0:42 Simply having more than one lane in each direction doesn’t make a road a dual carriageway; it needs to have a physical division. For instance, a multi-lane single carriageway, like the A38(M) Aston Expressway without a central reservation, is still considered a single carriageway and thus follows the single carriageway speed limit of 60 mph. There's an example in Llywel, Wales where there is a dual carriageway which consists of just one lane in each direction. Despite it being a narrow road, it meets the criteria for a dual carriageway because it has two distinct, separated surfaces making it a 70 mph limit. The UK’s 70 mph speed limit is unlikely to increase and may even decrease in the future due to safety and environmental concerns. While modern cars come equipped with advanced safety features, such as improved braking systems, lane-assist, and automatic emergency braking, these features don't negate the fundamental physics of speed. Higher speeds mean greater force in collisions. Additionally, speed limits are not solely about the individual driver’s safety; they protect all road users, including motorcyclists, who are more vulnerable. As for the environmental factors, there have already been speed limit reductions which were intended to improve air quality in certain areas.
I’ve driven a lot in Europe, and I love the higher speed limits there, but it’s worth noting that in Northern Europe at least (a) they have better roads, and (b) they have better drivers. It’s not so true in Southern or Eastern Europe. But in the North they mostly have very smooth, pothole-free, roads; and they have drivers with exceptional lane-discipline: everyone drives on the right (their “slow” lane) unless overtaking. You will see something like a Mercedes doing 100+ mph in the right-hand lane on the Autobahn, shifting over to the left to overtake and then returning back to the right, all at 100+ mph. It’s amazing. But in the UK there’s constant middle-lane hogging, undertaking, tailgating, etc.
Similar situation in France. The UK and France are the worst countries in Europe for driving discipline. In fact in France, they often fail to give way at roundabouts due to older drivers who have been driving from long before giving way at a roundabout became law in France. There is also an increasingly common situation on motorways in the UK, lots of elderly drivers who join Motorways with hard shoulder and blue signs at something like 30 miles per hour and then continue along the motorway at 45 or 50 miles per hour. This is extremely dangerous and should be punishable with 6 points on the licence, but unfortunately it is entirely legal to do this.
It's not the number of lanes that make the difference between 60mph and 70mph NSL roads... It's the presence (or not) of a central reservation between the two directions. Going back to your video about the difference between dual carriageways and motorways, technically motorways are a form of dual carriageway*, but legally separate under Motorway regulations. * There are a few short stretches of single carriageway motorway, for example at the M6/M58 interchange.
Oh right, thanks for the correction. I've always been taught that it's 60 when national speed limit on a single lane and 70 on a double, I guess that's not always the case! I had a feeling there would be some single lane motorways somewhere in the UK, there's always an exception, hence why I put that astericks in there. What do you think about the speed limit on motorways though? I want to get people's thoughts on that as it's a topic that usually gets motorists riled up - GH
@@MotoringChroniclejust further info on this: The national speed limit is also different for different classes of vehicle. For cars it’s 70 on a dual carriageway and 60 on a single carriageway; but for things like motorhomes, buses, most goods vehicles, etc. it’s 10 mph lower (60 and 50 respectively). That’s also a major difference between designated “motorways” and non-motorway dual carriageways: some of those vehicles (smaller motorhomes, smaller goods vehicles) are allowed to go at 70 on a “motorway” but only 60 on other dual carriageways (like some A roads).
@@MotoringChronicle You've been taught incorrectly. In the highway code: National Speed Limit is 70 on a dual carriageway and 60 on a single carriageway for cars. It is 60 miles per hour on a dual carriage way and 50 miles per hour on a single carriage ways for cars towing, vans, motorcycles, coaches, HGVs etc. See here: www.gov.uk/speed-limits Single-carriageway does not mean single lane and dual-carriageway does not mean double lane. If you drive 70mph along a single carriageway with three lanes, you are breaking the law. Also, the "no speed limits on the Isle of Man" is an urban myth. During the TT Races, speed limits do not apply for the race. That's it. When there is no TT, National Speed Limits apply. In the UK, at the time when there were no speed limits on motorways, you would have found it difficult if not impossible to find or afford a vehicle that was capable of travelling more than 70 miles per hour, so a speed limit was not necessary. When engines became more powerful and efficient, a speed limit was imposed by law. Before most of us were even born.
