22 December 1965... 70mph day

[craigjm]

Sixty years ago today. 22nd December 1965 an experimental speed limit of 70mph was introduced on the UK motorways and later made permanent in 1967. Often miscredited to Jaguar doing fast road tests on the M1 and owners of E-types using it like a race track it was actually introduced as a response to an AC Cobra doing 170mph on the M1

1966 saw many protests at the speed being too slow and feeling like you are dawdling along

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-buck...

Edited by craigjm on Monday 22 December 13:05

[nutsyH]

Jack Sears (with another racing driver passenger who happens to live in our village) testing the car prior to its entry at Le Mans.

[dcb]

I wonder how many millions of hours of time have
been wasted by this limit since then.

It made some sense in 1965. It's a widely ignored antique in the 2020s.

We all want road safety. You can't measure that in miles per hour.

[Dog Star]

dcb said:

It made some sense in 1965. It's a widely ignored antique in the 2020s.

Back in the 80s and 90s it might have been widely ignored - but I’d say adherence to the limit is stronger than it has ever been.

In the past I’ve allegedly driven/ridden at speeds in excess of 170 but these days 75 on the motorway is a pretty hard limit; it’s simply not worth the points and the impact on insurance (I picked up my first ever points (SP30) back in 2023 and contrary to the “insurance won’t care” myth it affected all my policies (six) and has a marked impact on motorbike insurance who seem to have a cow about the slightest thing.

I got a SAC in 2019 for 79 on an absolutely empty M62 near Goole (new E class - Speedo was dead accurate) - I thought I was being dead careful keeping it a hair under 80 but no.

So that’s it - indicated 75 max now and to be honest 90% of stuff appears to be going much slower.

[Castrol for a knave]

70mph in a 1960's car - crash it and you're a frog in a blender.

70 mph in a modern car and you've a fighting chance of survival. However, there are now 43m vehicles on the road today vs 13m in 1966 - that's a lot of drivers and not all are PH driving gods.

Much as I hate all the speed cameras - which are just cheap, lazy policing, I am also mindful that a significant percentage of UK drivers are morons. Allied to the fact that physics in the 1960's is the same as physics today, the thought of having the speed limit increased for some mouth breather in a 2.5 tonne vehicle occupying the same place in the cosmos that I happen to be occupying, is not something I'd actively want.

Speed limits are like engine mapping - designed to operate safely at the lowest grade available.

[NDA]

Aren't the current stopping distances based on a mid 60's Ford Anglia?

[Pica-Pica]

NDA said:

Aren't the current stopping distances based on a mid 60's Ford Anglia?

... and alert drivers. The overall stopping distance is probably the same as back then.

[Pica-Pica]

nutsyH said:

Jack Sears (with another racing driver passenger who happens to live in our village) testing the car prior to its entry at Le Mans.

Les Leston, who lived in our village, occasionally did 100mph in his Ferrari along a straight that came out of our village. There was no speed limit on open roads either, never mind motorways.

[Fusion777]

70mph would be a significant improvement, given the average speeds and congestion on some of our motorways today.

[croyde]

Anyone having lessons and then taking their driving test in London nowadays will never have experienced driving faster than 20mph once they have passed.

Scary thought.

[Terminator X]

Dog Star said:

dcb said:

It made some sense in 1965. It's a widely ignored antique in the 2020s.

Back in the 80s and 90s it might have been widely ignored - but I d say adherence to the limit is stronger than it has ever been.

In the past I ve allegedly driven/ridden at speeds in excess of 170 but these days 75 on the motorway is a pretty hard limit; it s simply not worth the points and the impact on insurance (I picked up my first ever points (SP30) back in 2023 and contrary to the insurance won t care myth it affected all my policies (six) and has a marked impact on motorbike insurance who seem to have a cow about the slightest thing.

I got a SAC in 2019 for 79 on an absolutely empty M62 near Goole (new E class - Speedo was dead accurate) - I thought I was being dead careful keeping it a hair under 80 but no.

So that s it - indicated 75 max now and to be honest 90% of stuff appears to be going much slower.

78 on the speedo for me on m/ways, never had any issues and that includes seeing plenty of cars on bridges.

30 / 20 limits seem to be the most policed though, easy pickings perhaps.

TX.

[Wacky Racer]

I'm happy with 70mph tbh, but with all the traffic hold ups you hardly get chance to do that.