Is 50 mph too low?

[CaptainKangaroo]

Having read Tina's post about maniac drivers, this begs the question

"Is 50mph on a single carriageway a suitable speed?"

When one considers modern day cars with plenty of power to sustain 60mph and caravans with improved chassis and stablisers.

This 50mph limit was set many moons ago should it be raised and therefore cause less tailbacks and less negative press by not holding up other road users, well apart from the odd tool who had a lobotomy when they gave him a licence.

 

[Damian]

Andy, whilst I agree that todays cars are capable of sustained higher speeds, and van design and technology has improved, as far as 50 mph on a single carriageway goes I must say that I think it right.

The aspect you have to take into consideration is what woul dhappen should you have a situation with your van, and it goes out of control, think about the impact speed it woul dhave against a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

For instance, your van turns over, due to a tyre blow out,,,it travels at 50 mph down the wrong side of the road,,,,,the car coming the other way is doing 60,,,,impact speed,,,,110 mph.

I know that I would not like to hit a caravan chassis with an impact speed of that,,so raising the limit for vans higher would only increase the damage that may be done in the event of an accident.

At least on dual carriageways the traffic most likely to be affected will be travelling in the same direction, and impact speeds may well be only 10 to 30 mph,,but still going in the same direction.

 

[Tina3]

Hi All

Can I mention the letter(cant remeber if caravan mag or practical caravan) from the man who got pulled over by the police on the motorway for going too slow!!!!!! app. the weather was atrocious,wind rain etc and he could barely see,the copper didnt even have the nouse to ask him to go to the next exit to chat to him but decided to sit on the hard shoulder!!!!I cant remember exactly what speed he was doing,50 I think but surely theres something not right,I know going too slow is hazardous on a motorway but in storm like conditions???????????

 

[Dusty1]

There's no doubt about it, but when some drivers see a caravan in front of them the red mist seems to descend. It doesn't seem to be the same though when they are stuck behind an articulated lorry which on a single carriage road is limited to 40 mph!

 

[rayc]

Damian, Come to Dorset. The way speed limits are being dropped throughout the county there won't be many roads that you can go above 50mph whether solo or towing. I do agree with you that 50 is about right for max towing on most non dual carriage way type roads. Going faster is a little bit like the 85% rule really you just lower your margin in the event of anything going wrong.

 

[CaptainKangaroo]

Andy, whilst I agree that todays cars are capable of sustained higher speeds, and van design and technology has improved, as far as 50 mph on a single carriageway goes I must say that I think it right.

The aspect you have to take into consideration is what woul dhappen should you have a situation with your van, and it goes out of control, think about the impact speed it woul dhave against a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

For instance, your van turns over, due to a tyre blow out,,,it travels at 50 mph down the wrong side of the road,,,,,the car coming the other way is doing 60,,,,impact speed,,,,110 mph.

I know that I would not like to hit a caravan chassis with an impact speed of that,,so raising the limit for vans higher would only increase the damage that may be done in the event of an accident.

At least on dual carriageways the traffic most likely to be affected will be travelling in the same direction, and impact speeds may well be only 10 to 30 mph,,but still going in the same direction.

would an impact speed of 120 make any difference?

Don't think so, you would be killed at 110.

Hey, when your numbers up ........ your numbers up!

 

[CaptainKangaroo]

Does anyone know the speed limits in the rest of the EU for towing?

 

[Clive-Cardiff]

Hi All

Can I mention the letter(cant remeber if caravan mag or practical caravan) from the man who got pulled over by the police on the motorway for going too slow!!!!!! app. the weather was atrocious,wind rain etc and he could barely see,the copper didnt even have the nouse to ask him to go to the next exit to chat to him but decided to sit on the hard shoulder!!!!I cant remember exactly what speed he was doing,50 I think but surely theres something not right,I know going too slow is hazardous on a motorway but in storm like conditions???????????

I think from memory that the chap was doing 40mph. I would say that is much to slow for motorway travel and is likely to cause accidents. If the conditions were bad enough to warrant a speed of 40mph then I would have left the motorway and taken shelter.

It would be interesting to find out if the Police took any further action.

 

[Dusty1]

Does anyone know the speed limits in the rest of the EU for towing?

Yes.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Damian, Come to Dorset. The way speed limits are being dropped throughout the county there won't be many roads that you can go above 50mph whether solo or towing. I do agree with you that 50 is about right for max towing on most non dual carriage way type roads. Going faster is a little bit like the 85% rule really you just lower your margin in the event of anything going wrong.

Hi Ray

Yes I agree that limiting speed is probabbly the best way of reduceing the potential for mishaps, but, 85% is a guideline ont a rule!

 

[Damian]

Ray, its the same over here, on the Island. There is nowhere that you can legally do more than 60mph now, even our one tiny bit of dual carriageway has a 40 then 30mph limit at one end, so not enough room to get any speed up, as its only 1/2 a mile long anyway!!!

 

[MickC1]

Andy, whilst I agree that todays cars are capable of sustained higher speeds, and van design and technology has improved, as far as 50 mph on a single carriageway goes I must say that I think it right.

The aspect you have to take into consideration is what woul dhappen should you have a situation with your van, and it goes out of control, think about the impact speed it woul dhave against a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

For instance, your van turns over, due to a tyre blow out,,,it travels at 50 mph down the wrong side of the road,,,,,the car coming the other way is doing 60,,,,impact speed,,,,110 mph.

