

Oh and the reason you won't look at that Government paid for link is that it proves me right. (But you knew that when you looked at it)

Just because the Gobmint says it is so, does not necessarily make it right: we are all (or should be) fully aware as to just how they skew statistics to suit their purposes. Speed limits, cameras, pollution, crime are all cases in point.

And the incontrovertible evidence is that speed, by itself, does not kill, but inappropriate use thereof. And you being a complete nob and refusing to move into the inside lane when its safe to do so, purely on a point of principle, is just as likely to result in a pile up, if not more so, as is some prat looning along at 100mph+ in bad conditions.

I'm guessing that you get quite a few single fingers raised in your direction by other drivers on the highways and by-ways...

 

[Shytalkz]

Follow the link for more safety tips at the bottom of the page and it says...

Ah, ok I stand corrected - probably something to do with having lost the will to live through even being on that site

 

[megawatt]

Dear all,

Surely you must all realise by now that Joe is simply being his usual obtuse self and refusing to answer anybody's polite and sensible questions simply because he knows he doesn't have an argument.

All he will do now is make yet more unsubstantiated claims and provocative statements in an attempt to wind you all up.

If the speed limits are wrong - then lobby for change.

If they are right and everyone adheres to them then we all travel in a safe, same-speed convoy.

As long as I am passing trucks I'll stay in the middle lane.

If you want to drive at an illegal speed then that's your choice.

Oh and the reason you won't look at that Government paid for link is that it proves me right. (But you knew that when you looked at it)

or

Forget it! They can wait behind me for ever for all I care.

Best thing to do is to simply ignore any posts Coco makes about Oil, Immigration or speeding as they never have any substance.

MW

 

[Softus]

If the speed limits are wrong - then lobby for change.

I already have. Why would you assume otherwise?

If they are right and everyone adheres to them then we all travel in a safe, same-speed convoy.

No we don't, because there are different rules/laws for different vehicles on the same bit of road.

As long as I am passing trucks I'll stay in the middle lane.

In that case there may be times when you're causing either a hazard, or frustration, or both.

If you want to drive at an illegal speed then that's your choice.

Yes it is, and when I do it it's an intelligent choice, not an idiotic one.

Oh and the reason you won't look at that Government paid for link is that it proves me right. (But you knew that when you looked at it)

I haven't followed the link, and the reason is that I have no need to because my point has been made. You've chosen to ignore that point, or at least to not reply to it. I can no more make you reply that you can make me follow the link, but I can post a coherent case that shows why it's sometimes safer to speed than not to, and I do know that the police recognise the impracticalities of staying under the limit 100% of the time. Your argument (which is all it is - an argument), on this topic, comprises a bloody-minded refusal to accept any other point of view, a poor working knowledge of the subtleties of motorway driving, and the label "idiot", which you stick to anyone who drives at more than 70mph on a motorway.

 

[joe-90]

Oh and the reason you won't look at that Government paid for link is that it proves me right. (But you knew that when you looked at it)

Just because the Gobmint says it is so, does not necessarily make it right: we are all (or should be) fully aware as to just how they skew statistics to suit their purposes. Speed limits, cameras, pollution, crime are all cases in point.

And the incontrovertible evidence is that speed, by itself, does not kill, but inappropriate use thereof. And you being a complete nob and refusing to move into the inside lane when its safe to do so, purely on a point of principle, is just as likely to result in a pile up, if not more so, as is some prat looning along at 100mph+ in bad conditions.

I'm guessing that you get quite a few single fingers raised in your direction by other drivers on the highways and by-ways...

So which other laws do you wantonly break? Inappropriate speed is the speed you are travelling when you hit something. How do you know that the gearbox won't seize? (and I've seen it happen). The steering snap? Heart attack? If the laws are wrong - then change them. Don't just whinge on a forum. But don't expect me to break them just because you want to.

 

[joe-90]

No need to click the link - I've copied it for you.





THINK! advice - driving on motorways

Heavier traffic and higher speeds mean you need to be more alert and in control of your vehicle on motorways.

And you can help avoid motorway accidents by following some simple rules.

1. Plan your journey

Check your vehicle is roadworthy before you start out, and if you are driving long distances, take plenty of breaks.

2. Keep left except when overtaking

If you are overtaking a number of slower vehicles, it may be safer to stay in the middle or outer lane rather than continually switching lanes.

3. Keep your distance

Watch when when the vehicle in front passes an object beside the road, then slowly count "one second, two seconds". If you pass the same object before you've finished counting, you're too close.

4. Watch your speed

* The speed limit for cars, motorbikes, light goods vehicles and buses and coaches less than 12m long on motorways is 70mph;
* The speed limit for vehicles towing a caravan or trailer, HGVs, articulated lorries and buses or coaches over 12m long on motorways is 60mph.

Signs with yellow flashing lights are used to show lower speed limits when you need to slow down in poor weather conditions, when traffic is heavy or there has been an accident.