@@MotoringChronicle a lot seem to get confused about what makes a road a dual carriageway as opposed to a single carriageway. If the two directions are on the same patch of asphalt and only separated by paint, that's a single carriageway road regardless of how many lanes each direction has. A dual carriageway has a solid division between the two opposing directions, so has the higher speed limit even if there's only one lane in each direction. There are also A-roads with hard shoulders, the Elland Bypass section of the A629 definitely used to have them back before they cut the speed limit to 50mph and the yellow revenue generators were installed. Not sure if it still does, as it's a while since I've been up that way.
The UK, being governed like a museum, still uses miles and miles per hour, whereas most of the civilised World (USA civilised??- not looking at recent events) uses kilometres and km/h. Other countries have managed to change without difficulty, yet we now import most of our cars that are manufactured to metric dimensions and have speedometers in MPH for the Nimbys and cloth cap wearing oldfarts who prefer to live in the past. If we converted to kilometres, a 120km/h limit would be approximately 75mph. I don't think that it will happen in my remaining lifetime, however, as this country has become an international embarrassment, with it inability to actually achieve anything without cocking it up.
@@MervynPartin ah yes... If only we'd switch to the metric system all our problems would go away... we'd have street parties every weekend and a government that never told us any lies. It would be a glorious utopia! (and the likes of you who love to do the country down, wouldn't know what to do with yourselves if there was nothing to complain about)
I remember the M1 opening and my father had a 3.3 litre Vauxhall Viscount which he drove up the M1 flat out at 105mph. We only passed about a dozen cars from one junction to the next. Glorious days
There are some places on the Isle of Man that do have speed limits outside of towns. The A5 for example (the main road from Douglas to Port Erin) has a 50mph speed limit between Douglas and Santon and that's on a rural stretch of road. They also introduce speed limits on the roads that make up the TT course while they're preparing for the races, during which time the A18 (the Mountain Road) is the only road on the TT course without a speed limit and is temporarily one way (southbound only) between Ramsey and the Creg Ny Baa pub near Douglas.
There should be a minimum speed limit on motorways in my opinion. Too many elderly drivers joining motorways in cars at < 30 mph then bimbling along at about 45 mph. This kind of driving should be punishable with 6 points on the licence and a dangerous driving conviction. It's becoming more common.
100%! Driving that slowly is almost as dangerous as going over the speed limit imo. In some cases, it's actually more dangerous. Almost had a crash years ago because an old timer was doing about 40mph in the slow lane at night... He had no lights on his car either... - GH
@@MotoringChronicle I would probably go as far as saying it is more dangerous than going over the speed limit in all cases. Speed limit on Motorways should be 80 mph or 129 km/h to bring us in line with most of the world and have a minimum speed of 50mph. If you can't or won't drive more than 50, then don't go on the motorway. However, it should only be applied to sections of good motorways like the M6. There are sections of the A1(M) and its spurs that are still covered in potholes. A lot of people disagree with this, but I'm talking about the strict definition of a motorway with blue sigs. Some people wrongly believe some A roads are motorways such as the A42 and A19 and don't know the difference, which means they are thinking of different things all together and an 80 limit sounds ridiculous to them. Those kinds of roads should remain at 70.
Race driver John Wolfe was recorded at 217 MPH on the M1 in a works Porsche 917. The police case against him failed on a technicality. The Calibration certificate for the RADAR speed gun only went up to 180 MPH so the police could not prove his exact speed as the law required.
Going so fast the instruments can't cope! Love that story, reminds me of when Top Gear tested how fast is too far for a speed camera to flash you as you go past - GH
Sadly John was killed in an accident in the 1969 Le Mans 24 hour race. Driving a Porsche 917. My apologies for misspelling his name it should be Woolfe.
