I generally agree with the sentiment, the only gripe I have is that 50mph limits are being applied to very long stretches of perfectly good A and B roads, rather than to short stretches where there might be a specific hazard. These are often roads where 60mph felt restrained before; 50mph just feels like crawling now. If the authorities want drivers to respect speed limits, they need to show some restraint when applying them and not just cover a 7 mile stretch of road with 50 signs because of one bad corner.
On the last road Reg drives on in this video the speed limit changes from 50mph to NSL on the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Nothing about the road and the hazard level changes. It's just that Lancashire County Council has decided to reduce the speed limit and the local authority on the Yorkshire side of the border hasn't. On the A675 heading out of Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen Council decided a few years ago to reduce the NSL parts to 50mph. A very small part of the NSL before the 30mph limit fell on the Bolton side of the border and wasn't reduced. For years, drivers heading out of Bolton passed an NSL sign immediately followed a few hundred yards later by a 50mph sign on the local authority border. Blackburn with Darwen council never put an NSL sign up for drivers heading into Bolton, so the road was technically NSL in one direction for a short distance but not in the other. It's 50mph all the way now.
You have to remember, that especially on country roads, the speed limit applies 24 hours a day. You might think driving at 50 is too slow, but at night time, especially with slow-moving farm traffic, dips and potholes, the roads are more hazardous. So that 50mph limit keeps you safer at night.
Why should the authorities show restraint if the drivers are sometimes incapable of it. I occasionally see drivers flouting speed limits blatantly and looking like they're fully in control of their vehicles, but the latter part is not usually obvious and probably not true. Restraint is a fundamental part of driving: good attitude and considered control. On a 7 mile stretch of road the difference between doing 50 and doing 60 the difference is 64 seconds out of one's life: 64 seconds where one could be honing subtle skills rather than just hurtling along. Cars these days are safer than ever, with more driver aids than ever and, as you point out, in some places speed limits are dropping. Yet deaths on the road have not fallen. It's the drivers who should exercise restraint - or be restrained if they can't.
If anyone needs a speed limit to tell them what the safe speed is, then they shouldn't be on the road in the first place. If you can pass a driving test without driving on a road where the safe speed is lower than the legal speed limit, then the driving test is unfit for purpose.
Most of the roads in the UK are are just too darned busy to go fast these days. The only time you can enjoy speed is between 2300-0500 when the roads are quiet. I work nights and enjoy driving relatively fast in the small hours, but 100mph on main arteries is asking for a ban. I do track days and they are a great way of quenching my need for speed in a sane way.
I couldn’t agree more ,, further driver training should carry more rewards perhaps different speed limits for advanced drivers would encourage people to train more,,maybe cheaper insurance or limits to horsepower, the point being how can we encourage road safety and promote driver awareness rather rather than only a punitive system
Brilliant informative video! Couldn't agree more with the points you made, particularly around speed in built up areas and those who don't pay attention. It gets tiring having people hound you when you are an enthusiast, they see a quick car or a keen driver and assume you are a bad driver yet they play on their mobile phones, fiddle with media systems, tailgate without realising, fail to indicate, don't observe the road ahead! Infuriating, especially for enthusiasts who take pride in their driving.
Spot on. We all agree except for those making the decisions. The problem is they're making those decisions based on minimising risk but with no consideration to everything else. The money would be far better spent on better professional training.
As a recently retired and seasoned Traffic Officer of 20 yrs I come from the same view and principles with regards to excess Speed as you which is mainly due to the extensive Driver Training and experiences we have encountered over the years. Less than 2 % of UK motorists are Advanced and way less than 1% are Police Class 1 trained. I agree, it is inappropriate speed that causes issues, not forgetting those that go too slow when conditions dictate an increased speed would be safer, I teach and maintain that once you are driving or riding a motorbike, you become a moving object and in order to maintain momentum you MUST always be in the correct position at the correct time and this can only be achieved through effective observations and constant changes in speed. Traffic is safer when moving, even if it’s just a few mph. I set myself a task when I ride my motorbike which is to get from A to B without putting a foot down by being in the correct position at the correct time, thus maintaining momentum. Therefore , going back to the topic, the correct speed to travel (as you say) is proportionate to the ever changing road conditions. As you know, it’s a mindset but a high percentage of drivers just do not have that mindset unfortunately. These drivers drive on “Chance” rather than plan and as you know, blame others when it goes wrong.
Totally agree, but isn't that down to training? We're taught the basics then given a set of keys and it's off you go. That's it. That's why you see new drivers stopping at the end of the slip road joining a motorway at the "give way" lines. That's the way they perceive those lines and that's what they're taught to do, because they have never been on a motorway before so they don't know any different. I confess I don't know exactly what the driving test covers these days, but you only have to it in a supermarket car park for half an hour and watch them parking to see how little control they have over their car, to see how they're not capable of judging even close distances and angles. You wonder how they managed to get there in one piece sometimes. They might make for entertaining "fail" videos but it's frightening that you might meet these people on the road and wonder how much control they have over their vehicle. The answer for me is training, not more rules and limits which only serves to aggravate and confuse people. With far better training it's a given that the roads would be a lot safer.
@@severnsea Yes I agree…..training or the lack of it is an issue. I also spent 5 years teaching learners but I did not teach to pass a test, I taught to drive in real terms. As for Give Way junctions and junctions I taught “Plan to go and be prepared to stop”…..this helped them enormously to make safer decisions. Driver training after test is non existent……in that 5 years I was only asked once to do the Pass Plus training. Unfortunately it is what it is!
*Found this channel randomly and I am so blown away... this is the guy I've been looking for... Now I can just tell people to watch this channel for education rather than trying to explain myself why I can drive fast while being safe.* 8:22
Nice Job Reg with a lovely driving mindset. Just a discussion points if I may on what was said at 23:25 and 29:19. How many incidents have you been to while you were an officer where the ability of the driver was far less than their perceived ability? Whenever I've asked anyone what they are like as a driver they have never replied "bang average" Keep safe, Ashley.
I did wonder if I’d ever see you pop up on one of these videos Ash! It’d be great to see you and Reg do a collab video when people are allowed back to normal! 👍
Asking someone to rate their own driving is like asking them to rate their sexual performance! No-one ever wants to admit their failings & everyone thinks they’re better than average.
Hi Ashley, my experience is that most people know they could be better drivers. Like you say, it's through education, we can all make a difference to increasing safety on our roads. I am an ADI and big fan of yours and Reg and have shared many videos for my clients to see. Both of you keep up the good work! Stay safe.
Ashley, I have seen Reg Local drive in Scotland at 90mph on 60 mph roads. Surely you don’t agree with that , I’ve never seen you exceed speed limits other than by very small margins.
One thing I have learnt over the years, it doesn't matter what speed you do, there will always be someone who wants to go faster than you and will try to force you to go faster. So it is better to go at the speed you feel comfortable at (in my case the posted limits) and don't let others bully you into going faster than you'd like...if needed, let them pass you.
One of the roads to work is national speed limit and is very twisty and bendy. After having a black box for a year (meaning i couldnt speed brake harsh or accelerate harsh too often) if i wanted to get the feeling of speed id have to slowly learn to carry that speed through the corners as opposed to just flooring it. Honestly stuff like that helped me get a feel for controlling the car
Very good video, has made me think a lot about how I deploy speed. Having watched a few of your videos now it would seem to me that everyone learning to drive should be given this type of education and a lot of people who have been driving could do with watching.
Thought provoking content thanks Reg 🤓 We have some country roads near me, where the local residents petitioned the council. The posted limit was reduced from NSL to 30mph. There had been no accidents or change of risk. Now we have genuine speed limits based on the conditions, plus some set by locals who all want a 30mph limit past their house. So some based on the 85percentile, plus some by selfish individuals. It’s a shambles and drivers have to decide for themselves, as their is little respect for any of them now! Has anyone else noticed this? ROSPA training got me used to driving at the slower posted limits, without worrying it felt like walking pace. Getting into the habit helped me massively and I’m far more relaxed going very slowly. Taking that choice, as you put it, in NSL areas, is something I do too. I’ve taken it on the chin a couple of times too 😬
The one thing I will say to everyone is Reg's approach and mentality towards speed works very well and is something I've adopted myself over the past couple of years since doing my driver coaching session with him. My licence has stayed squeaky clean for the past seven years I've been on the road and I very much enjoy enthusiastic yet safe driving. What astounds me though is how many friends and colleagues I've met who have been done for speeding. These are normal everyday people that use the roads for getting around and wouldn't necessarily go out of their way to drive for pleasure like some of us might. What's that all about? On another note, if anyone wants to see inappropriate use of speed and quite frankly utterly sh*t driving on a daily basis, with everyone in your blind spot and tailgating you at all times, then come to South East England and I don't just mean London.
Love this guys videos. Been riding 40 something years... I'm good... and I learnt something from every video. Finding this guy does decent car vids is brilliant. I can drive fast... very fast... but driving safely on the road while making progress is an art. This guy has it... watch and learn... every day is a school day.
