80 MPH on our Motorway's?

A good idea. Speed per se doesn't kill and a crash at any speed over 50 is fatal anyway. At least the UK generally has intelligent drivers who can handle higher speeds and the vehicles are newer and roadworthy due to the annual (or is it bi-annual?) MOT.

Here the average age of vehicles is about 16 years and there is no annual MOT. Vehicles are only tested when they change hands and that is dodgy because certificates can be bought. Busses and taxis are supposed to be tested annually but it doesn't help due to the corruption. Several mini bus taxis have been found to have sub standard brake pads and one even had folded cardboard as brake pads!

The transport ministry here wants to lower the speed limit from 120 Km/h to 100 but the bulk of the crashes are caused by mini busses which are limited to 100 anyway and HGVs which are supposed to be limited to 80. Busses are also limited to 100 but I have often been passed by busses on the motorway when I have been doing 130 so how lowering the limit to 100 is going to help no one knows.

Syd, you really have missed the point.  At 70mph you might have a chance of seeing danger then steering and braking to AVOID a crash.

At 80mph there is LESS time to do anything and you travel further, then crash.

Apart from that the average British driver can hardly think clearly at 10mph.  Thick as s..t and too busy with phone, music, eating, drinking, map reading, shouting as kids, looking at crumpet etc etc, so little time left to think about what they are doing.  To say nothing of brain cell wondering "where is the MacDonalds ?"

Sorry Mick, don't agree. Not with the modern car. 10 more MPH is no problem . They're all doing 80 anyway so give them that but reduce the leeway and increase the penalty.

Besides, I have travelled 1000s of miles in the UK and, trust me, your drivers are 500 % better than those in SA aside from the cars being in way better condition. Slower speeds can have a negative effect because drivers get bored and sleepy. During the early 70s in SA there was a serious shortage of fuel so they reduced the speed limit to 50 MPH to try and save fuel. More drivers fell asleep and went off the road. They did end up saving fuel though because people couldn't be bothered to go anywhere because covering long distances at 50 MPH was boring in the extreme.

I guess there will always be differences of opinion regarding speed limits so let's just agree to disagree. Remember the main cause of traffic "accidents" is the nut that holds the wheel no matter what speed he's driving at.

Good debate this, c'mon let's have some more comments.

Hi Syd:  Hope all is well down in SA today.  I've noticed any POE issues today, but I've only just logged on.

Re: the topic at hand - like I said in my last post:    Anybody that's driving faster than you is a maniac, and anybody driving slower is an idiot.  :-)  Right?  lol

I think another factor that makes speed dangerous in the inexperience of young drivers.  I see kids, 18-19 years old driving these little teeny cars at about 80-90 MPH without the realization of how just a tiny turn of the wheel or tap of the brakes will put them totally out of control at that speed.  We have a long interstate highway here - I-10, which in western Arizona, is straight and flat.  You can't believe the number of rollover accidents on that stretch, where the posted speed limit is 75 MPH.  But people fall asleep there too, on those long straight stretches, no matter how fast or slow they're going. 

Syd.  Modern cars are only better WHEN you put the brakes on.  My whole point was that human thinking time has not and cannot improve.  No one can brake or steer instantly, the brain must process what is seen, then it takes time to signal the hands or feet to react.  Calculate how far you travel at 80mph compared with 70mph in terms of feet/second, it makes no difference if thats in a new or old car. To make it worse a legal 80mph means 90mph to Joe Thick, now add on a nice thick fog.  I spent long enough dealing with the effects of speed on people in hospital. Broken bones and brain damage do tend to curb ones desire for speed.

One thing does seem very odd about this plan.  Cameron et al say it will help the economy.  Yes it will make money for the vehicle recovery trucks.  We will all pay more for insurance.  Will the boost to the economy cover the extra cost to the NHS ?  All this at a time when they want to cut back on police numbers.  It gets even more strange when rich and poor can use a motorway, until you consider the type of vehicle used.  The poor tend to use a small hatchback.  The rich may have a large 4x4 with a heavy chassis and perhaps more chance of surviving.  Perhaps it is a selective cull.

Try dealing with these idiots when your on a motorbike!!! 

And why oh why do the drivers of these 4x4,off road vehicles feel the need to have Kangaroo/ Bull bars when all they do is the School run and Sainsbury's