TheInsanity1234 wrote:This sums up exactly my opinion on driving. I have always believed that speed limits are pointless. As has been mentioned elsewhere, what speed limits do is enforce a mind-frame of "If I am not going over the speed limit, then I am driving safely."
I personally feel that if speed limits were to be removed, unless strictly necessary (Such as the New Forest, or small roads with lots of houses along them), the roads would become much, much safer, as people would have to make their judgement on what is a safe speed, suitable for the conditions, and therefore people wouldn't try driving at 60 mph where it is unsafe to do so, such as where you all have mentioned, woodland on one side and fields on the other side of the road.
revian wrote:Sadly, IMHO, Ancient is right. 'Doing the right thing' or 'common sense' isn't a reliable outcome of human beings actions... Self included...
Ian
Ancient wrote:This (i.e. left to the judgement of the driver) was the case when motor vehicles first started to become common. Unfortunately the idea that peoples' judgement as to what is a safe speed will naturally be safe is unfounded even with the the vehicles of that era which were less safe for their occupants than modern vehicles, which is why speed limits had to be introduced. Given the fact that modern vehicles are designed for a high level of secondary safety (for their occupants) it is highly unlikely that drivers could be trusted to drive at safe speeds without limits now, when (in general) they couldn't in the past.
TheInsanity1234 wrote:I've heard of a story that the 70 MPH speed limit on motorways was only introduced to prevent car manufacturers from using the M1 as a test-track for their new sports cars. (I think it was Jaguar with one of their cars managing to reach 100 MPH that caused people to complain about it and thus, brought the blanket limit in force
trashbat wrote:TheInsanity1234 wrote:I've heard of a story that the 70 MPH speed limit on motorways was only introduced to prevent car manufacturers from using the M1 as a test-track for their new sports cars. (I think it was Jaguar with one of their cars managing to reach 100 MPH that caused people to complain about it and thus, brought the blanket limit in force
AC Cars with the Cobra, 186 mph, but it wasn't what introduced the speed limit which was coming anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Cobra
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