I've had what you might describe as 'heated discussions' with fellow college students about this topic and am really quite happy to have come across this video to be honest. Not long after passing my test at 17 (not long ago, only a few years) I developed the opinion that 'speeding' and 'driving too fast for the conditions' are completely separate things. As you touched on, You can drive perfectly safely in the right conditions at 80-85 mph or greater (like on autobahns) but there are also conditions where doing the signposted value would be very unsuitable and in fact dangerous and possible to classify as 'driving without due care and attention', mainly the due care part. I also put it across to them that if speed limits were accurate they'd change every metre, for every change in weather, level of traffic (foot and vehicular), etc as well as for every vehicle and driver combination, for them to be relied on for 'keeping people safe'. Something I'll add here for background, all of my knowledge on advanced driving is basically self taught with the closest to actually taking a RoSPA (or similar) course being watching a number of their older videos alongside older police training videos and the like here on RUclips. Becoming an advanced driver is something I hope to do but what I guess you could loosely bunch under 'personal circumstances' have prevented it before the current international circumstances. Where I perhaps differ slightly in opinion to yourself although initially (in my very short time driving) agreed is with lower signposted values. When I started driving, I treated the national limit sign as what it once was from the 30's as you covered (as I've just learned), but I held the posted values for built up areas as not to be exceeded under any circumstances. As I've developed from watching these videos (conscious that it's not near as good as sitting next to an instructor) I've come to decide that some of them are at certain times these are not the maximum safe speed for the conditions, specifically a town in my area, out in the country, that at each end is a 30 mph zone that I'd say 40 mph would be safe for more than half the time, and if I could be tasked with rearranging the boundaries and partly the layout, I'd extend this 40 limit out both ends of the town around tight corners with the 30 zone starting further in, alongside putting a couple of roundabouts at each end where there's junctions and where they could help traffic for the town spin around instead of some of the actions drivers regularly make. Anyway, It means I now always drive solely to the conditions. Frequently, this is driving slower than the signposted value, when passing parked cars, in areas with high foot traffic, in poor weather conditions, etc, but occasionally, like when it's good visibility, dry and there's no traffic thanks to a pandemic keeping a majority of the usual traffic off the road, children at home, etc, then I will make 'significant progress' in built up areas (relative to 'making progress' in training from RoSPA or IAM(Roadsmart)). The other way I probably differ to your 'advice' is the occasional blast of 'significant progress' in national limit zones, for an idea on pace remember how I mentioned self-teaching from police emergency response training videos, but also that I drive a 1.6 diesel Focus that will see 3 figures but if you were for go for it you'll be committed for a bit longer than any police Beamer, and it's never been sustained on an autobahn. Edit: Saying as I went off on the layout I'd change in that town, I'd make the RoSPA level of driving education the minimum requirement for getting a licence and return to the days of no speed limits while having a larger traffic police force and traffic CCTV (human operated) at every school and other high risk area for monitoring traffic and more focus put on careless driving under which driving too fast for the conditions would be enforced, idea being that that would force drivers to 'drive as they would on their test' all the time to reduce the factors that lead to incidents instead of putting stuff in place to reduce the severity of incidents with the attitude of them being inevitable.
IAM observation skills (once learned) made me realise just how much is going on, and that, related to my skill level means many speed limits make perfect sense. It would be good I think for speed limits to be set by a traffic policeman driving the road, rather than councils. That would hopefuly avoid non-sensical speed limit changes e.g. as we cross county boundaries. Insightful video, many thanks.
Exactly right Reg. Speed doesn’t kill, inappropriate speed does. Always remember Paul Smith (I think was his name) RIP, from Safe Speed or something like that. He was on the radio regularly around twenty years ago. The only person, up until I’ve watched this video, that made that point. Most of these other road safety campaigners talk crap.
Too many people go up to the signposted value and think they're perfectly safe because they're not exceeding it. Complacency with speed is too common and I would say that that contributes to a lot of incidents. If someone is driving at or below the limit I think they can think that everything else is doing that speed and be more easily caught out by someone 'suddenly' not doing that speed.
Great video Reg! Good balanced view point i think. One question: In the vid, at 27:10 when the white Juke partially pulls out at the r/about despite you having RoW, is there an arguement to stop and let them complete their (wrong) maneouver? I can see why not (because they might get used to "barging" their way out, and someone behind you might not be expecting you to stop having RoW), but i also worry that the sort of person who can't pull out into a r/about correctly also possibly isn't in full control of their car, and hence drving (closely) in front of them to "squeeze" through the gap they have left also feels, well, risky? (obs the acccident would be v minor, but any accident is a PITA and best avoided)?
It’s not easy to see on the video, but my approach speed was always low enough to stop if I needed too & I got clear eye contact & a wave of apology from the Juke driver (you can just about make it out at 27:12), so in this case I was more than happy that he would stop and give priority, despite his error at the give way line. Without the clear eye contact & acknowledgement I would have been much more likely to stop. “Just because you have priority doesn’t mean you’ll always get it”.
excellent video. I moved from the UK to the US and over here they have really internalized the 'speed kills' message. So here is a very common scenario: you will be driving along a 30/40 mph road. Up ahead you will see a junction and some headlights. They will wait until you are right on top of them and then pull out in front of you..... very slowly. Because speed kills, right? Also, you'll be approaching traffic lights, and the guy coming from the opposite direction will wait until you are at the lights and ... turn left very slowly in front of you! So if you are planning a trip to the US bear that in mind. People over here sit in on the sofa in their gargantuan SUVs with their phones clamped to their heads and believe as long as they drive super slow they will be OK.
only recently found your channel and loving the content. quite agree with regards to speed. speed doesn't kill. Inappropriate speed (can) kill (aka the sudden stop). 30mph past a school at 3pm? too fast. 90mph on the motorway at 3am in dry conditions? probably safe. when i was doing my motorcycle training my instructor taught me to believe that everyone else was out there to kill me. bit of an overstatement (as he admitted later), but it massively improved my observation skills, which i still use driving a car today. keep making the great content.
There aren’t enough traffic police on the road. A camera won’t pull you over and give advice, tell you off, prosecute when required, breathalyse you, see if you’re on drugs, realise you’re wound up or stressed, see if you’ve bald tyres and check vehicle condition, talk to the public. Police the roads basically; advise and educate the public and - I admit - cut you some slack when you make progress appropriately and come down hard when required. When I first passed my test every time I drove I would see a police officer out in traffic. I can go weeks now without seeing any on the road.
Thought provoking, unfortunately most people don't know how to think. My time with you on that amazing day's training is priceless along with my IAM training
Speed is like knives, its not the car or the knives that kill, you can sit there and tell the car or knife to kill but nothing will happen, until you get someone to control the car or knife and it is now a weapon that kills. If they choose to do the responsible thing then most of the time you will be fine (bare in mind accidents do happen), but if you get an idiot behind the wheel then its a different matter. Safety first is the motto in driving.
A good video Reg, a few thoughts. I completely agree speed doesn't kill, inappropriate speed does. Inappropriate speed goes both ways, if it's artificially low drivers are distracted looking at their speed and mentally having to process that instead of thinking about hazards etc. I take the view that a good driver shouldn't need to know their speed because they're already driving at a speed safe for the conditions ahead. I think motorways should consider some form of speed exemption or higher limits, for example 100mph in lane 3 or 4. I can think of a few NSL roads where stretches of them 80mph or 90mph might be safe speeds but the vast majority 60/70 is a suitable max. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, in some instances temporary breaching of the limit is safer to get overtakes in. Unfortunately there's the fact that most drivers don't have the skills to handle higher speeds. The standard of driving in this country is awful. Enforcing a law where say you can go at higher speeds than me due to completing advanced driver training would be very difficult. Some examples of bad speed limits: In my town there are multiple dual carriageways where the limit is 30mph, you always get overtaken, and 40mph is a speed a good driver will unconsciously go for. I don't have cruise control in my current vehicle, so I have to constantly watch the speed which is a needless distraction from the road. By my parents, there is a NSL road down a country lane, doing 60mph would be suicide. But a few hundred yards up there is a dual carriageway set to 50mph when 60mph or 70mph are far more appropriate, but I can legally go faster down a road 100x more dangeous. Except for one section with a dangerous junction, but the council spent a lot of money shading out sections of the road, but keep a badly designed junction that's one of the most dangerous parts of the road. Bad road design is absolutely a thing. And it turns out that the 50 limit was set by a few idiot pedestrians getting kills, and an 18 year old boy racer doing 100mph and smashing into some trees (their solution to this was to cut down all trees because a stupid kid couldn't drive). A few years ago when the smart motorway was being built, only lane 1 was able to take the slip road to merge motorways, lane 2 was blocked (for no reason). This caused huge traffic jams and near constant accidents due to massive speed differential between lanes 1 & 2 (about 40 mph, 10mph vs 50mph) and people having to cut in and slam on brakes. When I wrote to my MP and he wrote to Highways England, of course this was perfectly safe and set by experts! Nonsense, any driver could tell you it was incredibly dangerous and poor road management. When lane 2 was not blocked on the sliproad the problem vanished overnight. The 'experts' were near killing people every single day. The real solution is councils need to eliminate badly set, too slow speeds. They need to be intelligent about designing roads, instead of creating bad designs that any competent driver can see will kill people but only get fixed when body bags pile up.
What a brilliant video, I passed the advanced a year ago, the enjoyment I get from observation and hazard perception is considerable. Combine that with spirited driving/riding the it is most pleasurable.
