Motorway speed limits.

K.Flyer

It will never happen, and if it does there will be mayhem.
Less than half an hour ago, north bound on the M50, this f#@king muppet in a Blue Ford Fusion with a Cork reg comes straight off the ramp and barges across into lane 3 and slows down to 80.
Both lanes 1 and 2 jostled with cars trying to get out and around the twat because he is not overtaking anyone as lanes 1 and 2 are flying pass him now with a good 400 m gap in front of him.
He was flashed plenty as cars came up behind him but he stayed in lane 3 till he was gone in my mirror.
This is why accidents happen, this is why cars Must undertake, this is why education and enforcement are needed.
Mr C reg Blue Ford Fusion you were a danger to yourself, your passengers and other road users on the M.50 today.

MarkAnthony

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I couldn't disagree more regarding French drivers. I spent a good year there (Brittany), and a few months around Metz, and the drivers were terrible for hogging the overtaking lane, even to the point where I saw it take about 5 minutes for an ambulance (with lights flashing and siren blasting) to get past a car in the overtaking lane doing about 81 km/h, while overtaking other (extremely well spaced out traffic, so more than enough gaps to pull in and let the ambulance pass) that was doing about 79/80 km/h, and didn't pull back in until about 200 metres up the road!! I couldn't believe it.

I experienced this with overtaking lane hoggers all the time, even when lane 1 was clear.

Paddy on holiday :P

Ogogo

K.Flyer wrote: »

It will never happen, and if it does there will be mayhem.
Less than half an hour ago, north bound on the M50, this f#@king muppet in a Blue Ford Fusion with a Cork reg comes straight off the ramp and barges across into lane 3 and slows down to 80.
Both lanes 1 and 2 jostled with cars trying to get out and around the twat because he is not overtaking anyone as lanes 1 and 2 are flying pass him now with a good 400 m gap in front of him.
He was flashed plenty as cars came up behind him but he stayed in lane 3 till he was gone in my mirror.
This is why accidents happen, this is why cars Must undertake, this is why education and enforcement are needed.
Mr C reg Blue Ford Fusion you were a danger to yourself, your passengers and other road users on the M.50 today.

No point getting excited about it [YET]. At that speed it will take him some time yet to get to his destination, log in again about midnight and try again. :rolleyes:

CiniO

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

^^^^
looks like you are going warp speed in that picture:D

Yeap, I was just about to jump into hyperspace.

AndyBoBandy

CiniO wrote: »

Yeap, I was just about to jump into hyperspace.

...when this baby gets up to 88 mph!!

CiniO

Jesus. wrote: »

Cinio why am I not surprised!! You also had no problems towing a horsebox in a 1.4 Golf once!

You belong to a different era Cinio when men were men and they'd be pulling 2 tonnes of weight up hills in a 65hp Cortina, smoking a fag and without so much as a bead of sweat on their forehead

Well, I just think if car is capable of achieving certain speed or acceleration or towing power, while using all it's available engine power, then there's no reason not to use it.

F.e. if I need to drive at 7000rpm to drive uphill at certain speed, then I will without hesitation.
If I need to keep my car at 6000rpm for 1 hour to travel 200km on autobahn at 200km/h then I will.

Brasso

I don't think the M50 should come into the discussion on speed limits being raised as it would remain at 100 km/h anyway due to its narrower lanes compared with most two-lane motorways.

PCeeeee

There is a notion that Irish drivers are poor and would not be capable of driving at greater than the current limits.

This does not seem to be borne out by our position in the European statistics (2014)

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/pdf/vademecum_2015.pdf

I would imagine most of our fatalities do not occur on the motorway network. It seems we can drive quite safely at 120kph.

Brasso

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I see that being thrown around a lot and I have to say its crap. I drove across the length of Germany on an Autoban that its lanes were narrower than the M50 and the surface was in crap order. Some of the US Highways also have tiny lane sizes and there cars are huge.

Well whatever the reason for the 100 km/h limit I think it would probably remain in place even if other motorway routes had their speed raised or removed.

CiniO

PCeeeee wrote: »

There is a notion that Irish drivers are poor and would not be capable of driving at greater than the current limits.

This does not seem to be borne out by our position in the European statistics (2014)

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/pdf/vademecum_2015.pdf

I would imagine most of our fatalities do not occur on the motorway network. It seems we can drive quite safely at 120kph.

I think you are not rightly assuming, that fairly good level of road safety is directly linked to driver skills.
There's plenty more factors to road safety that driver skills.
If road safety were only to driver skills, then Ireland would be fairly low on your EU list.

Ogogo

Personally, not that I would fancy the prospect much, but I believe there should be both compulsory refresher courses and mini re-tests for driving skills at least a couple of times throughout your driving career. When I did my test I think there was only about 5 miles of motorway in the country. Worse, there are many people who legitimately have Irish licences who never did a test.