5. Only use the hard shoulder in an emergency

If you break down, pull onto the hard shoulder as close to the verge as possible and turn on your hazard warning lights.

There are emergency phones every 1500m (about a mile). Wait for help as far away from traffic as you can.

If you need to stop for any other reason - to read a map or use your mobile phone, for instance - pull into a service station.

6. Take special care at roadworks

If you have to drive through roadworks:

* Slow down and get into the correct lane in good time;
* If there is no hard shoulder, watch out for broken down vehicles;
* Don't switch lanes;
* Concentrate on the road ahead, not the roadworks;
* Watch out for works traffic entering or leaving roadworks;
* Keep to the speed limit - normally 50mph; and
* Keep a safe distance - there could be queues in front.

 

[Softus]

So which other laws do you wantonly break? Inappropriate speed is the speed you are travelling when you hit something.

...or cause someone else to drive more dangerously. If you drive too slowly in view of the police they will soon point it out to you.

How do you know that the gearbox won't seize? (and I've seen it happen). The steering snap? Heart attack?

I see. Please state the speed that would prevent an accident happening in the event of one of the above occurring.

If the laws are wrong - then change them. Don't just whinge on a forum. But don't expect me to break them just because you want to.

It isn't that black and white. And you're the one who's doing all the whinging.

No need to click the link - I've copied it for you.

Thanks, but I have no intention of reading the rest of that post, at least until you've read what I've written (earlier on this topic) and replied to it.

 

[joe-90]

Softus. I don't cause anyone to drive dangerously. They do that of their own volition and if caught will be fined or banned for so doing.

If someone has a heart attack and crashed then the faster they are travelling then the greater the impact. From memory the equation is twice the speed - four times the impact kinetic energy. Please tell me if I've got that wrong.

I drive as per the link I so kindly copied for you that you are too pig-headed to read. (grunt grunt).

 

[Softus]

Softus. I don't cause anyone to drive dangerously. They do that of their own volition and if caught will be fined or banned for so doing.

I take your point, although it's a slightly mis-shapen reply to the point I was making.

If someone has a heart attack and crashed then the faster they are travelling then the greater the impact. From memory the equation is twice the speed - four times the impact kinetic energy. Please tell me if I've got that wrong.

It's even more worse than you think. The momentum is the product of hte mass and the square of the speed.

I drive as per the link I so kindly copied for you that you are too pig-headed to read. (grunt grunt).

Touché. I must go out now, but I'll read it later.

 

[Shytalkz]

So which other laws do you wantonly break? Inappropriate speed is the speed you are travelling when you hit something. How do you know that the gearbox won't seize? (and I've seen it happen). The steering snap? Heart attack? If the laws are wrong - then change them. Don't just whinge on a forum. But don't expect me to break them just because you want to.

If ifs and ands were pots and pans...

That was just about the most nonsensical claptrap that you have come out with. How do you even dare to get out of bed in the morning? A gear box is just as likely (ie not very) to sieze at 30 as it is at 70. Steering makes a habit of snapping, does it? How do you know you won't have a heart attack while you're bumbling along at your statutory speed? You don't - and 70 or 80 or 90 really isn't going to make that much difference to the outcome if you had one.

In answer to your first query: loads. Some with full knowledge, others of which I wasn't even aware and I'm betting that the latter is just as true for you.

 

[joe-90]

Would you rather you gear box seized at 30 or 90 mph?

Would you rather that if you had a heart attack with your family on-board it happened at 70 or 90mph?

You are just plain old floundering and it's pretty clear to see.

What speed do YOU think you should be able to drive at? And how did you come to the conclusion that it is safe to do so?

When it comes to speed and crashes remember:

"The momentum is the product of the mass and the square of the speed."

Geddit yet? (nah - he won't. Doesn't wanna know)

 

[Shytalkz]

Would you rather you gear box seized at 30 or 90 mph?

Would you rather that if you had a heart attack with your family on-board it happened at 70 or 90mph?

You are just plain old floundering and it's pretty clear to see.

What speed do YOU think you should be able to drive at? And how did you come to the conclusion that it is safe to do so?

When it comes to speed and crashes remember:

"The momentum is the product of hte mass and the square of the speed."

Gedditt yet? (nah - he won't. Duznt wanna know)

It's all what ifs with you Joe. The prospect of any of those happening is as remote a possibility as to not worry about. But then, I also ride a motorbike, so I guess that my viewpoint would be diametrically opposed to yours. I go fast, I go slow, I stick to limits, I break them. Most importantly, if others want to go faster than I do, I get out of the way.

It all depends on circumstances and my personal assessment of how safe I feel, which has absolutely nothing to do with the entirely arbitrary limits set by the gobmint. Or your maths, of which as an SE I am more than aware, so no need to keep quoting at it me like a f**king mantra, thanks.