Is your country's maximum speed limit commeasurate with the roads & conditions?
By veganbliss
@veganbliss (3895)
Adelaide, Australia
September 3, 2010 7:56pm CST
It was in the news recently that Australian open road speed limits are far too low on many of our latest freeways & highways. In Australia, the states set maximum limits for our roads, regardless of what their condition is. In South Australia it's 110km/hr. The Autobahn in Germany was mentioned, where the weather condition are typically much worse, & the roads better constructed. I hear they can drive along safely & legally at over 200km/hr over there. What are the maximum speed limits on the open roads in your country & do you believe they're on par with weather, driving conditions & road quality? I also think driver training has a lot to do with setting the speed limit & in Germany, for example, drivers are trained much more thoroughly than here. Many of our road users here, particularly the baby boomers & older, have never taken a practical driving test, especially those from rural backgrounds. Your thoughts on this matter please :-)
1 response
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
4 Sep 10
The UK's national road speed limit is 60mph,with a Motorway limit of 70mph..these limits can be varied depending on the conditions..not following the speed limits keeps the speed cops busy..I posted another discussion (Drive in Restaurant 2)recently about there being a 40mph limit posted on the stretch of main road that passes through the Village I live in,with a significant bend in the middle that seems to catch out speeding and unwary Drivers..A newish restaurant near the apex of the bend has now had 2 vehicles ending up embedded in the building in the space of about a Year (there's only a footpath separating the place from the roadway..) with a sizeable dent in a low wall right on the bend nearby where another van ended up recently..They're simply driving too fast for the conditions and being unprepared for the consequences..I think that would apply wherever in the world you are..
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
4 Sep 10
We'd only have electronic signage on the Motorway or M Class roads on Gantries above the roadway for the most part..Temporary ones at major road works too...Some roads are just too congested for the size of them and the volume of traffic using them on a daily basis..Here in Northern Ireland,there's no M-Class road across the country (Yet!)..going west from Belfast,the M1 runs for 40 Miles,and from that point on the "Main " Road is a 2 Lane patchily upgraded PITA where you can go from Motorway speeds to tailgating a tractor before you realise it..upgrading has been a long slow process..hopefully it'll be worth it.. I understand even the M25 orbital Motorway around London is a target for comedians who refer to it as a Car Park..
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
8 Sep 10
Wow... sounds dangerous driving Motorway speeds only to near-miss rear ending a tractor. I hope they don't wait for more accidents before something gets done. Northern Ireland sounds like good country to be driving around in. We love English & especially Irish comedians down here; one just needs to declare their Irish nationality & they've got the job! I guess population growth has been outstripping infrastructure all over the world.
All the Best :-)