This is a brilliant channel! Enjoyed reading a book of yours too, these opinions echo mine. But tbh I think I just don’t feel the need to speed anymore maybe I’m just getting old, but I love driving accurately, and things like matching revs and keeping it smooth, minimal braking etc. are the most rewarding elements for me
An interesting, solid, and thought provoking analysis. I would take issue though with the interpretation of the 'contributory factors' section. If excess speed is defined as exceeding the speed limit, then the very fact that most people stick roughly to these limits (or thereabouts) will affect the probabiliy that exceed speed can be recorded as a factor. In a world where everyone stuck to the speed limits, then excess speed would NEVER be a contributory factor - a clearly illogical conclusion.
Good topic. I agree with pretty much all of your points. I feel that driving / riding skills are something most folk "think" they already have and don't need to nurture... I would like to see everyone taking further training, Sadly it isn't gonna happen !
Incredibly sensible and informed video - I share a very similar philosophy. Like you, I’m a driving enthusiast and am fortunate enough to own a couple of extremely high performance cars. I’ve spent a lot of time, effort and money on advanced driver training ... and continue to do so regularly eg. every time I get a new car or even if it’s just been a while and a refresher would help. The driver, their skills and judgement, is always the weakest link. Ps. Just bought how not to crash (have had advanced and performance driving for a long time)
Great video, I have done the IAM course on a motorbike and found it very informative and gave me a lot extra skill and confidence, also done part of a ROSPA course again on a motorbike. Your points are very clear and very well made. Totally agree with you on speed in built up areas. There is no reason on an open road when you can assess safely road conditions etc etc that you can’t push on a bit, but it is as you say your choice and if you get caught don’t blame the police it was your choice.
Another great video Reg, and well on point. There’s a question in earlier comments about exceeding the limits on an IAM test, even with commentary. I have answered with my viewpoint, but would love to know your thoughts as an examiner.
I'm interested to know from Reg or any other traffic police officers on here whether they would pull a driver over for breaking the speed limit alone, or would there have to be an inappropriate element to the driving? If speed alone, would you be more inclined to give them advice rather than issue a fine?
Good points lol, most the time im under the limit anyway when hazards are around. When there are no hazards I wish I could go a little faster. Also I find that people try to stick to the speed limit when they should really be going slower (they see it as a target).
I have an M2 and from Yorkshire, so we have quite a lot in common. I find your videos extremely informative with masses of useful information. You definitely live in the real world and are a fantastic role model for young drivers. The roads would be a much better place if littered with drivers such as yourself 👍😀
Great video mate. The cynic in me thinks it still boils down to money through fines - why the push for "smart" motorways with cameras on every gantry? I've lost count of the number of times I've been checked down to 40 on a quiet smart motorway, only to return to national half a mile later. I drive a lot in Germany too and take the view that it's not speed that's the problem, it's the difference in speed - similar to your stopping quickly point. Someone driving too slow for the road conditions is just as dangerous as someone driving too fast.
It is, you can't exceed it but you must try to be at it. A lot of accidents happen because of people not knowing that simple rule it's not a target but people driving slow causes obstructions for people travelling at the speed limit
I feel it would be good for an opinion update from Reg now. I fully endorse the statements around always sticking to the posted limits; however the frustration is that, certainly in the south-east, the message of “speed kills” is taken to the nth degree. There are almost no 30mph limits in my area, it is now 20mph. There are even 40mph areas that have reduced to 20mph and these are straight roads, good visibility, hedges on one side and field on the other. This is where, even as an advanced driver, the frustration kicks in. On the flip side a 20mph on a suburban residential street with parked cars is actually too much. It has become too easy for councils to be lazy and just blanket a ridiculously slow limit across the board under “speed kills” rather than leave some responsibility with the drivers. For those likely to kill, they just ignore the limits anyway.
I agree pretty much with this too and I think we're like minded, having watched a lot of your videos and I've signed up for the IAM course. But the problem these days is they're going over the top with this. Blanket 20mph zones in Wales for example, which we just know are going to happen everywhere, or at least in many other places. The other problem, in Lancashire anyway, is the overzealous attitude of the authorities, certainly the Lancashire Road Safety bunch. We are now seeing average speed cameras in many areas in the countryside which are just bizarre. From Hambleton village towards Lancaster for example, we have a series of small villages with stretches of road inbetween, and those areas have now been split by average speed cameras every couple of miles or less and they are now set at 20, 30, 40, 50 limits - yes, just about every limit possible, even on a long arrow-straight stretch out in the country. This is confusing for drivers, as it's not always easy to spot traffic signs hidden behind a tree or strategically placed behind a road sign. In many cases we now see many drivers, generally older drivers, driving the entire stretch at 20mph because they don't understand the system and don't want to be caught out. This creates annoyed, frustrated drivers which makes those drivers less capable, and therefore less safe because it's a distraction rather than something that's going to keep people safer. I'm all for safety but we're losing the plot.
Excellent approach to speed. Education is the way forward. After living in the US for three years where rule and laws replace education it is a game of cat and mouse, with individuals looking for the loop holes and the attitude is hard to change. If we can be educated, real change takes place and people adapt to new circumstances. I hope to do my advanced riding course this year after completing the driving last year. Bet you are glad the lockdown is easing for drivers, Reg!
I have my speed warning set to 65 for nationals, GPS flickers between 60 and 61. I rarely hit it for long, and it feels plenty fast enough where appropriate.
I drove back from Inverness to Oxford with the cruise set at 75mph for the most part, I was one of the slowest car's on the road 🤔, British Motorway unofficial limit seems to be around 100 these day's.
You are right for when there is a lockdown! I remember setting the cruise to 120mph on the M40 and getting overtaken by about 40% of all the other vehicles! Like Reg said, it's down to the appropriate use of speed. I've got around 100,000 miles of experience on the German autobahns, and parts of the M40 are similar in design, with few exits and clear views for 5 miles+ ahead. And in the first lockdown, it was dead quiet in March and April! (I was a key worker, working all through Covid, so I had to be out)
Interesting video and nice to see your views on this, as I’ve always watched some of the overtake videos and thought nah your not staying within the limit there. Out of interest then, on an IAM test that your examining would you expect the driver to stay within 60mph on a national or if it’s say a long straight and all observations and even commentary in place to ensure it’s safe would you allow going over on test?
Hi Richard. I agree with all that’s said in this video but as a qualified former ADI and IAM observer I would say if you exceeded speed limits on your IAM test, you’d have a whole lot of explaining to do.
Have a look at my video on how to pass your advanced driving test Richard, and your question will be answered! ruclips.net/video/H9boDxN3KRM/видео.html
It's almost like road safety is a very complex issue and trying to solve it with simplistic traffic enforcement and misleading messaging isn't the solution. Who would have thought?!
I agree with Reg on his view on speed...but what does he and everyone else think of the upcoming 'intelligent Speed Assistance' system coming to a new car near you in 2 years time?
In one of Reg's videos on braking, we can see modern brakes can stop a car incredibly quickly from 60mph. But speeds are still set as if every car has 1960s levels of braking and safety.
Mango0fDoom exactly it’s been 70mph since 1965, most European countries are 80mph If you crash at over 80mph on the autobahn your insurance is void even though you can go as fast as you like
Thank you Sorry I seem to have caused a little bit of a firefight with your video on overtaking... every think you say in this one on speed I completely understand and it’s very much how and where I am. So thank you and I certainly will purchase one of your books. And I will keep my bikes and put the Honda jazz on hold for now.
No worries Terry. The question seems to come up a lot, so instead of answering the same questions over and over, I made this video. Keep the bike! You’re too young for a Jazz!
Reg, Reg, driving through our old patch of Burnley?! Enough to make one speed on through! (#Joke) Great content, as ever. Let’s go back to the Autobahn. Love ya, Daft Andy! 🙌🏼
Who gave you internet access Andy? Have the staff at the asylum given you the wifi password?! Let me know when they agree to day release & we’ll have a run out!
Just ignore the speed limit and go as fast as you like. A typical BMW driver. To claim that very few collisions involve excess speed. Surely every collision that involves you hitting something means you were travelling too fast to stop.
Every sentence of your comment is inaccurate, and reveals you as an inexperienced and/or unskilled driver. The kind that causes more accidents than all the speeding drivers in the world ten times over. The only other or more likely additional explanation is that you never actually watched the video.
Very very much agree and this is the method I drive by I think there should be much more advanced driver training for all driver with much bigger reward in terms of cheaper insurance. The problem with modern car is it so easy to get carried away and then see the speed witch u are going but very good point are mad and I think all new drivers should have to do some sort of advanced driver training in terms of teaching people to over take properly and looking for the hazards more than there is but that will never change
I agree with you, my only gripe is that people are driving vehicles that have ESP and other safety features. They drive at speeds into hazards, like roundabouts, traffic lights, the onboard computers are doing the hard work keeping the vehicle stable. I honestly believe that this gives false confidence to those type of drivers, and the computer is masking the poor skill level. If you put these drivers in a old vehicle they would be out of shape in no time. Technology has made these cars faster so for example people are entering roundabouts at higher speeds, this causes problems with people trying to enter the roundabout. Driving is a privilege, not a right.