At times I would like if the speed limit on the motorway was a bit higher - but seeing the antics of some drivers it is comforting that the limit is at no more than 120. It doesn't matter how good a driver you are, there will always be some idiot out there doing what idiots do best.

Also people bear in mind that its all well and good to do 120 km/h under NORMAL conditions, but should you get a tire blow-out or if your car suffers some other unexpected critical failure its a pretty scary place to be.

Even though the difference between 100km/h and 120km/h is only a 20% increase, your stopping distance (with a fully functional car) increases by 70%.

So short version - I would vote for an increase to 140 if it was accompanied by compulsory driver up-skilling.

CiniO

In relation to tyre blow out, problem is people don't pay attention to properly holding steering wheel.
I guess at least 95% of drivers on Irish motorways don't hold steering wheel properly.
Usually it's just one hand, sometimes only 2 fingers, very often one hand at the top, etc...
I remember I once travelled in a bus and looked at drivers and nearly no one held steering wheel properly with 2 hands at quarter to 3.

A tyre blowout at high speed or a pothole, and lack of proper grip on steering wheel means accident.
If you get a blowout even at 160km/h or even more, but hold your steering wheel properly are react instantly and correctly, you can easily save situation.

*Kol*

In fairness the country is not so large that an increase in speed will get you to your destination dramatically quicker. unfortunately there are parts of the motorway network that are not suitable for 120 Kmh never mind above it. In Kiev tonight the overhead signs on the motorway were displaying a limit for each of the 4 lanes; 130/110/90/70!!!

Edit. Interesting and civil thread so far!!

Jesus.

LIGHTNING wrote: »

My 60bhp Punto would cruise at 140km/h all day long, it was no bother to it at all.

There is no way on God's green earth that a 60hp Punto could 'cruise' at 87mph all day long. I don't know what you're smoking lad!

dr.fuzzenstein

Jesus. wrote: »

There is no way on God's green earth that a 60hp Punto could 'cruise' at 87mph all day long. I don't know what you're smoking lad!

Because he can't cruise at 88, that's when sh*t gets crazy!

As for upping the speed limit. NO! Are you fcuking nuts?! Up the speed limit to 140 in the only country in the FCUKING WORLD that doesn't teach people how to drive on the goddamn motorway?! Only if the driving curriculum and test include COMPULSORY motorway driving.
OK, any argument against? I'm German, here's my reply to that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRG-RBZBTZI

CiniO

Jesus. wrote: »

There is no way on God's green earth that a 60hp Punto could 'cruise' at 87mph all day long. I don't know what you're smoking lad!

I'm not sure which exact generation of punto are we talking about but assuming it's this one with 1.2 engine, spec says it's max speed is 155km/h (96mph).
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/fiat/punto/hatchback-1999/

So yes - this punto is perfectly capable of cruising at 87mph all day long.

I genuinely can't understand a reason you think it couldn't.

CiniO

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Because he can't cruise at 88, that's when sh*t gets crazy!

As for upping the speed limit. NO! Are you fcuking nuts?! Up the speed limit to 140 in the only country in the FCUKING WORLD that doesn't teach people how to drive on the goddamn motorway?! Only if the driving curriculum and test include COMPULSORY motorway driving.
OK, any argument against? I'm German, here's my reply to that:

Well, I'd say there's plenty of countries where driving on the motorway is not part of the learning curriculum neither part of the test.

I'd even risk saying, that Germany is only one of few countries, where driving on motorway is part of the test.
In most places it isn't.

Yes, many countries allows 140km/h on motorways without any issues.

Jesus.

CiniO wrote: »

I'm not sure which exact generation of punto are we talking about but assuming it's this one with 1.2 engine, spec says it's max speed is 155km/h (96mph). So yes - this punto is perfectly capable of cruising at 87mph all day long.

I genuinely can't understand a reason you think it couldn't.

I genuinely can't understand what you think 'cruising' means

CiniO

Jesus. wrote: »

I genuinely can't understand what you think 'cruising' means

For me cruising means travelling at constant speed for prelonged period of time

Mint Sauce

Jesus. wrote: »

I am sure you are being genuine Mr Mint but I find that very hard to believe. Unless you have a different idea of 'pleasure' than me! The car I was in was rated at 85hp so similar to yours.

Maybe I've just gotten spoiled by diesel engines in recent years

Okay, so the M20 and N25 were a bit of a free for all but other than that it was grand.

Henry Ford III

120kph is high enough I think.

Some drivers are well able to drive at that speed.

Unfortunately we have a relatively high number of poor drivers on our roads (lights, signals, anticipation, and lane discipline plus others being the main issues) and higher speeds would only lead to more accidents.

kirving

Remember too that stopping distance is not linear. A car doing 140kph takes significantly longer to stop than one doing 120kph. This isn't a problem in itself,
but very quickly becomes dangerous when you get tailgaters.

