The most irritating are the nervous (or half blind) who persist in driving 10 mph slower than the limit on narrow roads with double white lines, thereby delaying everyone for no good reason.
There are plenty of roads with bends and double white lines where it is positively dangerous to do the stated maximum, There is nothing worse than being intimidated by impatient drivers It is not the drivers fault that such roads are just not suitable for speed merchants
It would be interesting to have a poll to find the relative percentages of drivers who think that
a) most speed limits are lower than necessary
b) most speed limits are higher than is safe
Bear in mind that most 30 limits were set when the road holding and stopping distances of most cars (as in the Highway Code) were derived from a 1960s Ford Anglia with drum brakes and skinny cross ply tyres. 40 mph limits date, I think from 1958, so similarly based.
My experience living in urban, semi-rural and rural areas is that many speed limits in town are there to reduce the overspee, e.g. changing from a 40 to a 30 limit in an area to reduce the number of divers going at 45-50 and they do 35-40 instead.
As we as a forum have discussed before, many urban 20mph limits are good but only when they are needed, i.e. when children are walking about to/from school, etc, but using LED matrix signs that vary the limit is likely expensive.
What I DO find ridiculous are the limits in rural areas - some quite narrow (including with high hedges at the roadside) country roads have 'national speed limit' of 60 when even the most experienced/talented driver would feel they could not drive safely at that speed, whereas other roads have 30/40 limits despite being wider with better visibility. I suspect many haven't been looked at for change in decades.
I think that variable motorway/certain dual carraigeway speeds with higher limits (say 80) at times when the roads aren't busy and in good visibility (more difficult to prove though). Maybe new tech will help.
I think that better regulation (i.e. motorways with set 40 limits on empty roads because the controller hasn't seen the change in traffic/accident cleared) would help considerably.
As regards people first venturing out after lockdown, I was stuck behind an elderly couple going at 30 on a slip road the other day - not the end of the world, but they were being VERY cautious, dropping to 20 or less when off the dual carriageway when back (clear) on local roads with a 30 limit. Hopefully some people's rustiness will fade as they get back into the swing of things again.
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