Do you overtake/tailgate people that are driving the speed limit?

Its not a guess, its an informed assessment based on the conditions.

All I have to show is that I have more information at my disposal to make an accurate assessment than the bureaucrat in an office in whitehall setting the speed limit 50 years ago.

Which is not exactly hard to do, unless that person was the greatest clairvoyant known to mankind.


The Great Nostrodamus predicts that it will rain on the A34 on tuesday the 10th August and at 11pm there will be a vauxhall astra with good tyres making its way down this road, the safest maximum speed limit for which will be 64.3mph.


AMAZING

Unfortunately, your argument is flawed on three counts. First, the limit wasn't set in Whitehall; it was set by (usually locally-based) traffic safety experts who inspected the road. Secondly, the people who set the limit were knowledgeable in their role and fully trained, unlike you. Thirdly, having more information does not guarantee that you can make a better assessment. For instance, young people have undeveloped risk assessment skills, which is one reason they have far more road accidents than older people.

Amazing how ALL these local experts agreed on multiples of 10. Oh no, thats nonsense. Hence the reason speed limits in London are identical to Penrith, because they were centrally set, 50 years ago.

And its STILL one limit to cover all conditions. The limit does not change with the weather and time of day, which implies its probably wrong at least 90% of the time.

You haven't considered the possibility that speed limits are always a multiple of 10 in order to save money on sign manufacture and so as not to confuse the motorist with information that requires too much processing at a time when their attention is required on the road then?

The limit is just that, an upper limit, calculated for the best conditions. It is not a goal that drivers should aim at.

I'm aware of that, but that implies that ON AVERAGE they're something like 3mph out in one direction or another.


The speeds limits are not calculated for best conditions at all, otherwise they would not be lower around schools. Some are calculated for best conditions, some for worst conditions but most probably for average conditions.

Either way, they're almost always wrong by definition.

If people are acting like this behind you, BY FAR the safest action you can take is to pull over and let them past.

Especially if you have a baby on board, don't take chances with your kid's life to try and prove some kind of point to dickheads.

I know its hard to turn the other cheek and be the big man, but you have a baby on board for god sake! Pull over man!

Speed limits have changed vastly since 1750, and indeed since 1960 when the stopping distances were tested and introduced. We are not just arguing official stopping distances though, we are talking about speed.
Do you have proof that all modern cars stop in less then half of the stopping distances mentioned? If it's not ALL cars, then that's not good enough to warrant speeding.

Again, although you're talking about things being out of date and alike, you still haven't addressed my actual point. Even if you can prove to me that the government set speeds are clearly wrong as the safest maximum on a road, you can't prove to me that your chosen speed (which you guess upon arrival) is better.
It's the guessing that I disagree with. You can't possibly know from your guess that you've chosen the safest speed at all, and as such you are putting lives in danger.

But, it is clear that we are not going to come to any understanding. So perhaps we should leave the conversation where it is.

Look up the top gear old banger challenge I think it was called. Basically they used some crappy old cars from about 1990, and all were significantly better. I don't think it's a big stretch to say that modern cars stop faster than in 1990.

And no, it doesn't 'warrant' speeding, but the government can't prove that their limits are better or safer than say, 10mph faster on a motorway. Of course they are in the sense that if everybody travelled 5mph all the time we'd have barely any fatalities, but the causation between speed and accidents is becoming ever more tentative. As an example, my new car has multi directional radar; I'll see a pedestrian on the motorway in the dark over 100 metres away which I could never have done in my old car. My car has collision avoidance. If I'm going to hit the obstacle it'll calculate the vehicles around me and take evasive action/break. It has distance control; if I get too close to the car in front it'll ease off the speed, if the one behind gets too close it'll increase it. It'll flash warning lights, tension seat belts, and brake if needed. My guessing has nothing to do with it; the vehicles systems calculate everything and tell me exactly what's going on. The new version of my car will even have reverse thrusters.

It's eminently safer for me to be doing 85 in my new car than 70 in my old one. For everybody, not just for me. Speed limits on motorways need addressed, and have done for years. That said, if I'm trying to do 85 in rush hour, heavy rain, or fog, I'm simply an idiot. I personally hate being close to other cars, especially on motorways/a-roads, so keep a long way away. However I'm not adverse to speeding on them.

To be fair, it`s a bit arrogant to just come in to a thread, post factually incorrect and incredibly patronising things, and when people point that out insist that people don`t reply to you..............

You certainly are - you`ve stated a number of times about the detailed tests on road surfaces and stopping distances that are carried out when setting speed limits, which is simply not true. I respect your right to have an opinion, but if you go around making stuff up then expect to get called on it. If I was telling people on here that A-levels take 3 years you would no doubt call me on it.

And it certainly is patronising to say that the average driver is incapable of deciding what is a safe speed for a stretch of road when the authorities rely heavily on the judgement of these same drivers when they assess the speed limit in the first place!

Reply or not, i`m not bothered. But i`m not going to tell other users whether they are "allowed" to respond to me or not.

I haven't told anyone what they are allowed to do, read it again. I've very politely said I'd appreciate not being quoted again.
Don't see how that could be said in a more polite way, I just don't wish to continue on this subject.

Because you've been called out on saying incorrect things.


Posted from TSR Mobile

Your speedo is probably 5-10mph slow.

Do you live in Southampton by any chance? Been there once and the locals treat the city like a race track

OP: CONGRATs on passing and all the best for future driving. I drive with a baby on board and daily have a car up my arse (i do bang on the speed limit); i will see people flash their lights / give w*nker signs to get me to hurry up. I think it is disgusting, just the other day the road split and the chap behind me came past, i pointed to the baby and he told me to f off and gave me a middle finger. This is just the tip of the iceberg, just stick to your guns !!! Good luck

Huh what point am i trying to prove? I am just driving around town doing the speed limit and they are up my arse, just to clarify it isn't me swearing!

I have worked all over the south of england (driving) and find the town i live in now the most agressive, i'd be pulling over every few cars if i did this lol

If people are acting like this behind you, BY FAR the safest action you can take is to pull over and let them past.