An excellent Video. It's very rare I encounter someone who shares the same views as I do. I don't fully subscribe to the mantra of "speed kills". Speed in of itself I do not believe is inherently dangerous; inappropriate use of speed is dangerous. Case in point; people joining a dual-carriageway or motorway that make no effort whatsoever to match their speed to lane 1. The number of times I've seen people amble into the carriageway, or stop on the slip road because they're not paying attention to what they are doing. I've been driving for around 21 years and have been an advanced driver for 6 of those years; the training really opened my eyes, and I'm a much better driver as a result. As both my car and I are known to the local Police (not for any bad reasons I promise), I tread with caution if I decide to drive with a little more exuberance...while one local officer in particular is a driving enthusiast like me; I know not to take the mick, as much as I love to chase the limit point on occasion...
Very useful video, Reg. I emailed you on 18/5/20 with a question arising from an earlier one about IPSGA - I hope you'll be able to find time to respond.
Some sensible words about speed. Speed limits are there for a reason, they are the law, like them or not. BUT, a good proportion of people who speed are often driving without due care and attention which then leads to their speeding, by being ignorant of their speed or the conditions around. Also, not everyone is trained properly to drive at speed, and not even close to Police Driver Training and they make mistakes even with that training.
Thanks Reg, another very informative video. Your advice makes perfect sense. Unfortunately you let yourself down from 31.00 onwards by driving too fast through those S bends. You clearly could not have stopped in the distance that you could see to be clear. Just image if a tractor was broken down in the middle of the road around one of those blind corners. Never mind, chin up, you got away with it on that occasion. We all make mistakes; the important thing it to learn from our mistakes so they're not repeated. Stay Safe.
Thanks for your opinion. I’m not sure what car you drive, or when it was last serviced, but if your view is that you wouldn’t be able to stop in those circumstances, I’d suggest getting your brakes & tyres checked as a matter of urgency. Stay safe.
@@RegLocal- Thanks for your opinion. My view is that I NO ONE would be able to STOP SAFELY in those circumstances. Harsh braking in the middle of a corner is a recipe for disaster now matter how good the driver thinks he/she is. (For info, I drive a 2018 BMW 535D that was last serviced in January 2020). STAY SAFE.
You both are correct I think as looks like the video camera position is more central than the driver's point of view (to the right of the windscreen) so the video footage of the corner at 31:10 gives the illusion of less visibility than there was to Reg Local's eyes in real life. The wide angle lens might increase this illusion too, making the bushes at side look like go past faster than real life. You can also hear Reg's car accelerate harshly when the view became even clearer too so he didn't just fly around the bend.
Always wanted to ask someone who can drive to an advanced standard, whats your opinion on those who sit at 45mph through nationals at all times? Where I live they are everywhere, they'll all swear they are trying to be safe, but I know it's just lack of care/capability to read road conditions and react, as well as a lack of consideration for road users. In my test, I was told to do the speed limit where safe and whilst each drivers risk assessment may vary, some people don't even bother. 45mph seems to be their favourite speed. I understand that people are going to be comfortable at a set speed and while this sounds harsh, I question their ability and right to be on the road entirely. I do the speed limit where safe as its common ground for everyone. Truth be told in most cases I'm happier to go faster, yet I know its illegal, and other drivers won't be able to do the same. For this reason, I do the limit out of consideration. Yet it doesn't work in reverse. Slow drivers are happy to hold up queues of up to 100 cars purely for their own comfort/incompetence. In my own opinion you should be allowed to record and report these drivers so they can be prosecuted, as it is selfish, lazy and proves beyond reasonable doubt that people aren't paying due attention and care. And it causes desperate drivers to get impatient and overtake where it might not be safe to do so (although that is as much the overtakers fault as it is the turtles fault)
I was hit head on by someone coming into my lane, all this goes out of the window to do with your own skill level if someone else does something dangerous enough. Luckily I was only doing 50km/h on the road even though the limit was 100km/h. My outlook is now drive exactly how you'd be comfortable describing your actions in front of a coroner / judge. It's a massive relief to be able to say you followed every law and took every precaution in your statement
When they said they was going to increase the speed limit to 50 mph on single carriageways for LGVs. Lots of people said great as the wouldnt be getting stuck by a truck travelling at 40 mph. I always said if it came into force the speed limits for cars and bikes would drop to 50mph to all to discourage overtaking as the average joe I believe dont always carry the skill to judge overtaking and on coming traffic speeds and was laughed at. Yet roughley around the same time lots of National speed limits dropped to 50 mph so I amwondering who was right. Most would now argue that keeping the LGVs at 40 would have been better giving you that 20 mph margin to overtake. Instead they should of let the LGVs do 60 mph on the motorway to compensate for time.
There should be speed guides rather than limits, but there should be proper training and refreshers. Of course this won't happen because speeding fines are now a necessary extra revenue.
We should follow the rest of the world and abolish mph and adopt km/h and put the wretched imperial system behind us. And have derestricted stretches of motorway and other stretches with limits from 110 to 160 km/h. And leave the limits the same in residential areas but convert them to km/h.
Some people buy good cars that handle very well and brake very well and fit the best possible tyres, keep the car seviced properly, don't drive tiered, etc. Does that compare to a tiered driver who drives poor car with poor all seasons tires and his car us serviced on a budget every 3 years ? It doesn't. I would also forbid motorcicles, sorry guys! It is not ok to drive "unprotectted" on a motorcicle.
You talk a lot of sense, of course, with your training and experience, but I still disagree. For instance, at the end of your video there you were going far too fast around left hand bends, at least from the way it looked on screen: you could not, until it was too late, be sure there were not cyclists or pedestrians or equestrians using the road around the tighter bends and it did not look like you'd have been able to stop. I feel there is an antisocial narcissism among drivers who break the speed limit. By all means debate the issues and take part in referenda or consultations, but drivers should have the courtesy and respect to obey the law; they should understand that their single monocular view of the issue - even your highly trained and experienced view - is not commensurate with the larger numbers of people who, with consideration for conditions and local statistics and the needs and fears of local residents, have set the speed limits for a number of reasons. To set one's own opinion and a desire for a bit of fun above that is, as I say, narcissistic and antisocial. And you know better: you understand how much enjoyment and fun there is in finessing the balance of the car, reducing mechanical wear and tear, in being smooth and in planning and in driving elegantly. Speed is unnecessary except in the direst emergencies. And as for police driving - I don't know the statistics, though there were partial statistics published a few years back regarding the number of accidents caused by police drivers and some of those figures were not good. In pursuit driving at high speeds, not only can even very experienced drivers lose control and make catastrophic errors, the driver they are pursuing who, almost certainly, has less skill and less training will be pushed beyond their skill level. If an accident occurs in these circumstances it is the fault of the experienced pursuit officer who is pushing the person they are chasing and of those making policy on the matter. What crime is so serious that deaths of civilians should be risked in order to make an arrest? You may be able to name one or two crimes of that order (terrorism perhaps), but vehicle theft, bank robbery (if that still happens), joyriding, etc. do not fall into this category. Geographical interception should be the emphasis, not pursuit.
My take is that driving is a privilege and not a right. If you can't stick to the posted limits then you're either incapable of driving 'safely' or you just can't be arsed paying attention. Either way, you need to have a word with yourself before somebody else has to, for the good of others.
I have to agree with every word you have said in this video, and many thanks for the content. During lockdown I found myself doing 45ish MPH in a 30 as there was little risk and no one around. I use this road regularly and under normal circumstances would not exceed 25 MPH for the most part, let alone the 30 limit. Another recent scenario, driving along a country road with a National limit. I hit 75 on a few occasions on the straights. My 10 year old son commented, 'we're not meant to go this fast'. We had been doing home school work on road signs/etiquette the day before
I have read and often return to reading both of your books in conjunction with with Roadcraft. I think that many drivers do not observe the signage or do not refer to their speedometers. Other causes are being tailgated or going with the flow. Using the satnav as as speedo is not always a reliable substitute either. Also many drivers overestimate their ability. I found the the video interesting and useful although I'm sure it will provoke some controversial observations.
Sure people lie, the police also lie though, there's a lot of police you can't trust and it makes you not want to trust any of them. Good informative video though 👍
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I generally agree with the sentiment, the only gripe I have is that 50mph limits are being applied to very long stretches of perfectly good A and B roads, rather than to short stretches where there might be a specific hazard. These are often roads where 60mph felt restrained before; 50mph just feels like crawling now. If the authorities want drivers to respect speed limits, they need to show some restraint when applying them and not just cover a 7 mile stretch of road with 50 signs because of one bad corner.
The same happens here some painfully slow 40mph sections with clear open roads and no hazards on an A class road
On the last road Reg drives on in this video the speed limit changes from 50mph to NSL on the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Nothing about the road and the hazard level changes. It's just that Lancashire County Council has decided to reduce the speed limit and the local authority on the Yorkshire side of the border hasn't.
On the A675 heading out of Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen Council decided a few years ago to reduce the NSL parts to 50mph. A very small part of the NSL before the 30mph limit fell on the Bolton side of the border and wasn't reduced. For years, drivers heading out of Bolton passed an NSL sign immediately followed a few hundred yards later by a 50mph sign on the local authority border. Blackburn with Darwen council never put an NSL sign up for drivers heading into Bolton, so the road was technically NSL in one direction for a short distance but not in the other. It's 50mph all the way now.
You have to remember, that especially on country roads, the speed limit applies 24 hours a day. You might think driving at 50 is too slow, but at night time, especially with slow-moving farm traffic, dips and potholes, the roads are more hazardous. So that 50mph limit keeps you safer at night.
