There's a proper big-wheel truck around the corner from me. I've always wanted to slap a sticker on the back. A sticker that looks like a club membership or something, that says "BIG WHEELS tiny penis"

Again around where I work, there are lots of people who have 4x4s or SUVs thst hae no off-road capability, or do but are never used. Really grinds my gears.

One of the things I did to my car was upgrade the brakes and IMO along with uprated suspension, really help driving on country roads but more importantly help with stopping. DRLs are on my list as the proper ones are much more visible during the daytime than regular headlights.

Rural roads are not as safe as the rest of the network.

The roads aren't maintained as well, and are often maintained using cheaper methods with poorer grade materials. Add to that farm traffic and heavy rain spreading mud onto the road, as well as the poorer visibility i.e. high hedgerows and naturally winding routes.

Franky, I can only hope all you tossers (and I do not use the term lightly) who openly admit to doing 90mph on a country road don't live in a remotely rural location.

I spent 16 years living in one of the most rural areas of the country and would frequently walk along many country roads, as they're normally the only way in and out of the smaller towns and villages. I was lucky in that I actually lived in a village that had a "B" road going through it, but all the surrounding villages were only accessible through narrow lanes.

As a pedestrian using these lanes I frequently feared I would be struck by tossers doing 60mph. The condition of the roads is frequently poor and there's almost no room to evade an oncoming vehicle, short of literally jumping over the nearest hedge. At least if the limit was 40mph (and people actually did 40mph) then both driver and pedestrian have more time to initiate 'evasive manoeuvres' should things look like they're going to go horribly, horribly wrong. Add to this that if you get struck in a country lane you might not be discovered for days.

I'm all for reducing it down to 40mph - unless the local authority can prove the road is safe at 60mph - because there are just too many cocks, as evidenced anecdotally by this thread - that believe the National Speed Limit is some sort of target, not a limit. Add to this people from London and built-up areas whose experience of driving on such roads is zero, then it makes even more sense.

Frankly I don't really trust anyone's subjective opinion as to what might be "safe" on a country road, and having seen first hand the kind of mess that gets left when a high-speed vehicle meets a pedestrian (or indeed, when high speed vehicle meets a tractor) I'm all for the lower limit. At least at 40mph the poor bastard who's been struck might actually stand a chance.

Then surely the issue isn't speed, but safe passage for pedestrians? Putting a speed limit in place won't help (unless it's something like 30mph) but making pavements for pedestrians seems like a much better idea.

I've seen a car fallen down a ditch in the road because it isn't wide enough. I've seen (and experienced) people still driving fast when the road narrows. I've seen people thundering down small lanes. I get annoyed when people fly past horses. I'm all for reducing speed limits on these roads. But the issue IMO is that some roads clearly need to be 30mph, not 40mph, whereas others should be increased from 50mph to 70mph.

Drivers aren't completely to blame, and pedestrians on the road often do themselves few favours.

When you walked on these roads were you wearing high-visibility clothing? Did you carry a red an clear torch during times of poor visibility?
At the very least I'm sure crossed to te right hand side of the road while going around a left turn to make yourself as visible as possible to every other road user?

The problem is that the few pedestrians I have seen on the road don't do any of that. It's like they don't want to be seen...
The roads I drive to work aren't that small. It is an A road, though I'm sure it's only classified as such because it's a main route...It certainly isn't very big...Towns are several miles apart and there are a fair number of footpaths about the place - perhaps not the most direct route, but certainly safer.

I know of many country lanes where driving at 40mph would be a very reckless thing to do.

As has been mentioned in a couple of posts the key point is visibility. I was, and I'm sure that everybody has also been taught, that you have to be able to stop in the distance you can see.

The road my other half’s school is on is one of those rural roads where people like to hare around ad inappropriate speeds. There was a horrific accident there last year involving a car, horses and riders. There were deaths - both human and equine.

Speed limits won’t solve a thing though. If people are happy doing 90 then the limit is 60, then what’s going to stop them doing 90 when the limit is 40? Nothing. Without enforcement, these speed limits are meaningless.

If you want to enforce speed limits beyond populated urban areas and motorways, then it’s either loads more cameras, or in car tracking. Neither of these are poplar.



A lot of country roads are not conducive to having footpaths - they are jut too narrow. Why anyone expects to survive careering around some lanes I know at anything more than 30 escapes me.

The school thing really bugs me. There's a country road outside the school which is 40mph. No go-slow signs as one would expect. If I leave for work slightly later than usual, I get caught up in the school run but even then you have idiots driving round at inappropriate speed. I really want an extra lane just by the school for parking. Fortunately/unfortunately, everyone round here drives to the school, even if it were in walking distance.

I live on one of these roads and I do 70 on the straight bit and 20 or less round the corners. It makes no odds what the speed limit is as there'll be no way of enforcing it.