Motorway madness – what’s the point of speed limits if people don’t observe them?

Speed limits are there for a reason, but most drivers don't seem to pay any attention to them

Eddie Cunningham Twitter

March 04 2023 02:30 AM

I DON’T know about you, but I increasingly find myself being left behind even when I am going at or near the permitted legal speed.

I notice it a lot on motorways and dual carriageways. Everyone seems to be going considerably faster.

There are parts of suburban routes where car lanes are squeezed so tight that anything larger than a Mini would struggle to fit, yet drivers break local limits.

I never want to get caught for speeding again – it has been some time – but I feel real pressure to go more quickly.

But I just can’t drive fast on the narrow lanes that often border cycle and pedestrian paths so I have to endure honking and having lights flashed at me.

By my estimation, only about 10pc of drivers observe the 100kmh limit on stretches of the M50. The remainder flout it, and by a significant margin as far as I can see.

And no, it is not just the stereotypical big car/SUV drivers. I’m talking about drivers of family saloons and hatchbacks.

There is a false adage out there that you should go with the traffic speed so as not to hold people back. But what’s the point in having speed limits at all if that was to be the case?

I just don’t understand. Doing 120kmh on a 100kmh stretch of road is blatant disregard for any sort of rules.

But that is only half the story. The other half I find dangerous and difficult to grasp, and that is how little regard those speedsters have for their fellow users on single-lane country roads.

If I had a euro for that look of contempt they dart at me as I pull in tight to let them pass at a rate of knots far exceeding the prevailing limit, I’d be well off.