Why should the authorities show restraint if the drivers are sometimes incapable of it. I occasionally see drivers flouting speed limits blatantly and looking like they're fully in control of their vehicles, but the latter part is not usually obvious and probably not true.
Restraint is a fundamental part of driving: good attitude and considered control. On a 7 mile stretch of road the difference between doing 50 and doing 60 the difference is 64 seconds out of one's life: 64 seconds where one could be honing subtle skills rather than just hurtling along.
Cars these days are safer than ever, with more driver aids than ever and, as you point out, in some places speed limits are dropping. Yet deaths on the road have not fallen.
It's the drivers who should exercise restraint - or be restrained if they can't.
If anyone needs a speed limit to tell them what the safe speed is, then they shouldn't be on the road in the first place. If you can pass a driving test without driving on a road where the safe speed is lower than the legal speed limit, then the driving test is unfit for purpose.
Most of the roads in the UK are are just too darned busy to go fast these days. The only time you can enjoy speed is between 2300-0500 when the roads are quiet. I work nights and enjoy driving relatively fast in the small hours, but 100mph on main arteries is asking for a ban. I do track days and they are a great way of quenching my need for speed in a sane way.
I couldn’t agree more ,, further driver training should carry more rewards perhaps different speed limits for advanced drivers would encourage people to train more,,maybe cheaper insurance or limits to horsepower, the point being how can we encourage road safety and promote driver awareness rather rather than only a punitive system
The reward should be a driving license.. The standards to pass the driving test need to be much, much higher.
Brilliant informative video! Couldn't agree more with the points you made, particularly around speed in built up areas and those who don't pay attention. It gets tiring having people hound you when you are an enthusiast, they see a quick car or a keen driver and assume you are a bad driver yet they play on their mobile phones, fiddle with media systems, tailgate without realising, fail to indicate, don't observe the road ahead! Infuriating, especially for enthusiasts who take pride in their driving.
Spot on. We all agree except for those making the decisions. The problem is they're making those decisions based on minimising risk but with no consideration to everything else. The money would be far better spent on better professional training.
As a recently retired and seasoned Traffic Officer of 20 yrs I come from the same view and principles with regards to excess Speed as you which is mainly due to the extensive Driver Training and experiences we have encountered over the years.
Less than 2 % of UK motorists are Advanced and way less than 1% are Police Class 1 trained.
I agree, it is inappropriate speed that causes issues, not forgetting those that go too slow when conditions dictate an increased speed would be safer,
I teach and maintain that once you are driving or riding a motorbike, you become a moving object and in order to maintain momentum you MUST always be in the correct position at the correct time and this can only be achieved through effective observations and constant changes in speed.
Traffic is safer when moving, even if it’s just a few mph.
I set myself a task when I ride my motorbike which is to get from A to B without putting a foot down by being in the correct position at the correct time, thus maintaining momentum.
Therefore , going back to the topic, the correct speed to travel (as you say) is proportionate to the ever changing road conditions.
As you know, it’s a mindset but a high percentage of drivers just do not have that mindset unfortunately.
These drivers drive on “Chance” rather than plan and as you know, blame others when it goes wrong.
Totally agree, but isn't that down to training? We're taught the basics then given a set of keys and it's off you go. That's it. That's why you see new drivers stopping at the end of the slip road joining a motorway at the "give way" lines. That's the way they perceive those lines and that's what they're taught to do, because they have never been on a motorway before so they don't know any different.
I confess I don't know exactly what the driving test covers these days, but you only have to it in a supermarket car park for half an hour and watch them parking to see how little control they have over their car, to see how they're not capable of judging even close distances and angles. You wonder how they managed to get there in one piece sometimes. They might make for entertaining "fail" videos but it's frightening that you might meet these people on the road and wonder how much control they have over their vehicle.
The answer for me is training, not more rules and limits which only serves to aggravate and confuse people. With far better training it's a given that the roads would be a lot safer.
@@severnsea Yes I agree…..training or the lack of it is an issue.
I also spent 5 years teaching learners but I did not teach to pass a test, I taught to drive in real terms.
As for Give Way junctions and junctions I taught “Plan to go and be prepared to stop”…..this helped them enormously to make safer decisions.
Driver training after test is non existent……in that 5 years I was only asked once to do the Pass Plus training.
Unfortunately it is what it is!
@@the_observer7141 That is EXACTLY the sort of training that people need.
*Found this channel randomly and I am so blown away... this is the guy I've been looking for... Now I can just tell people to watch this channel for education rather than trying to explain myself why I can drive fast while being safe.* 8:22
Nice Job Reg with a lovely driving mindset. Just a discussion points if I may on what was said at 23:25 and 29:19. How many incidents have you been to while you were an officer where the ability of the driver was far less than their perceived ability? Whenever I've asked anyone what they are like as a driver they have never replied "bang average" Keep safe, Ashley.
I did wonder if I’d ever see you pop up on one of these videos Ash! It’d be great to see you and Reg do a collab video when people are allowed back to normal! 👍
Asking someone to rate their own driving is like asking them to rate their sexual performance! No-one ever wants to admit their failings & everyone thinks they’re better than average.
Hi Ashley, my experience is that most people know they could be better drivers.
Like you say, it's through education, we can all make a difference to increasing safety on our roads. I am an ADI and big fan of yours and Reg and have shared many videos for my clients to see. Both of you keep up the good work! Stay safe.
Ashley,
I have seen Reg Local drive in Scotland at 90mph on 60 mph roads.
Surely you don’t agree with that , I’ve never seen you exceed speed limits other than by very small margins.
@@davidfoster1762 perfectly safe depending on conditions
One thing I have learnt over the years, it doesn't matter what speed you do, there will always be someone who wants to go faster than you and will try to force you to go faster. So it is better to go at the speed you feel comfortable at (in my case the posted limits) and don't let others bully you into going faster than you'd like...if needed, let them pass you.
One of the roads to work is national speed limit and is very twisty and bendy. After having a black box for a year (meaning i couldnt speed brake harsh or accelerate harsh too often) if i wanted to get the feeling of speed id have to slowly learn to carry that speed through the corners as opposed to just flooring it. Honestly stuff like that helped me get a feel for controlling the car
Very good video, has made me think a lot about how I deploy speed. Having watched a few of your videos now it would seem to me that everyone learning to drive should be given this type of education and a lot of people who have been driving could do with watching.
Interesting stuff. Makes me want to drive a bit slower, and only faster when I've considered it. Good points about exceeding 100 as well.
You're a wise man Reg. Love the videos, always educational.
Thought provoking content thanks Reg 🤓
We have some country roads near me, where the local residents petitioned the council.
The posted limit was reduced from NSL to 30mph. There had been no accidents or change of risk.
Now we have genuine speed limits based on the conditions, plus some set by locals who all want a 30mph limit past their house.
So some based on the 85percentile, plus some by selfish individuals. It’s a shambles and drivers have to decide for themselves, as their is little respect for any of them now!
Has anyone else noticed this?
ROSPA training got me used to driving at the slower posted limits, without worrying it felt like walking pace. Getting into the habit helped me massively and I’m far more relaxed going very slowly.
Taking that choice, as you put it, in NSL areas, is something I do too. I’ve taken it on the chin a couple of times too 😬
The one thing I will say to everyone is Reg's approach and mentality towards speed works very well and is something I've adopted myself over the past couple of years since doing my driver coaching session with him. My licence has stayed squeaky clean for the past seven years I've been on the road and I very much enjoy enthusiastic yet safe driving. What astounds me though is how many friends and colleagues I've met who have been done for speeding. These are normal everyday people that use the roads for getting around and wouldn't necessarily go out of their way to drive for pleasure like some of us might. What's that all about? On another note, if anyone wants to see inappropriate use of speed and quite frankly utterly sh*t driving on a daily basis, with everyone in your blind spot and tailgating you at all times, then come to South East England and I don't just mean London.
Love this guys videos. Been riding 40 something years... I'm good... and I learnt something from every video. Finding this guy does decent car vids is brilliant. I can drive fast... very fast... but driving safely on the road while making progress is an art. This guy has it... watch and learn... every day is a school day.
I've had what you might describe as 'heated discussions' with fellow college students about this topic and am really quite happy to have come across this video to be honest. Not long after passing my test at 17 (not long ago, only a few years) I developed the opinion that 'speeding' and 'driving too fast for the conditions' are completely separate things. As you touched on, You can drive perfectly safely in the right conditions at 80-85 mph or greater (like on autobahns) but there are also conditions where doing the signposted value would be very unsuitable and in fact dangerous and possible to classify as 'driving without due care and attention', mainly the due care part. I also put it across to them that if speed limits were accurate they'd change every metre, for every change in weather, level of traffic (foot and vehicular), etc as well as for every vehicle and driver combination, for them to be relied on for 'keeping people safe'.
Something I'll add here for background, all of my knowledge on advanced driving is basically self taught with the closest to actually taking a RoSPA (or similar) course being watching a number of their older videos alongside older police training videos and the like here on RUclips. Becoming an advanced driver is something I hope to do but what I guess you could loosely bunch under 'personal circumstances' have prevented it before the current international circumstances.
