It is rare for the police to prosecute drivers travelling at 80mph. The average modern car cruises very comfortably at 70mph, and equally so at 80mph. In 1964 when the motorway speed limit was introduced, it was set at the "flat-out" speed of most cars on the road. The AA Trust's European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) also shows that motorways are the safest places to drive. And EuroNCAP crash testing has driven consumers to demand four- to five-star cars that make surviving a crash much more likely than when the 70mph limit was set.So at one level there is a compelling case for an increase in the speed limit. Mind how you go, officer.s.ogrady independent.co.uk.
Should the national motorway speed limit be raised to 80mph? Should the national motorway speed limit be raised to 80mph? The latest national statistics on vehicle speeds together with police speed enforcement guidance make a compelling case - on uncongested motorways, 57 per cent of car drivers exceed the speed limit, and 20 per cent exceed 80mph. And a speed camera will not detect a drunk who keeps within the speed limit - a real police team in a real police car will, but when was the last time you saw one on a motorway? There is a real sense of injustice about the way the system affects "ordinary" motorists. Drivers shouldn't break the limit, but it seems wrong that if you happen to be caught at 38mph in a 30mph zone a few times you will find yourself banned, but if you happen to be a member of Her Majesty's constabulary it seems that virtually anything goes. However, they do have crashes - too many - and those outside their course of duty are unforgiveable.I do not see why the police seem to be so rarely convicted when they speed or drive dangerously, and I certainly don't understand why it is impossible for them to practice their driving skills at 159mph on a private track. I just wonder what might have happened if someone had pulled out in front of any of these officers. There are still people on the road at 3am, despite what some coppers think.If the police behave as if they are above the law and sub-contract most of the their road-safety duties to the speed cameras, I think they forfeit a good deal of the goodwill most of us want to give them.A few modest transgressions of the speed limit and you will find yourself losing your licence.
That very evening I went to the police station and was told that no, there was no such thing as an unmarked police car and I must have made a mistake and, no, he wouldn't allow me to register a complaint.Well, I've seen sufficient unmarked police cars since then to know that the desk sergeant told me an outright lie. But it has not been forgiven.There is something very, very wrong with the way some police drivers behave. Just because they are allowed to pursue villains and are often trained to an extremely high standard doesn't mean they above the law of the land or the laws of physics.Everyone would agree that the police should be given the green light, so to speak, to catch criminals, and there are obviously risks involved We should sympathise with that. There was nothing I could do, because I hadn't taken the car's details. About 12 years ago I was in Norwood, south London, when an unmarked Rover 800 with a blue light came hurtling round a bend barely in control. There was nothing between me and a ton of crazy Rover but the driver's door of my Mini.Somehow the driver managed to get the Rover back on line and I was left, shaken but composed, to continue my life.
