To think 100mph isn't routine

Definitely not the normal, although there are plenty of doing those speeds in the right hand lane of the motorway. Me and most people I know wouldn't go over 75, 80 max on a sunny day with good visibility. 90mph with distractions sounds super risky.

Maybe mentioning recent high speed crashes at a convenient moment could be a way into the conversation?

I drive the M20 and M1 a lot and I find it very stressful as most drivers are doing way over the limit, yes 100mph is pretty standard on many roads near me, and if you drive at the limit you get tailgated and constantly overtaken etc. Being in the slow land doesn’t help much as lorries are constantly coming on and off sliproads, which brings its own nasty surprises.

Anyway I’m sure everyone on mumsnet will claim to stick to the limit but the truth is 100mph is not at all unusual on many UK motorways.

Like you I much prefer driving abroad where limits seem to be more strictly enforced.

@Shade17 Hopefully your friend is stopped from doing so before they hurt someone else.

It's funny I am on the UK motorways a lot and I actually don't see many people speeding to the extents seen here. If anything I'd say the average speed has been slower on the motorways the last couple years, perhaps due to the higher fuel costs.

Yes very routine in the UK but becoming less easy these days due to the volume of speed cameras and traffic. 100mph is pretty slow for derestricted German autobahns. As with most things speed related it’s all about appropriate use. I’m rarely into three figures these days, maybe a couple of times a week, never on motorways. Going back 20 years I’d hit 140mph multiple times a day, I have a friend who still does regularly.

We all understand that there are rare moments when we need to escape from a dangerous situation ... that is not what is being discussed here. We are talking about people who routinely regard it as fine to break the law.

People very much judge because of the law, rather than any fundamental safety or ethical concerns.

Autobahns, for instance, are not intrinsically safer than our motorways. When I read about them and first drove on them, I assumed they would be dead straight with huge lanes. They aren’t. They curve just as much as our motorways and the lanes actually seemed narrower. But no judgement if motorists are doing well over 100mph on them.

The same for the police as they can legally speed (in certain circumstances). So a police car chasing young drunk kids at 120mph plus is considered acceptable. It isn’t, it just isn’t illegal.

Some roads in the uk seem a lot faster than others, Most do stay under 100mph, due to the risk of being banned, but on the M20 near Dover, I was often driving a steady 90mph and overtaken a lot, some going well over 100mph,

Driving too fast doesn't mean you're guaranteed to die, as the PP said. Otherwise, you wouldn't be having this conversation with me. Neither of us would because I've certainly gone over the speed limit as well.

I'm glad that you're ok and feel like you're a better driver. Having a crash is a horrible experience. But saying it's dangerous and saying it's literally going to kill you isn't the same thing.

It's like these anti-drug adverts that say you'll end up on crack in the gutter if you ever take a drag on a joint. People quickly realise that isn't true and are no better educated on drugs than they should be because of needless exaggeration.

Ah, fair play @Reugny😊

@OldBeller I speak as someone who drove at those speeds myself as a new driver when I was in my teens.
Looking back it was definitely driving with a death wish whether I realised it or not. I had no thought for anyone else around me whether passengers or other road users.
I am able to admit that fault and thank my lucky stars that I survived. It was a low speed accident that finally drilled it into me how utterly thick I was being. The realisation of how much worse it would have been had I been doing my usual stupid speeds did not bear thinking about.
So as unpleasant as it might be to hear, it is death wish driving whichever way we put it. We either learn from it and make changes or we continue to risk lives at our own hands.

@Tessisme the poster @Mischance was saying there was no excuse for speeding in any circumstances. So I gave one where it was.

@ItsCalledAConversation
there are other motorways where you could easily do 100mph and they were often empty at night...well until they put cameras up.

Just come back from a holiday down south with lots of motorway driving involved- sat at 70-75 80 tops, but not consistently and wouldn't go past that.
Spent quite alot of time in the middle and fast lanes, and certainly wasn't being sped past by lots of motorists, so I can assume our speed was normal.
100 mph is definitely not.

I had a ride with a friend once and she was being an idiot trying to race someone on the back from a car show...swerving about and speeding....I had to tell her to slow down, which i did because I didn't want us to crash and die! I knew my limits but she didn't.