Where I perhaps differ slightly in opinion to yourself although initially (in my very short time driving) agreed is with lower signposted values. When I started driving, I treated the national limit sign as what it once was from the 30's as you covered (as I've just learned), but I held the posted values for built up areas as not to be exceeded under any circumstances. As I've developed from watching these videos (conscious that it's not near as good as sitting next to an instructor) I've come to decide that some of them are at certain times these are not the maximum safe speed for the conditions, specifically a town in my area, out in the country, that at each end is a 30 mph zone that I'd say 40 mph would be safe for more than half the time, and if I could be tasked with rearranging the boundaries and partly the layout, I'd extend this 40 limit out both ends of the town around tight corners with the 30 zone starting further in, alongside putting a couple of roundabouts at each end where there's junctions and where they could help traffic for the town spin around instead of some of the actions drivers regularly make.
Anyway, It means I now always drive solely to the conditions. Frequently, this is driving slower than the signposted value, when passing parked cars, in areas with high foot traffic, in poor weather conditions, etc, but occasionally, like when it's good visibility, dry and there's no traffic thanks to a pandemic keeping a majority of the usual traffic off the road, children at home, etc, then I will make 'significant progress' in built up areas (relative to 'making progress' in training from RoSPA or IAM(Roadsmart)).
The other way I probably differ to your 'advice' is the occasional blast of 'significant progress' in national limit zones, for an idea on pace remember how I mentioned self-teaching from police emergency response training videos, but also that I drive a 1.6 diesel Focus that will see 3 figures but if you were for go for it you'll be committed for a bit longer than any police Beamer, and it's never been sustained on an autobahn.
Edit: Saying as I went off on the layout I'd change in that town, I'd make the RoSPA level of driving education the minimum requirement for getting a licence and return to the days of no speed limits while having a larger traffic police force and traffic CCTV (human operated) at every school and other high risk area for monitoring traffic and more focus put on careless driving under which driving too fast for the conditions would be enforced, idea being that that would force drivers to 'drive as they would on their test' all the time to reduce the factors that lead to incidents instead of putting stuff in place to reduce the severity of incidents with the attitude of them being inevitable.
IAM observation skills (once learned) made me realise just how much is going on, and that, related to my skill level means many speed limits make perfect sense. It would be good I think for speed limits to be set by a traffic policeman driving the road, rather than councils. That would hopefuly avoid non-sensical speed limit changes e.g. as we cross county boundaries. Insightful video, many thanks.
Exactly right Reg.
Speed doesn’t kill, inappropriate speed does.
Always remember Paul Smith (I think was his name) RIP, from Safe Speed or something like that. He was on the radio regularly around twenty years ago. The only person, up until I’ve watched this video, that made that point.
Most of these other road safety campaigners talk crap.
Too many people go up to the signposted value and think they're perfectly safe because they're not exceeding it. Complacency with speed is too common and I would say that that contributes to a lot of incidents. If someone is driving at or below the limit I think they can think that everything else is doing that speed and be more easily caught out by someone 'suddenly' not doing that speed.
I too remember the Safe Speed campaign with fondness. Paul was a sad loss to driving.
Great video Reg! Good balanced view point i think.
One question: In the vid, at 27:10 when the white Juke partially pulls out at the r/about despite you having RoW, is there an arguement to stop and let them complete their (wrong) maneouver? I can see why not (because they might get used to "barging" their way out, and someone behind you might not be expecting you to stop having RoW), but i also worry that the sort of person who can't pull out into a r/about correctly also possibly isn't in full control of their car, and hence drving (closely) in front of them to "squeeze" through the gap they have left also feels, well, risky? (obs the acccident would be v minor, but any accident is a PITA and best avoided)?
It’s not easy to see on the video, but my approach speed was always low enough to stop if I needed too & I got clear eye contact & a wave of apology from the Juke driver (you can just about make it out at 27:12), so in this case I was more than happy that he would stop and give priority, despite his error at the give way line. Without the clear eye contact & acknowledgement I would have been much more likely to stop.
“Just because you have priority doesn’t mean you’ll always get it”.
excellent video. I moved from the UK to the US and over here they have really internalized the 'speed kills' message. So here is a very common scenario: you will be driving along a 30/40 mph road. Up ahead you will see a junction and some headlights. They will wait until you are right on top of them and then pull out in front of you..... very slowly. Because speed kills, right? Also, you'll be approaching traffic lights, and the guy coming from the opposite direction will wait until you are at the lights and ... turn left very slowly in front of you! So if you are planning a trip to the US bear that in mind. People over here sit in on the sofa in their gargantuan SUVs with their phones clamped to their heads and believe as long as they drive super slow they will be OK.
only recently found your channel and loving the content. quite agree with regards to speed. speed doesn't kill. Inappropriate speed (can) kill (aka the sudden stop). 30mph past a school at 3pm? too fast. 90mph on the motorway at 3am in dry conditions? probably safe. when i was doing my motorcycle training my instructor taught me to believe that everyone else was out there to kill me. bit of an overstatement (as he admitted later), but it massively improved my observation skills, which i still use driving a car today. keep making the great content.
Brilliant and informative vid, reg
There aren’t enough traffic police on the road. A camera won’t pull you over and give advice, tell you off, prosecute when required, breathalyse you, see if you’re on drugs, realise you’re wound up or stressed, see if you’ve bald tyres and check vehicle condition, talk to the public. Police the roads basically; advise and educate the public and - I admit - cut you some slack when you make progress appropriately and come down hard when required. When I first passed my test every time I drove I would see a police officer out in traffic. I can go weeks now without seeing any on the road.
Talking a great deal of sense, well said sir.
Well said Reg, correctly applied speed is not the problem, lack of concentration lack of planning and lack of observation is.
Thought provoking, unfortunately most people don't know how to think. My time with you on that amazing day's training is priceless along with my IAM training
Excellent content as always, thank you Reg.
Speed is like knives, its not the car or the knives that kill, you can sit there and tell the car or knife to kill but nothing will happen, until you get someone to control the car or knife and it is now a weapon that kills. If they choose to do the responsible thing then most of the time you will be fine (bare in mind accidents do happen), but if you get an idiot behind the wheel then its a different matter. Safety first is the motto in driving.
As a driving enthusiast, this is GOLD. Thank you
Excellent video, agree with your line of thought.
Also your book, which I’ve had for some time I’d highly recommended to anyone.
A good video Reg, a few thoughts.
I completely agree speed doesn't kill, inappropriate speed does. Inappropriate speed goes both ways, if it's artificially low drivers are distracted looking at their speed and mentally having to process that instead of thinking about hazards etc. I take the view that a good driver shouldn't need to know their speed because they're already driving at a speed safe for the conditions ahead.
I think motorways should consider some form of speed exemption or higher limits, for example 100mph in lane 3 or 4. I can think of a few NSL roads where stretches of them 80mph or 90mph might be safe speeds but the vast majority 60/70 is a suitable max.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, in some instances temporary breaching of the limit is safer to get overtakes in.
Unfortunately there's the fact that most drivers don't have the skills to handle higher speeds. The standard of driving in this country is awful. Enforcing a law where say you can go at higher speeds than me due to completing advanced driver training would be very difficult.
Some examples of bad speed limits:
In my town there are multiple dual carriageways where the limit is 30mph, you always get overtaken, and 40mph is a speed a good driver will unconsciously go for. I don't have cruise control in my current vehicle, so I have to constantly watch the speed which is a needless distraction from the road.
By my parents, there is a NSL road down a country lane, doing 60mph would be suicide. But a few hundred yards up there is a dual carriageway set to 50mph when 60mph or 70mph are far more appropriate, but I can legally go faster down a road 100x more dangeous. Except for one section with a dangerous junction, but the council spent a lot of money shading out sections of the road, but keep a badly designed junction that's one of the most dangerous parts of the road. Bad road design is absolutely a thing. And it turns out that the 50 limit was set by a few idiot pedestrians getting kills, and an 18 year old boy racer doing 100mph and smashing into some trees (their solution to this was to cut down all trees because a stupid kid couldn't drive).
A few years ago when the smart motorway was being built, only lane 1 was able to take the slip road to merge motorways, lane 2 was blocked (for no reason). This caused huge traffic jams and near constant accidents due to massive speed differential between lanes 1 & 2 (about 40 mph, 10mph vs 50mph) and people having to cut in and slam on brakes. When I wrote to my MP and he wrote to Highways England, of course this was perfectly safe and set by experts! Nonsense, any driver could tell you it was incredibly dangerous and poor road management. When lane 2 was not blocked on the sliproad the problem vanished overnight. The 'experts' were near killing people every single day.
The real solution is councils need to eliminate badly set, too slow speeds. They need to be intelligent about designing roads, instead of creating bad designs that any competent driver can see will kill people but only get fixed when body bags pile up.
excellent video Reg
What a brilliant video, I passed the advanced a year ago, the enjoyment I get from observation and hazard perception is considerable. Combine that with spirited driving/riding the it is most pleasurable.
This is a brilliant channel! Enjoyed reading a book of yours too, these opinions echo mine. But tbh I think I just don’t feel the need to speed anymore maybe I’m just getting old, but I love driving accurately, and things like matching revs and keeping it smooth, minimal braking etc. are the most rewarding elements for me
An interesting, solid, and thought provoking analysis. I would take issue though with the interpretation of the 'contributory factors' section. If excess speed is defined as exceeding the speed limit, then the very fact that most people stick roughly to these limits (or thereabouts) will affect the probabiliy that exceed speed can be recorded as a factor. In a world where everyone stuck to the speed limits, then excess speed would NEVER be a contributory factor - a clearly illogical conclusion.