Interesting how there's an advisory speed limit, I didn't know that! Makes sense with the insurance as well, thanks for the comment, very informative - GH
first government should enforce existing rules on motorways. Number of middle lane crawlers and people undertaking is massive. There is no discipline. Even mild traffic on smart motorway can reducing speed limit dramatically. All because only thing government is enforcing is speed limit.
Statistically the safest roads in the world are the German Autobahns which often have no speed limit. There is no real justification for a motorway speed limit in the UK.
I live I Wales. Nobody does 20 because it's so dumb. Especially on crucial roads that link towns. Adding 10 mins+ to journeys. Of anything I see people doing 40+ because no cops enforce apart from a few roads.
Have they still not reversed that law? Insanity, unless it's a school zone, I cannot understand why 20 mph zones are a thing, it's painfully slow to drive - GH
In Germany accidents per kilometer are the same on speed limited and not speed limited sections are the same but speed limits are usually in the areas where there is high traffic
Thank you for this, I'd always heard conflicting reports on how much has a speed limit compared to not. Very interesting to see that speed doesn't change the rate of accidents. Yeah, I think we should at least try and raise the speed limit to 80mph on less busy motorways in the UK, do it in a trial and see if accidents increase or not - GH
there is currently way more sections with speed-limits than a few years ago. As of now there is more than 60% with a speed-limit, if not more. So its more like 30% are still without. :(
![Why Does the UK Still Use MPH instead of KMH for its Road Signs? [Motoring Explained]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5jOL03Gge5w/mqdefault.jpg)
0:42 Simply having more than one lane in each direction doesn’t make a road a dual carriageway; it needs to have a physical division. For instance, a multi-lane single carriageway, like the A38(M) Aston Expressway without a central reservation, is still considered a single carriageway and thus follows the single carriageway speed limit of 60 mph. There's an example in Llywel, Wales where there is a dual carriageway which consists of just one lane in each direction. Despite it being a narrow road, it meets the criteria for a dual carriageway because it has two distinct, separated surfaces making it a 70 mph limit.
The UK’s 70 mph speed limit is unlikely to increase and may even decrease in the future due to safety and environmental concerns. While modern cars come equipped with advanced safety features, such as improved braking systems, lane-assist, and automatic emergency braking, these features don't negate the fundamental physics of speed. Higher speeds mean greater force in collisions. Additionally, speed limits are not solely about the individual driver’s safety; they protect all road users, including motorcyclists, who are more vulnerable. As for the environmental factors, there have already been speed limit reductions which were intended to improve air quality in certain areas.
I’ve driven a lot in Europe, and I love the higher speed limits there, but it’s worth noting that in Northern Europe at least (a) they have better roads, and (b) they have better drivers. It’s not so true in Southern or Eastern Europe. But in the North they mostly have very smooth, pothole-free, roads; and they have drivers with exceptional lane-discipline: everyone drives on the right (their “slow” lane) unless overtaking. You will see something like a Mercedes doing 100+ mph in the right-hand lane on the Autobahn, shifting over to the left to overtake and then returning back to the right, all at 100+ mph. It’s amazing. But in the UK there’s constant middle-lane hogging, undertaking, tailgating, etc.
Similar situation in France. The UK and France are the worst countries in Europe for driving discipline. In fact in France, they often fail to give way at roundabouts due to older drivers who have been driving from long before giving way at a roundabout became law in France. There is also an increasingly common situation on motorways in the UK, lots of elderly drivers who join Motorways with hard shoulder and blue signs at something like 30 miles per hour and then continue along the motorway at 45 or 50 miles per hour. This is extremely dangerous and should be punishable with 6 points on the licence, but unfortunately it is entirely legal to do this.
Agree. Try the Milan ring road. That's why Italian drivers have a rosary hanging from the rear view mirror, which they never use.
It's not the number of lanes that make the difference between 60mph and 70mph NSL roads... It's the presence (or not) of a central reservation between the two directions.