Jesus.

CiniO wrote: »

For me cruising means travelling at constant speed for prelonged period of time

Hmm. That's not what what I'd call it Bro.

I'd call 'cruising' driving chillaxed with the car eating up the miles without even breaking into a sweat. Not barrelling along at 90mph in a 900cc Cinquecento at the redline with the engine roaring so loud you can't even hear yourself think

Chemical Byrne

for starters lorrys are restricted to 80 (or is it 100?) on a motorway. Do you really want to be closing in on the back of a lorry at 80kph relative velocity?

120kph is adequate. Leave a few minutes earlier and you won't have to drive so fast...

CiniO

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

for starters lorrys are restricted to 80 (or is it 100?) on a motorway. Do you really want to be closing in on the back of a lorry at 80kph relative velocity?

120kph is adequate. Leave a few minutes earlier and you won't have to drive so fast...

Lorries restricted to 90km/h on motorways.
Buses to 100km/h.

Same as in most places in EU including Germany, where people have no problem with overtaking 90km/h lorries at 250km/h.

CiniO

Jesus. wrote: »

Hmm. That's not what what I'd call it Bro.

I'd call 'cruising' driving chillaxed with the car eating up the miles without even breaking into a sweat. Not barrelling along at 90mph in a 900cc Cinquecento at the redline with the engine roaring so loud you can't even hear yourself think

Well, fact that my engine is working at high revs, doesn't mean I'm sweating or that my engine is sweating.

TO be honest with you, at higher speeds (above 150 - 160km/h) tyre and wind noise are usually so loud in most cars, that you won't even hear the engine, no matter if it's at 2500rpm or 7000rpm.

I see your point - you just don't like using full capabilities of the engine - and like is working at only fraction of it's power with more power being available if you need that.
I really don't mind having my engine working at it's peak power high revs for longer, as there's no harm in doing so.

grogi

CiniO wrote: »

For me cruising means travelling at constant speed for prelonged period of time

Add "in a relaxed manner" and we have an understanding

Jesus.

CiniO wrote: »

Well, fact that my engine is working at high revs, doesn't mean I'm sweating or that my engine is sweating.

Well I suppose its a matter of opinion. Not caring whether you're revving at 7k towing a horsebox in a 1.4 Golf or driving for 3 hours straight redlining a 900cc motor is obviously fine by you Cinio. I know that by now! But perhaps most others would consider other cars/engines more appropriate for towing & motorway driving

CiniO wrote: »

TO be honest with you, at higher speeds (above 150 - 160km/h) tyre and wind noise are usually so loud in most cars, that you won't even hear the engine, no matter if it's at 2500rpm or 7000rpm.

Meh, I'm not so sure about that. You can't compare the refinement of your Ciquento and a V6 A6 at high speeds??? Come on man.

CiniO wrote: »

I really don't mind having my engine working at it's peak power high revs for longer, as there's no harm in doing so.

Fair enough but by the time I'd have arrived in Cork I'd need to lie down for two hours!

CiniO

Jesus. wrote: »

Well I suppose its a matter of opinion. Not caring whether you're revving at 7k towing a horsebox in a 1.4 Golf or driving for 3 hours straight redlining a 900cc motor is obviously fine by you Cinio. I know that by now! But perhaps most others would consider other cars/engines more appropriate for towing & motorway driving

In my opinion, if you can do it with particular car/engine, then this car/engine is appropriate.
What's the difference if it's 1.4 golf or 2.0 diesel golf, if you can tow at the same speed in both cases. Only difference that diesel will run at relatively low revs, while 1.4 petrol will have to be nearly redlines to achieve the same performance.
But effect is the same - you towed at the same speed.

Meh, I'm not so sure about that. You can't compare the refinement of your Ciquento and a V6 A6 at high speeds??? Come on man.

Of course you can't, but what I meant that in any car really you can't distinguish engine noise at those speeds as just tyres and wind make much more noise.
No matter if it's Cinquecento or V6 A6, at 160km/h you won't be able to say by ear, if it's at low revs or high revs without looking at rev counter on the dash.

Fair enough but by the time I'd have arrived in Cork I'd need to lie down for two hours!

I hardly get what's so exhausting about it.
Engine working at high revs - in the end of the day it's not you turning it that quick.
Only difference might be noise - maybe you just don't like the sound of engine at high revs.
I do.

Chemical Byrne

Refinement and comfort are different. I used to have a 85bhp Punto and while it the car itself could comfortably drive along at 120, you would be under o illusion as to the speed you were doing in it compared to say, my mothers Volvo in which if you weren't keeping a good eye on the speedo you'd find yourself creeping up to 140 or 150 because it didn't feel as fast in it.