Tell them to slow down....what's worth more, your street cred or your life?? (Or the lives of an innocent family like mine travelling alongside you)

Love the username OP, Davey was such a good egg wasn’t he.

Depends on the car. Some luxury cars make 95/100 seem easy and comfortable. That speed in my little 12-plate runaround would feel very different. Either way, 100 is an instant ban.

Bloody bold fail🙄

*I actually broke the law as you call it while in a driving lesson on a 3 lane dual carriageway.

It was either that or be side swiped by a flat bed lorry driver who was too busy gossiping to his mate to check around before changing lanes.

I couldn't change lanes as there was someone to my left so I put my foot down. And no braking wouldn't have worked which is why you are made to learn stopping distances.

Oddly my driving instructor was happy to be alive, happy not to be injured and also not have his car wrecked.*

That's hardly the same as routinely driving over the speed limit. You assessed a situation and you took evasive action by speeding. And obviously it was the right decision.

I agree with the pp who is perplexed as to why some people think it's ok to break the law by routinely speeding, yet wouldn't dream of breaking the law in other areas of their lives. I'm not talking about briefly drifting over the speed limit here, but the assumption that driving at 80-85mph is ok because you've done some reading ... and stuff.

Agreed

Driving at 100mph in the Uk is dangerous, there are so many who flick an indicator and just move into the lane. Personally, I find the 30mins the extra 15mph saves me is worth it. Although I don't think some Mways are designed to be travelled on much faster than 70mph anyway. The M1 has lovely straight stretches. The further North you drive the roads are very twisty.

You could do 100mph in the UK with ease in the past.

Doing over 100mph now is dumb as fuck and liable to end in rapid loss of your license due to higher levels of speed monitoring.

Not only that, but you'll be bloody lucky to drive in traffic which allows you to drive that fast!

I actually broke the law as you call it while in a driving lesson on a 3 lane dual carriageway.

It was either that or be side swiped by a flat bed lorry driver who was too busy gossiping to his mate to check around before changing lanes.

I couldn't change lanes as there was someone to my left so I put my foot down. And no braking wouldn't have worked which is why you are made to learn stopping distances.

Oddly my driving instructor was happy to be alive, happy not to be injured and also not have his car wrecked.

80-85mph, while unacceptable, seem fairly common.

Tonning it? No way. Only a dickhead is doing those speeds on our busy and no-very-well-maintained roads.

Someone who places no value on their lives or the lives of others.

Because those enforcing the law aren't that arsed as long as you are not being a nuisance. Police forces normally have a 10% plus 2 mph threshold.
The only drivers that are a nuisance on my journeys are those in lane 3 going less than the 70mph limit. I have actually driven up to 150mph testing a remap.
On a track.
I also agree traffic is considerably slower these days, especially on the Mways.

Tell them to stop dicking around and drive at the speed limit or let you out at the next coach or railway station so you can continue your journey under your own steam. Definitely this.

It horrifies me how people who would not dream of breaking the law make an exception when driving - as if the speed limits are not proper laws. Do not break the law. End of.

It is not up to an individual to decide when it is OK to break the law - e.g. It's OK to steal from Tesco because they are big company. That does not cut any ice.

Equally you cannot decide when it is OK to break a driving law - the law is the law. It is not based on individual opinion.

I worked for a trauma service. Speeding causes misery.

If everyone who ever went too fast would "definitely" come off the road, which you "guarantee" would kill them, there wouldn't be space in the graveyards for all the bodies.

Statistically, it's unlikely that anyone will have a fatal car accident. And of those that do, that the reason for it was entirely related to speed.

I appreciate you feel passionately about this matter, but over exaggerating that people have a death wish is not helpful.

Agreed. But it is relevant to the person who claimed its "madness" to drive at 100mph

I just disagreed. I think it's ok to those speeds in the right conditions. Preferably legally but not really a stopping point for me

Yeah same. I don't go over 100, but very close is routine. But I always leave huge gaps and find myself far more frustrated with people driving up eacothers arses at 70mph than the well spread 90mph drivers. I've very much noticed that drivers that go around my speed are paying more attention to the cars around them in my experience.

I agree with this and I'm really pleased about it.