Going back to your video about the difference between dual carriageways and motorways, technically motorways are a form of dual carriageway*, but legally separate under Motorway regulations.
* There are a few short stretches of single carriageway motorway, for example at the M6/M58 interchange.
Oh right, thanks for the correction. I've always been taught that it's 60 when national speed limit on a single lane and 70 on a double, I guess that's not always the case!
I had a feeling there would be some single lane motorways somewhere in the UK, there's always an exception, hence why I put that astericks in there.
What do you think about the speed limit on motorways though? I want to get people's thoughts on that as it's a topic that usually gets motorists riled up - GH
@@MotoringChroniclejust further info on this: The national speed limit is also different for different classes of vehicle. For cars it’s 70 on a dual carriageway and 60 on a single carriageway; but for things like motorhomes, buses, most goods vehicles, etc. it’s 10 mph lower (60 and 50 respectively). That’s also a major difference between designated “motorways” and non-motorway dual carriageways: some of those vehicles (smaller motorhomes, smaller goods vehicles) are allowed to go at 70 on a “motorway” but only 60 on other dual carriageways (like some A roads).
@@MotoringChronicle You've been taught incorrectly. In the highway code: National Speed Limit is 70 on a dual carriageway and 60 on a single carriageway for cars. It is 60 miles per hour on a dual carriage way and 50 miles per hour on a single carriage ways for cars towing, vans, motorcycles, coaches, HGVs etc. See here: www.gov.uk/speed-limits
Single-carriageway does not mean single lane and dual-carriageway does not mean double lane. If you drive 70mph along a single carriageway with three lanes, you are breaking the law.
Also, the "no speed limits on the Isle of Man" is an urban myth. During the TT Races, speed limits do not apply for the race. That's it. When there is no TT, National Speed Limits apply.
In the UK, at the time when there were no speed limits on motorways, you would have found it difficult if not impossible to find or afford a vehicle that was capable of travelling more than 70 miles per hour, so a speed limit was not necessary. When engines became more powerful and efficient, a speed limit was imposed by law. Before most of us were even born.
@@MotoringChronicle a lot seem to get confused about what makes a road a dual carriageway as opposed to a single carriageway. If the two directions are on the same patch of asphalt and only separated by paint, that's a single carriageway road regardless of how many lanes each direction has. A dual carriageway has a solid division between the two opposing directions, so has the higher speed limit even if there's only one lane in each direction.
There are also A-roads with hard shoulders, the Elland Bypass section of the A629 definitely used to have them back before they cut the speed limit to 50mph and the yellow revenue generators were installed. Not sure if it still does, as it's a while since I've been up that way.
The UK, being governed like a museum, still uses miles and miles per hour, whereas most of the civilised World (USA civilised??- not looking at recent events) uses kilometres and km/h. Other countries have managed to change without difficulty, yet we now import most of our cars that are manufactured to metric dimensions and have speedometers in MPH for the Nimbys and cloth cap wearing oldfarts who prefer to live in the past.
If we converted to kilometres, a 120km/h limit would be approximately 75mph. I don't think that it will happen in my remaining lifetime, however, as this country has become an international embarrassment, with it inability to actually achieve anything without cocking it up.
@@MervynPartin ah yes... If only we'd switch to the metric system all our problems would go away... we'd have street parties every weekend and a government that never told us any lies. It would be a glorious utopia!
(and the likes of you who love to do the country down, wouldn't know what to do with yourselves if there was nothing to complain about)
Pretty much nobody wants kph!
@@paulwylie5008 As I said "Nimbys and cloth cap wearing oldfarts who prefer to live in the past".
@@Eric_Hunt194 I repeat "Nimbys and cloth cap wearing oldfarts who prefer to live in the past".
