I got back early afternoon from my epic journey to Nottm and back. A round trip of almost 211 miles!!!
Your ‘reason’ for speeding has been used to justify it for decades. And saying that speeding in a 30 zone is far worse has also been used for decades. Yet you (we, me, everyone) has the choice to not speed. Funny old thing, this driving.
You confuse a 'reason' with a 'justification'. There can be no justification for speeding within any class of limit or on any type of road. If you disagree with the speed limit, the proper thing to do is to campain against it, as you would with any other legal issue. If you speed you risk a fine. It's that simple. I've been clocked twice in a 50+ year driving career. I was simply agreeing with someone who posted earlier pointing out that accidents are not necessarily directly attributable to excessive speed etc. Traffic density, road conditions and many more factors contribute.
I get you, but a consequence of just 'you' and no-one else on the road isn't a fully solid argument, is it? When just 'you' has a momentary lapse of concentration at 85mph, and you crash, the knock on effect of that on other road users, the emergency services that have to attend when they could be doing something else, your family and friends that have to go through the trauma of seeing you seriously injured... I could go on.
A momentary lapse can happen at any speed but is far more likely to cause an accident on a busy road at rush hour.. in any speed limit, than it is on a straight empty dual carriageway in clear conditions with no other vehicles in sight. But then if it does, one has to wonder how much worse it would be at 85, than at 70. No doubt one of our physicists will be along soon with an answer.
That could not have happened in the situation I quoted because there was no other traffic on the road. I think that is now the third time I've made that point.
I can’t help but feel that those who speed on the motorway will do so habitually in other areas? Speed limits should be very simple to understand.
I think that is a massive assumption. Like many people, I may 'steal' a couple of MPH on M'way, or a good dual carriageway, so maybe creeping up to 74 or 5 for e,g., as that is often smoother than sticking exactly to 70 and being 'out of sync' with practically every other vehicle on the road. But as I have pointed out numerous times, I absolutely DO NOT speed in 20/30/40/ 50 or even 60 mph zones. The main reason for that being that they tend to be areas of high traffic with many other objective hazards such as slips, junctions, crossroads, lights, schools, buses, pedestrians etc, etc. In fact, I frequently drive considerably below the 30 limit on housing developments for e.g. It is too fast. The A50, as I am continously pointing out has none of those hazards except at Uttoxeter..for about a mile.
My exact experience on Saturday. As I joined the seemingly permanent 50 mph section on the M6 around Manchester.. the first thing I saw was some clown in the outer lane travelling at about 80 right up to the back of a car doing 50..then pressurising him into moving over so that the prick could carry on doing way above 50.
A few miles further on, and back in a 70 limit, I was in the second lane steadily overtaking slower vehicles in lane 1, when I became aware of a BMW very close behind me. It stayed uncomfortably close behind me, even though it had ample opportunity to pass me on the outside if the driver thought he was being held up in any way. Next, a couple of 'Traffic Officer' vehicles shot up the inside and started weaving in front of all lanes, with their 'Don't Pass' lights on and created a 'rolling road block', bringing us all down to a crawl. The BMW behind me stayed very close. I stayed about 30-40 metres behind the 'Traffic Officers', matching pace with them..as did those in all other lanes.
This situation continued for several miles. I then started hearing a horn beeping and realised it was from the BMW behind me. Quite where he wanted me to go I have no idea. Next, the Traffic Officers speeded up to around 50-60 mph for a mile or so. I stayed in lane, and with them. The BMW was a bit slower off the mark but soon caught up and beeped me again when we slowed down again and I re-established the gap between me and the Traffic Car. Finally, after another couple of miles with no evidence of any hazard requiring the whole 'Road Block' palaver, the Traffic Officers switched off their No Pass lights and peeled off to the left. At this point the knob in the Beemer finally decided to move right and overtake me, though I as doing 70. What was all that about then?
I have a feeling that the 'Traffic Officers' are doing practice roadblocks, because on my return journey today, I noticed about dozen of them parked up on an overbridge above the M6. I also followed one for a while. It was on a trailer and clearly damaged. One can only speculate.