Good topic. I agree with pretty much all of your points. I feel that driving / riding skills are something most folk "think" they already have and don't need to nurture...
I would like to see everyone taking further training, Sadly it isn't gonna happen !
Incredibly sensible and informed video - I share a very similar philosophy.
Like you, I’m a driving enthusiast and am fortunate enough to own a couple of extremely high performance cars. I’ve spent a lot of time, effort and money on advanced driver training ... and continue to do so regularly eg. every time I get a new car or even if it’s just been a while and a refresher would help. The driver, their skills and judgement, is always the weakest link.
Ps. Just bought how not to crash (have had advanced and performance driving for a long time)
Great video, I have done the IAM course on a motorbike and found it very informative and gave me a lot extra skill and confidence, also done part of a ROSPA course again on a motorbike. Your points are very clear and very well made. Totally agree with you on speed in built up areas. There is no reason on an open road when you can assess safely road conditions etc etc that you can’t push on a bit, but it is as you say your choice and if you get caught don’t blame the police it was your choice.
Another great video Reg, and well on point. There’s a question in earlier comments about exceeding the limits on an IAM test, even with commentary. I have answered with my viewpoint, but would love to know your thoughts as an examiner.
The answer is in my recent video on how to pass the advanced driving test:
ruclips.net/video/H9boDxN3KRM/видео.html
I'm interested to know from Reg or any other traffic police officers on here whether they would pull a driver over for breaking the speed limit alone, or would there have to be an inappropriate element to the driving? If speed alone, would you be more inclined to give them advice rather than issue a fine?
Good points lol, most the time im under the limit anyway when hazards are around. When there are no hazards I wish I could go a little faster.
Also I find that people try to stick to the speed limit when they should really be going slower (they see it as a target).
So, so true. Well said.
I have an M2 and from Yorkshire, so we have quite a lot in common. I find your videos extremely informative with masses of useful information. You definitely live in the real world and are a fantastic role model for young drivers. The roads would be a much better place if littered with drivers such as yourself 👍😀
Great video mate. The cynic in me thinks it still boils down to money through fines - why the push for "smart" motorways with cameras on every gantry? I've lost count of the number of times I've been checked down to 40 on a quiet smart motorway, only to return to national half a mile later. I drive a lot in Germany too and take the view that it's not speed that's the problem, it's the difference in speed - similar to your stopping quickly point. Someone driving too slow for the road conditions is just as dangerous as someone driving too fast.
Unfortunately, people see the speed limit as a target.
It is. The Highway Code clearly says if conditions are good then you should be on or near the speed limit
It is, you can't exceed it but you must try to be at it. A lot of accidents happen because of people not knowing that simple rule it's not a target but people driving slow causes obstructions for people travelling at the speed limit
You hear that from people doing 36mph in a 60 .
@@Byley-e7h in some 60s you should be going 20.
I feel it would be good for an opinion update from Reg now. I fully endorse the statements around always sticking to the posted limits; however the frustration is that, certainly in the south-east, the message of “speed kills” is taken to the nth degree. There are almost no 30mph limits in my area, it is now 20mph. There are even 40mph areas that have reduced to 20mph and these are straight roads, good visibility, hedges on one side and field on the other. This is where, even as an advanced driver, the frustration kicks in. On the flip side a 20mph on a suburban residential street with parked cars is actually too much. It has become too easy for councils to be lazy and just blanket a ridiculously slow limit across the board under “speed kills” rather than leave some responsibility with the drivers. For those likely to kill, they just ignore the limits anyway.
I agree pretty much with this too and I think we're like minded, having watched a lot of your videos and I've signed up for the IAM course. But the problem these days is they're going over the top with this. Blanket 20mph zones in Wales for example, which we just know are going to happen everywhere, or at least in many other places.
The other problem, in Lancashire anyway, is the overzealous attitude of the authorities, certainly the Lancashire Road Safety bunch. We are now seeing average speed cameras in many areas in the countryside which are just bizarre. From Hambleton village towards Lancaster for example, we have a series of small villages with stretches of road inbetween, and those areas have now been split by average speed cameras every couple of miles or less and they are now set at 20, 30, 40, 50 limits - yes, just about every limit possible, even on a long arrow-straight stretch out in the country. This is confusing for drivers, as it's not always easy to spot traffic signs hidden behind a tree or strategically placed behind a road sign. In many cases we now see many drivers, generally older drivers, driving the entire stretch at 20mph because they don't understand the system and don't want to be caught out. This creates annoyed, frustrated drivers which makes those drivers less capable, and therefore less safe because it's a distraction rather than something that's going to keep people safer. I'm all for safety but we're losing the plot.
Excellent approach to speed. Education is the way forward. After living in the US for three years where rule and laws replace education it is a game of cat and mouse, with individuals looking for the loop holes and the attitude is hard to change.
If we can be educated, real change takes place and people adapt to new circumstances.
I hope to do my advanced riding course this year after completing the driving last year.
Bet you are glad the lockdown is easing for drivers, Reg!
Couldn’t agree more, exactly my approach. Another great video!
I have my speed warning set to 65 for nationals, GPS flickers between 60 and 61. I rarely hit it for long, and it feels plenty fast enough where appropriate.
Think I saw a little bit of local knowledge there -Thanks for the thoughtws.
I drove back from Inverness to Oxford with the cruise set at 75mph for the most part, I was one of the slowest car's on the road 🤔, British Motorway unofficial limit seems to be around 100 these day's.
They'll be burning more fuel/tyre wear in the process.
You are right for when there is a lockdown!
I remember setting the cruise to 120mph on the M40 and getting overtaken by about 40% of all the other vehicles!
Like Reg said, it's down to the appropriate use of speed. I've got around 100,000 miles of experience on the German autobahns, and parts of the M40 are similar in design, with few exits and clear views for 5 miles+ ahead.
And in the first lockdown, it was dead quiet in March and April!
(I was a key worker, working all through Covid, so I had to be out)
Interesting video and nice to see your views on this, as I’ve always watched some of the overtake videos and thought nah your not staying within the limit there. Out of interest then, on an IAM test that your examining would you expect the driver to stay within 60mph on a national or if it’s say a long straight and all observations and even commentary in place to ensure it’s safe would you allow going over on test?
Hi Richard. I agree with all that’s said in this video but as a qualified former ADI and IAM observer I would say if you exceeded speed limits on your IAM test, you’d have a whole lot of explaining to do.
No stick within all limit on test is what all IAM examiners would expect. The same is also true of the higher-level IAM Masters test these days...😑
Have a look at my video on how to pass your advanced driving test Richard, and your question will be answered!
ruclips.net/video/H9boDxN3KRM/видео.html
It's almost like road safety is a very complex issue and trying to solve it with simplistic traffic enforcement and misleading messaging isn't the solution. Who would have thought?!
I agree with Reg on his view on speed...but what does he and everyone else think of the upcoming 'intelligent Speed Assistance' system coming to a new car near you in 2 years time?
It should be at least 80mph on the motorway, cars are getting faster and safer all the time
Good comment, but alas many drivers brains aren’t doing the same!
In one of Reg's videos on braking, we can see modern brakes can stop a car incredibly quickly from 60mph. But speeds are still set as if every car has 1960s levels of braking and safety.
Mango0fDoom exactly it’s been 70mph since 1965, most European countries are 80mph
If you crash at over 80mph on the autobahn your insurance is void even though you can go as fast as you like
@@Mango0fDoom You have to set it to the car that has the slowest braking time, otherwise most classic cars wont pass the test.
Glad I came across this.
Thank you
Sorry I seem to have caused a little bit of a firefight with your video on overtaking... every think you say in this one on speed I completely understand and it’s very much how and where I am.
So thank you and I certainly will purchase one of your books. And I will keep my bikes and put the Honda jazz on hold for now.
No worries Terry. The question seems to come up a lot, so instead of answering the same questions over and over, I made this video. Keep the bike! You’re too young for a Jazz!
Reg, Reg, driving through our old patch of Burnley?! Enough to make one speed on through! (#Joke) Great content, as ever. Let’s go back to the Autobahn. Love ya, Daft Andy! 🙌🏼
Who gave you internet access Andy? Have the staff at the asylum given you the wifi password?! Let me know when they agree to day release & we’ll have a run out!
I managed to hotspot of one of the guards phones. Day released cancelled for the time being as my random licking tic has returned.
Just ignore the speed limit and go as fast as you like. A typical BMW driver. To claim that very few collisions involve excess speed. Surely every collision that involves you hitting something means you were travelling too fast to stop.
Every sentence of your comment is inaccurate, and reveals you as an inexperienced and/or unskilled driver. The kind that causes more accidents than all the speeding drivers in the world ten times over. The only other or more likely additional explanation is that you never actually watched the video.
10000% agree with all of this. And if you want 3 figure speeds go on track.
Spot on.