I remember the M1 opening and my father had a 3.3 litre Vauxhall Viscount which he drove up the M1 flat out at 105mph. We only passed about a dozen cars from one junction to the next. Glorious days
There are some places on the Isle of Man that do have speed limits outside of towns. The A5 for example (the main road from Douglas to Port Erin) has a 50mph speed limit between Douglas and Santon and that's on a rural stretch of road. They also introduce speed limits on the roads that make up the TT course while they're preparing for the races, during which time the A18 (the Mountain Road) is the only road on the TT course without a speed limit and is temporarily one way (southbound only) between Ramsey and the Creg Ny Baa pub near Douglas.
There should be a minimum speed limit on motorways in my opinion. Too many elderly drivers joining motorways in cars at < 30 mph then bimbling along at about 45 mph. This kind of driving should be punishable with 6 points on the licence and a dangerous driving conviction. It's becoming more common.
100%! Driving that slowly is almost as dangerous as going over the speed limit imo. In some cases, it's actually more dangerous. Almost had a crash years ago because an old timer was doing about 40mph in the slow lane at night... He had no lights on his car either... - GH
@@MotoringChronicle I would probably go as far as saying it is more dangerous than going over the speed limit in all cases. Speed limit on Motorways should be 80 mph or 129 km/h to bring us in line with most of the world and have a minimum speed of 50mph. If you can't or won't drive more than 50, then don't go on the motorway. However, it should only be applied to sections of good motorways like the M6. There are sections of the A1(M) and its spurs that are still covered in potholes. A lot of people disagree with this, but I'm talking about the strict definition of a motorway with blue sigs. Some people wrongly believe some A roads are motorways such as the A42 and A19 and don't know the difference, which means they are thinking of different things all together and an 80 limit sounds ridiculous to them. Those kinds of roads should remain at 70.
I have done 150 mph on the M40 and once did 165 mph on the A12 as I passed Colchester on a 1400cc Suzuki.
Race driver John Wolfe was recorded at 217 MPH on the M1 in a works Porsche 917. The police case against him failed on a technicality. The Calibration certificate for the RADAR speed gun only went up to 180 MPH so the police could not prove his exact speed as the law required.
Going so fast the instruments can't cope! Love that story, reminds me of when Top Gear tested how fast is too far for a speed camera to flash you as you go past - GH
Sadly John was killed in an accident in the 1969 Le Mans 24 hour race. Driving a Porsche 917. My apologies for misspelling his name it should be Woolfe.
Autobahn is mostly unrestricted with advisory limits in place, which affects insurance payouts if you have an accident whilst exceeding them.
Interesting how there's an advisory speed limit, I didn't know that! Makes sense with the insurance as well, thanks for the comment, very informative - GH
first government should enforce existing rules on motorways. Number of middle lane crawlers and people undertaking is massive. There is no discipline. Even mild traffic on smart motorway can reducing speed limit dramatically. All because only thing government is enforcing is speed limit.
Statistically the safest roads in the world are the German Autobahns which often have no speed limit. There is no real justification for a motorway speed limit in the UK.
awesome video
I live I Wales. Nobody does 20 because it's so dumb. Especially on crucial roads that link towns. Adding 10 mins+ to journeys. Of anything I see people doing 40+ because no cops enforce apart from a few roads.
Have they still not reversed that law? Insanity, unless it's a school zone, I cannot understand why 20 mph zones are a thing, it's painfully slow to drive - GH
If manage to reach 70 on any motorway you are doing well. 😂
no speed limit in the fast lane!!
That's what you'd assume at how fast some people go in it! - GH
About 30% of the Autobahn has a speed limit the rest still has none.
In Germany accidents per kilometer are the same on speed limited and not speed limited sections are the same but speed limits are usually in the areas where there is high traffic
Thank you for this, I'd always heard conflicting reports on how much has a speed limit compared to not. Very interesting to see that speed doesn't change the rate of accidents.
Yeah, I think we should at least try and raise the speed limit to 80mph on less busy motorways in the UK, do it in a trial and see if accidents increase or not - GH
Other way around. About 30% has no speed limit. All the sections close to built up areas are 130km/h
there is currently way more sections with speed-limits than a few years ago. As of now there is more than 60% with a speed-limit, if not more. So its more like 30% are still without. :(