UK government proposes 80mph motorway speed limit

[Kniwt]

A story in The Guardian reports:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/29/speed-limit-raised-80mph

The government plans to raise the speed limit to 80mph from 70mph in a victory for the transport secretary, Philip Hammond.

Hammond said on Thursday he will launch a consultation later this year with a view to introducing the new limit in 2013.

[njroadhorse]

I think this is a good idea. After going to the UK and being on the motorways, there are definitely some sections of motorway that could warrant an 80mph limit. There are a lot of stretches where the land is fairly open.

[goobnav]

Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear must be behind this one,  .  I would not be surprised if it is brought on there tonight, new season starts on BBC America.

[english si]

No, Clarkson has nothing to do with it (though I imagine he supports it). This one has been kicking about since they upped the dual carriageway limit to 70mph after the 70s oil crisis, if not before.

80mph is 129km/h, which fits in with the 130km/h limit in France, etc
(The Netherlands has gone to 130km/h and Spain has flirted with a 110km/h limit recently and Germany has a recommended 130km/h limit).

[goobnav]

At least 70 is higher than 65.  I am glad my state went to 70 but, there are still areas here that can see a minimum raise to 75.

No surprise that the UK had to be different until reality brought them into the 21st century.

[Chris]

Quite a number of European countries have recently raised or are proposing to raise the speed limits.

For instance Denmark went from 110 to 130 a few years ago. Poland went from 130 to 140 last year, the Netherlands is en-route to a 130 km/h limit by September 2012 and I've read Bulgaria also wants to increase the limit to 140. Furthermore Austria did test trials with 160 km/h and the Italian highway code has a provision for 150 km/h, though this hasn't been put into operation yet. Sweden is also trialing with 120 km/h and Spain went from 120 to 110 to 120 last year.

Rural freeway limits are pretty reasonable throughout Europe, with 120 and 130 being the most common limits.

[english si]

No surprise that the UK had to be different until reality brought them into the 21st century.

I'm not sure what you mean.

The UK isn't going metric, it's thinking about changing it's speed limit and the result will be similar to the limits in much of the rest of Europe (1km/h difference due to round numbers). It's not really doing anything much but undoing the too-low limit put in place in the 70s (before there was no limit on rural roads). Nothing 21st century about it - just leaving the 1970s.

[Chris]

The Netherlands also used to have a blank speed limit, although most cars of that time couldn't drive much faster than 100 km/h economically anyway. A speed limit of 100 km/h (60 mph) was introduced in 1974, which was raised to 120 km/h (75 mph) in 1988, and now to 130 km/h (80 mph) in 2012. The United Kingdom didn't raise their speed limit like most European countries did in the 1970's, even though the superior road design (most motorways have six lanes) allows for 75 or 80 mph without problems. I just see it as a legalization of something that is already occurring. I don't think there will be much difference in reality, it's not like the motorways suddenly become unacceptably unsafe, as some safety jihadists claim. It's not the end of the world.

[agentsteel53]

I had no idea the speed limit increases were so recent in those countries.  I enjoyed 140km/h in Poland and 130km/h in the Netherlands in Nov, 2011.

the Netherlands must be on a gradual rollout, as I distinctly remember some segments having 130km/h speed limit signs.

[cpzilliacus]

Some Swedish motorways are now posted for 120 k/h, at least in the spring/summer/fall seasons.

[pctech]

Considering fuel cost in Europe I'm surprised they'd raise speed limits. Doesn't the UK (and most of Europe) have a CO2 tax?

Mark

[Chris]

Europeans generally do not drive gas guzzlers. Over 50% of the European car sales are diesel-powered cars which are more fuel efficient. Modern diesel cars still get 30+ mpg at 90 or 100 miles per hour.

Europeans are just used to allocate more of the household budget to mobility cost. In most countries the fuel taxes on gasoline are higher than the overall U.S. gas price.

[J N Winkler]

Considering fuel cost in Europe I'm surprised they'd raise speed limits. Doesn't the UK (and most of Europe) have a CO2 tax?

To add to what Chris says, in Britain at least, the carbon element of the tax is applied to the vehicle excise duty and is based on carbon emissions as measured under test conditions.  There is therefore no carbon-related tax penalty to driving fast.

[Truvelo]

Furthermore, some cars such as VW Bluemotion models come fitted with low rolling resistance tires to reduce the CO2 emissions and qualify the vehicle for a lower rate of tax. When the tires are replaced there is nothing to force the fitment of similar tires therefore the new tires could have poorer CO2 figures which makes the carbon figures under test conditions almost pointless.

[agentsteel53]

Some Swedish motorways are now posted for 120 k/h, at least in the spring/summer/fall seasons.

as another example, I seem to recall 110 around the Oslo, Norway area.