Speed limit

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russell
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Speed limit

Post by russell »

The limit on minor roads has just been reduced from 90 to 80 km/h. Do people think it will reduce accidents?

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martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

It will apply from 1/7/2018. And yes I do think it will, but I’m one of the minority of drivers who don’t consider themselves as above average (though of course that’s just false modesty).
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russell
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Post by russell »

My point is that most drivers here seem to ignore speed limits. I suspect that most serious accidents are caused by such behavior.

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martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

russell wrote:My point is that most drivers here seem to ignore speed limits. I suspect that most serious accidents are caused by such behavior.

Russell
I don’t think it follows that even speeders will still go at the same speeds as before. And it still helps if the poor sods they hit, going the other way, are going at 80 rather than 90.

It’s not my experience that most drivers ignore speed limits (considering how much speedos tend to over-read): it’s just that the ones who do are the most noticeable.
clarkebarry
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Post by clarkebarry »

Accidents depend on the skill of the driver anyway. 80 or 90 if you crash even at 50 you can die. People need to change their driving.
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

clarkebarry wrote:Accidents depend on the skill of the driver anyway. 80 or 90 if you crash even at 50 you can die. People need to change their driving.
I guess so. But while we retrain 40 million people, if they can be retrained, it helps if they still drive badly, but slower.
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Post by Allan »

Does anyone know if the change means that all roads with a 90 kph limit sign are automatically 80kph, or only once they have changed the signs.

Presumably out of town roads that are not signed but would have been 90 will automatically become 80.

I recently took delivery of a new car in which the satnav shows the 2 speed limits for wet and dry conditions. I have always known that the limit on autoroutes is reduced when wet but I confess that I didn’t know that a reduction also applies to 90 and 110 kph limits. That got me thinking, there must be a legal definition of the point where the reduced limits kick in but I have never seen it anywhere.

As for will the reduced limit save lives? then of course it will, if you reduced the national speed limit to 5kph you would virtually eliminate road deaths but then the economy would collapse and nobody would go anywhere and we would all die of boredom. Somewhere there is a balance and that may or may not be that 80 is better than 90.

There was an advertising campaign in England about speed limits, the slogan was ‘Its 30 for a reason’, the reason of course was that 70 years ago, someone thought 30 was a good idea and despite phenomenal changes in car capabilities, nobody ever considered changing it.

New cars these days have wonderful technology, my new car can steer, brake and drive itself in a traffic jam, yet I have never seen a car that can tell the driver that he is driving like an idiot. Maybe that will come.
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Post by martyn94 »

For what its worth, and for the next few weeks, the rules seem to be here

http://www.securite-routiere.gouv.fr/co ... ns/vitesse

ie 130 down to 110, 110 down to 100, 90 down to 80. And 50 anywhere in fog.

When it all kicks in is subject to dispute: there are lots of lawyers who make good money by disputing it. If your wipers are on, or should be, you could be nicked.

If you ever want to get thoroughly downcast about the capacity of men to be rational, there are endless forums on the web populated by people who think that speed limits are the work of Satan. I’d rather walk, or ride my bike.
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