http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18840110

Make of that what you will

Seems reasonable. Country roads are far more dangerous than most.

A massive over reaction to the few that drive l like dicks on country roads, brought to you by people who'll never have to suffer even slower country journeys than they do now.

+1 to knee jerk reaction. The route to work has a 40-60mph limits and I've gone through at 80mph without any issues. However, I'd only ever do something like that on a clear day, dry road with excellent visibility. I slow down if it's wet or if I can't see around the corner, or conditions mean it's not safe.

What frustrates me is someone doing 40mph on an NSL road who then flashes me when I overtake them.


I'd advocate the opposite - remove all restrictions (ie make the NSL sign "end of restrictions" as it once did). I'm happy for the roads to go to 40mph when you go through a village but there's no reason why there should be restrictions on most roads.

I'd also want to see a push to 100mph limits on the motorway.

Have either of you ever lived somewhere rural?

Nope. The houses in the area are in the price bracket of around £700k-2M - far too expensive for me to afford.

Most rural roads frequently see traffic like tractors towing trailers, combines, muck spreaders - most of which might get up to about 30mph, frequently less.
Meeting one when you're doing 50mph + usually ends in a bad day for everyone concerned.
As for 40mph through a village - it should be 30mph tops.

I'm all for appropriate speed for appropriate conditions, but only on roads where the prevailing traffic conditions are more predictable, like dual carriageways and motorways.
In the country, you literally don't know what you'll find around the next bend. You're viewing distance is usually rubbish, what with trees, hedges and so forth.

Depends on the road and the time of travel as well. I would quite happily zoom along at 60mph on a NSL road between little villages on my old commute to work, but it was usually at 6am and there was nothing else on the roads, particularly in winter. I'm not delusional enough to think that everyone is good at judging road conditions though, I quite regularly see people whizzing on snow covered roads when they should be more cautious, or doing 90+mph in the fast lane of the motorway during a real gullywasher of a rain storm. If I can't see further the end of my bonnet, I can't imagine they're any better doing 30mp more than me!

40mph for the country roads around us (and yes, we live very rurally) would be wholly inappropriate, people who drive them regularly do so appropriately for the roads, slowing down at blind bends (right outside our house for instance) and speeding up on the easily visible straights. Some people are just w@nkers and it doesn't matter what you set the speed limit at, they will flout it!

I certainly encounter slow moving traffic like tractors but as I said - I slow down if I can't see round the corner. I also have my headlights on as I find the rows of trees can dim the road so it highlights my car earlier.

Maybe all villages should have bypass roads?

Rip up the tarmac, put a rail down and cover it with an impenetrable something. Make everyone use a train that can't go above 5mph. Cushion the interior, add safety harnesses. Best add crash helmets too.

Seriously, I've just gotten home after doing the NSL home, with many parts going upwards of 70 and hitting 90 once. OK, it was 4:30 in the morning and I know the road, but in the middle of the day my top speed would have been 70 if I could achieve it and most of my journey in the NSL sections would be 50+. I ALWAYS slow while traveling through housed areas, even at 4:30 in the morning, you just don't know who might be about.

8
Yes.
They may mean this change only to affect high sided single track country lanes, but you know full well the over zealous health and safety brigade will apply it to more and more roads where it isn't needed as they like to be seen to be doing something for safety, rather than actually doing something useful for safety.
There's a single track lane leading out of my parents village that is low sided so you can see other cars coming miles away, but I bet they'll try and change the limit on that even though there's not been an accident there in my life time.
Councils always abuse new powers given to them. They used anti terror laws to spy on people for school bouncy issues etc.
They seem to be too lazy to stop dangerous drivers (who will still drive dangerously) and are tarring every one with this silly change that will only work (where it's needed)if people flow the new rules. Realistically the type of people who don't leave enough doing distance on country roads etc are the kind of people who ignore speed limits anyway.

Do I live in the countryside - Yes
40 mph in villages - if you can get up to 20 in most villages around here I'd be astonished.
Speed limits on country roads - I'd much prefer to see the police doing some more worthwhile tasks ...........

"Knee Jerk reaction" - yes
"by people who don't live or drive in the countryside " - bloody typical

Did you all miss the part about '68% of road deaths took place on rural roads' ?
If you're tasked with reducing deaths on the road, you sit there ignoring the place where the highest percentage of deaths happen.
If you were at work, and some machine kept munching people's fingers, do you just shrug it off or start thinking that maybe there's something going wrong with the thing?

I'll quote what my dad said to me when I was learning to drive in deepest, darkest Yorkshire Dales:



It stood me in good stead over the years. Leave the speed limits alone and start teaching people about the dangers of rural driving properly. Drive according to the road conditions and we'll all be safer.

As far as I'm aware, rural driving isn't part of the driving test - maybe it should be, like motorway driving now is (I think?).

When I visit my family back in Yorkshire, I regularly get up to 60mph over the moors and long, straight B roads, but I know that route like the back of my hand and I always drop to a suitable speed on the bendy roads and through villages. You do see a lot of motorbikes on that route, doing frankly dangerous things like overtaking on blind bends and swerving in and out of traffic - little wonder that there are multiple motorbike fatalaties on that road every year. People on bikes seem to lose all common sense IMHO.

A speed limit is pointless without enforcement for which I would assume there wouldn't be any money anyway so it's a completely pointless hand wringing exercise that will make naff all difference other than give the police/councils the ability to rake in more cash from motorists when the decide on the odd occasion to send someone out with a speed gun.

Lack of visibility and driver stupidity is a far bigger killer on country roads than simple speed.
This won't stop people driving like d!cks and I suspect that there would something of an outcry if it were suggested that all country roads have their sides clear cut and sewn with salt so nothing grew back.

Bah! As usual, penalising the responsible to deter the irresponsible (who are unlikely to change their behaviour in any case).