Thread: 130km/h speed limits

Pray tell what did these idiots do with the hour or what ever it was that they saved , put it to some life saving use or just brag about it , if your in a hurry catch a plane and do it in 55mins . Trying to stay alive in this country with the rat **** drivers on our roads is hard enough now so forget 130kmh .

Originally Posted by mools

I would disagree because regional Australian arterial roads are by design (or lack of it) unsafe compare to arterial European roads which tend to be properly engineered. I think that in Australia it would be prohibitively expensive to design and construct so may miles of road for so few journeys.

The top speed on a UK road that is not a dual carriageway with crash barriers separating on coming traffic is ~96 Km/h, by comparison on (most of) the Brand Highway 110 km/h is the current limit. Whilst the low speed limits frustrate me I'd be wary of raising them on such roads. Well designed freeways - different matter. Although, as has been stated, the problem then becomes the level of diving skill (or lack of) prevalent in this county.

Ian.

Ian,

I agree, that is why I made mention of high quality dual carriageways.

A large number of the single lane "highways" may not be safe to increase speed, however the run between Sydney/Melbourne is mostly very well engineered good quality free way. A 130k speed would be fine.

Not sure about the Brand Highway where there has been significant money spent to improve the roads then it should be considered.

George

Here is a quick question for some of those advocating an increase in the speed limit.

Without looking it up, how much does your braking distance increase if you increase your speed from 100 to 130?

If the road is dual-lane divided carriageway with good sight distances and runoff areas, and if the drivers are skilled at sitting at those speeds, then I think it should be allowed.
It certainly happens in parts of Europe without any significant diffrerence in deaths. And when we lived in Thailand the main highways from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Bangkok to ****et were both four-lane divided and it was possible to make the journeys in a day sitting on about 130 km/h. There were NO speed signs and the highway patrol were not interested unless you crashed.
I remember our little Yaris zipping along at about 130, just cruising in 5th with the rest of the traffic, not using much more fuel than normal, when suddenly this red blur appeared behind and zoomed past, a Ferrari doing much faster than us. It was no worry because drivers moved over to the left when not overtaking.
The problem in Oz is like I saw the other day on the motorway north from Brisbane with a woman in a Pajero sitting in the fast lane about 15km/h BELOW the speed limit, forcing everyone to go around her. She should be booked for dangerous driving.
If drivers keep left except when passing, use their mirrors, leave long braking gaps to the car in front and drive sensibly then higher speed limits would certainly be possible. However, the police in each state would have to be re-educated to focus on dangerous driving, not minor speed infringements, which seems unlikely to happen when our politicians have such a 'Nanny State' mentality.

PS: I had a laugh when I saw the spellchecker had blocked out the name of the Thai tourist city which starts with 'Ph', continues with 'u' and ends with 'ket'.

Originally Posted by debruiser

I think that they should just maintain the roads, then have OPEN speed limits outside of any town/city. All the idiots will kill themselves in the first month leaving all the sensible people to drive sensibly

The problem is that we keep breeding up more idiots and they don't always kill themselves, they become vegetative and are an ongoing cost on your and my greenslip insurance premiums.

Originally Posted by vnx205

Here is a quick question for some of those advocating an increase in the speed limit.

Without looking it up, how much does your braking distance increase if you increase your speed from 100 to 130?

E = 1/2(mv^2)

1.3 * 1.3 = 1.69

69% more enegry

breaking distance increases by about 69%??
im not sure how to convert enegry to breaking distance

Germany, 2003, on the autobahn. P38 Range Rover. Trying desperately to keep up with the traffic. Boy, it takes a while to stop from this speed though!

Originally Posted by Eevo

Originally Posted by vnx205

Here is a quick question for some of those advocating an increase in the speed limit.

Without looking it up, how much does your braking distance increase if you increase your speed from 100 to 130?

E = 1/2(mv^2)

1.3 * 1.3 = 1.69

69% more enegry

breaking distance increases by about 69%??
im not sure how to convert enegry to breaking distance

Ah yes BUT!

With higher velocity you produce lower pressures in the cabin and therefore your brake foot swells. Consequently you have a bigger foot to compensate for the additional braking required!