Very very much agree and this is the method I drive by I think there should be much more advanced driver training for all driver with much bigger reward in terms of cheaper insurance. The problem with modern car is it so easy to get carried away and then see the speed witch u are going but very good point are mad and I think all new drivers should have to do some sort of advanced driver training in terms of teaching people to over take properly and looking for the hazards more than there is but that will never change
I agree with you, my only gripe is that people are driving vehicles that have ESP and other safety features. They drive at speeds into hazards, like roundabouts, traffic lights, the onboard computers are doing the hard work keeping the vehicle stable. I honestly believe that this gives false confidence to those type of drivers, and the computer is masking the poor skill level. If you put these drivers in a old vehicle they would be out of shape in no time. Technology has made these cars faster so for example people are entering roundabouts at higher speeds, this causes problems with people trying to enter the roundabout. Driving is a privilege, not a right.
An excellent Video. It's very rare I encounter someone who shares the same views as I do. I don't fully subscribe to the mantra of "speed kills". Speed in of itself I do not believe is inherently dangerous; inappropriate use of speed is dangerous. Case in point; people joining a dual-carriageway or motorway that make no effort whatsoever to match their speed to lane 1. The number of times I've seen people amble into the carriageway, or stop on the slip road because they're not paying attention to what they are doing. I've been driving for around 21 years and have been an advanced driver for 6 of those years; the training really opened my eyes, and I'm a much better driver as a result.
As both my car and I are known to the local Police (not for any bad reasons I promise), I tread with caution if I decide to drive with a little more exuberance...while one local officer in particular is a driving enthusiast like me; I know not to take the mick, as much as I love to chase the limit point on occasion...
Very useful video, Reg. I emailed you on 18/5/20 with a question arising from an earlier one about IPSGA - I hope you'll be able to find time to respond.
Sorry I missed your email Jeffrey - I’ll dig it out & get back to you some time this week.
Wise words.
Some sensible words about speed. Speed limits are there for a reason, they are the law, like them or not. BUT, a good proportion of people who speed are often driving without due care and attention which then leads to their speeding, by being ignorant of their speed or the conditions around. Also, not everyone is trained properly to drive at speed, and not even close to Police Driver Training and they make mistakes even with that training.
Thanks Reg, another very informative video. Your advice makes perfect sense.
Unfortunately you let yourself down from 31.00 onwards by driving too fast through those S bends. You clearly could not have stopped in the distance that you could see to be clear. Just image if a tractor was broken down in the middle of the road around one of those blind corners. Never mind, chin up, you got away with it on that occasion. We all make mistakes; the important thing it to learn from our mistakes so they're not repeated. Stay Safe.
Thanks for your opinion. I’m not sure what car you drive, or when it was last serviced, but if your view is that you wouldn’t be able to stop in those circumstances, I’d suggest getting your brakes & tyres checked as a matter of urgency. Stay safe.
@@RegLocal- Thanks for your opinion. My view is that I NO ONE would be able to STOP SAFELY in those circumstances. Harsh braking in the middle of a corner is a recipe for disaster now matter how good the driver thinks he/she is. (For info, I drive a 2018 BMW 535D that was last serviced in January 2020). STAY SAFE.
You both are correct I think as looks like the video camera position is more central than the driver's point of view (to the right of the windscreen) so the video footage of the corner at 31:10 gives the illusion of less visibility than there was to Reg Local's eyes in real life. The wide angle lens might increase this illusion too, making the bushes at side look like go past faster than real life. You can also hear Reg's car accelerate harshly when the view became even clearer too so he didn't just fly around the bend.
Superb
Always wanted to ask someone who can drive to an advanced standard, whats your opinion on those who sit at 45mph through nationals at all times? Where I live they are everywhere, they'll all swear they are trying to be safe, but I know it's just lack of care/capability to read road conditions and react, as well as a lack of consideration for road users. In my test, I was told to do the speed limit where safe and whilst each drivers risk assessment may vary, some people don't even bother. 45mph seems to be their favourite speed. I understand that people are going to be comfortable at a set speed and while this sounds harsh, I question their ability and right to be on the road entirely. I do the speed limit where safe as its common ground for everyone. Truth be told in most cases I'm happier to go faster, yet I know its illegal, and other drivers won't be able to do the same. For this reason, I do the limit out of consideration. Yet it doesn't work in reverse. Slow drivers are happy to hold up queues of up to 100 cars purely for their own comfort/incompetence. In my own opinion you should be allowed to record and report these drivers so they can be prosecuted, as it is selfish, lazy and proves beyond reasonable doubt that people aren't paying due attention and care. And it causes desperate drivers to get impatient and overtake where it might not be safe to do so (although that is as much the overtakers fault as it is the turtles fault)
I was hit head on by someone coming into my lane, all this goes out of the window to do with your own skill level if someone else does something dangerous enough. Luckily I was only doing 50km/h on the road even though the limit was 100km/h. My outlook is now drive exactly how you'd be comfortable describing your actions in front of a coroner / judge. It's a massive relief to be able to say you followed every law and took every precaution in your statement
When they said they was going to increase the speed limit to 50 mph on single carriageways for LGVs. Lots of people said great as the wouldnt be getting stuck by a truck travelling at 40 mph. I always said if it came into force the speed limits for cars and bikes would drop to 50mph to all to discourage overtaking as the average joe I believe dont always carry the skill to judge overtaking and on coming traffic speeds and was laughed at. Yet roughley around the same time lots of National speed limits dropped to 50 mph so I amwondering who was right. Most would now argue that keeping the LGVs at 40 would have been better giving you that 20 mph margin to overtake. Instead they should of let the LGVs do 60 mph on the motorway to compensate for time.
Sound,sensible advice, pity further driver/rider training is not given more importance and encouragement by the powers to be.
There should be speed guides rather than limits, but there should be proper training and refreshers. Of course this won't happen because speeding fines are now a necessary extra revenue.
We should follow the rest of the world and abolish mph and adopt km/h and put the wretched imperial system behind us. And have derestricted stretches of motorway and other stretches with limits from 110 to 160 km/h. And leave the limits the same in residential areas but convert them to km/h.
Some people buy good cars that handle very well and brake very well and fit the best possible tyres, keep the car seviced properly, don't drive tiered, etc. Does that compare to a tiered driver who drives poor car with poor all seasons tires and his car us serviced on a budget every 3 years ? It doesn't. I would also forbid motorcicles, sorry guys! It is not ok to drive "unprotectted" on a motorcicle.
You talk a lot of sense, of course, with your training and experience, but I still disagree. For instance, at the end of your video there you were going far too fast around left hand bends, at least from the way it looked on screen: you could not, until it was too late, be sure there were not cyclists or pedestrians or equestrians using the road around the tighter bends and it did not look like you'd have been able to stop.
I feel there is an antisocial narcissism among drivers who break the speed limit. By all means debate the issues and take part in referenda or consultations, but drivers should have the courtesy and respect to obey the law; they should understand that their single monocular view of the issue - even your highly trained and experienced view - is not commensurate with the larger numbers of people who, with consideration for conditions and local statistics and the needs and fears of local residents, have set the speed limits for a number of reasons.
To set one's own opinion and a desire for a bit of fun above that is, as I say, narcissistic and antisocial.
And you know better: you understand how much enjoyment and fun there is in finessing the balance of the car, reducing mechanical wear and tear, in being smooth and in planning and in driving elegantly. Speed is unnecessary except in the direst emergencies.
And as for police driving - I don't know the statistics, though there were partial statistics published a few years back regarding the number of accidents caused by police drivers and some of those figures were not good. In pursuit driving at high speeds, not only can even very experienced drivers lose control and make catastrophic errors, the driver they are pursuing who, almost certainly, has less skill and less training will be pushed beyond their skill level. If an accident occurs in these circumstances it is the fault of the experienced pursuit officer who is pushing the person they are chasing and of those making policy on the matter. What crime is so serious that deaths of civilians should be risked in order to make an arrest? You may be able to name one or two crimes of that order (terrorism perhaps), but vehicle theft, bank robbery (if that still happens), joyriding, etc. do not fall into this category. Geographical interception should be the emphasis, not pursuit.
Good video, very agreeable points there. Clever edit at 27.39/27.40 :-)
Well explained Reg, it is idoits that make it difficult for other safe road users 😎
I totally agree with you I’ve always said speed is not the problem it’s inappropriate speed that’s the problem 👍
Are you a driving instructor
My take is that driving is a privilege and not a right. If you can't stick to the posted limits then you're either incapable of driving 'safely' or you just can't be arsed paying attention. Either way, you need to have a word with yourself before somebody else has to, for the good of others.
I have to agree with every word you have said in this video, and many thanks for the content.
During lockdown I found myself doing 45ish MPH in a 30 as there was little risk and no one around. I use this road regularly and under normal circumstances would not exceed 25 MPH for the most part, let alone the 30 limit.
Another recent scenario, driving along a country road with a National limit. I hit 75 on a few occasions on the straights. My 10 year old son commented, 'we're not meant to go this fast'. We had been doing home school work on road signs/etiquette the day before
I have read and often return to reading both of your books in conjunction with with Roadcraft. I think that many drivers do not observe the signage or do not refer to their speedometers. Other causes are being tailgated or going with the flow. Using the satnav as as speedo is not always a reliable substitute either. Also many drivers overestimate their ability. I found the the video interesting and useful although I'm sure it will provoke some controversial observations.
Glad to be the first here!
I speed & drink-drive all the time...
Here in Bali Indonesia 😂
Sure people lie, the police also lie though, there's a lot of police you can't trust and it makes you not want to trust any of them. Good informative video though 👍