I know that I would not like to hit a caravan chassis with an impact speed of that,,so raising the limit for vans higher would only increase the damage that may be done in the event of an accident.

At least on dual carriageways the traffic most likely to be affected will be travelling in the same direction, and impact speeds may well be only 10 to 30 mph,,but still going in the same direction.

As far as I'm aware, if a caravan overturns, it tends to come to a halt fairly rapidly. Therefore the following cars will hit it at 70 - 80, rather than 10 - 30 as suggested.

 

[parker1158]

Hi All

If you drive up the M1, as I do very frequently, most of the cars do around 80mph. I would think at this speed you are unlikly to get pulled over. Right or wrong it is almost accepted that it is ok to flaunt the speed limits by a small amount. Again its not carved in stone but I believe percentages are normaly adopted on most speed limits. Over-all its fair to say that 95% of the time we can all get away with going a few miles over the limit ( perhapse less so in lower limits in built up areas). So generally we are doing 80 on the motorway instead of 70. If the limit were raised to 80 then people would do 90 and so on. For this reason I for one think the current limits are fine.

Lets not forget that a speed limit is just that a limit not a target.

I also personally believe that sometimes our boys in blue come in for some unnecessary stick. Agreed there are some jobs-worths' out there but generally I think they have our best interests at heart. I am willing to bet that if you are driving up the motorway at 65ish in a steady combo with right mirrors, lights working etc etc they will not give you a second thought. If on the other hand you are doing 65 with a 7metre van snaking about on the back of a ford fiesta with brake lights coming on when you indicate you are asking for, and should rightly get, the book thrown at you.

Another problem with the general public (and I include myself in this) is we all think we are fantastic drivers, its never our fault when we have an accident, its never our fault when we cut somebody up.

In my many years working in motorsport I have had the pleasure of being driven in cars by some very notable drivers both on the track and on public roads and I can honestly say to be driven by what I consider to be a profesional driver is a real eye opener to your own inadequacies.

In short then leave the limits as they are because I think we are kidding ourselves that we can handle any more.

 

[CaptainKangaroo]

Yes.

good for you ............... now make sure you stick em

 

[Lutz]

Actually, caravans are technically not designed for speeds over 60mph and insurance coverage may be affected if it can be proved that the outfit was going over 60mph at the time of the accident. A lot of people are not aware of this when towing at up to 130kph that are allowed in France, for example.

 

[VIP2006]

I cannot see whats to be gained by speeding down the road only to arrive at your destination a little earlier. why not use more scenic routes to your destination as I do. If road charging comes into being what happens to all of us then?

 

[CaptainKangaroo]

Lutz, I have never seen any info for the design limits of caravan chassis, where did you read this?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hail Mon Capitan!

I suspect that commercial pressures will ensure that caravan manufactures will only design product and test it to meet the minimum requirements. In this case the towing limits in the UK are a maximum of 60mph therefore why spend extra money and materials to make a caravan that will tow at higher speeds?

Very few of the UK manufactures manage to export, so they tend to keep the designs to UK specs. Perhaps some of the manufacture would be stirred into commenting?

 

[Lutz]

You're absolutely right, John L. In export markets, the maximum permissible speed is generally even lower, usually 80kph on motorways. France and Belgium (and Germany under certain conditions) are the only exceptions, so why put more money into a design which in 90% of all cases you'd never be able to make full use of its capabilities.

 

[chris_5068897]

Hi All

If you drive up the M1, as I do very frequently, most of the cars do around 80mph. I would think at this speed you are unlikly to get pulled over. Right or wrong it is almost accepted that it is ok to flaunt the speed limits by a small amount. Again its not carved in stone but I believe percentages are normaly adopted on most speed limits. Over-all its fair to say that 95% of the time we can all get away with going a few miles over the limit ( perhapse less so in lower limits in built up areas). So generally we are doing 80 on the motorway instead of 70. If the limit were raised to 80 then people would do 90 and so on. For this reason I for one think the current limits are fine.

Lets not forget that a speed limit is just that a limit not a target.

I also personally believe that sometimes our boys in blue come in for some unnecessary stick. Agreed there are some jobs-worths' out there but generally I think they have our best interests at heart. I am willing to bet that if you are driving up the motorway at 65ish in a steady combo with right mirrors, lights working etc etc they will not give you a second thought. If on the other hand you are doing 65 with a 7metre van snaking about on the back of a ford fiesta with brake lights coming on when you indicate you are asking for, and should rightly get, the book thrown at you.

Another problem with the general public (and I include myself in this) is we all think we are fantastic drivers, its never our fault when we have an accident, its never our fault when we cut somebody up.

In my many years working in motorsport I have had the pleasure of being driven in cars by some very notable drivers both on the track and on public roads and I can honestly say to be driven by what I consider to be a profesional driver is a real eye opener to your own inadequacies.

In short then leave the limits as they are because I think we are kidding ourselves that we can handle any more.

I think the reason you don't get pulled over at 80 is because vehicle speedos are not allowed to under-read, but can over-read within the limits -0% to +10%. This means that an indicated 80 may be nearer to 70 in reality.