What speed do you usually do on the motorway?

[StuntNun]

When driving on the motorway I drive at 70 mph when traffic conditions allow. I'm frequently overtaken by cars going faster than me. So who are all these people driving at 80 or 90 miles an hour and why don't they worry about getting a speeding ticket or being pulled over?

I didn’t say they failed due to speed - judgement, reaction time. All things MNet speeders are so good at they don’t need to consider.

About 80, generally.

I don’t see how people driving on the M25 can do much more than 40 mph. Last month I managed 37 miles in an hour and a quarter.

80 mph
Set cruise control

70 with the roofbox on, 70-75 without, pre children 90

70-80 depending on flow of traffic.

Between 70 and 80. 80 is just more comfortable on the motorway especially when it's quiet.

This doesn't happen often though - I'm only on a motorway maybe twice a year when I travel to England!

I got caught by a camera doing 81 and recently attended a driving awareness course.

It was a real eye opener and completely changed my thinking.

Like many posters here I would drive at a speed where I thought I was immune to getting caught (typically 75-77), but the course really made me examine my motivations for doing that.

In summary, no one is so special that the laws don't apply to them. If 80% of the population can manage to abide by speeding rules then why can't you? If you consciously choose not to, that's a pretty selfish decision to make.

Nowadays I set off in good time, set my cruise control and respect the rules of the road and the safety of everyone using them.

If the motorway speed limit were to rise one day, I'd certainly drive to the new limit, but it hasn't and it's not my remit to make my own rules.

@rosamore
I know dh nears 100, but not with me or dc in the car, only coming home from work on an emptyish road (he's German and thinks nothing of it) never been caught speeding in his life - not a single point on his license.

My aunt used to drive long journeys 90-100 on empty motorways late at night regularly. Until she got caught, at just under 100. She regretted it massively then, but it was too late.

She lost her license for a year. This was an absolute nightmare, she struggled to maintain her job for which she needed to be mobile and not having the ability to shuttle the kids around and the impact on daily life was beyond stressful.

I imagine people think it never happens, but it does. And it can turn your life upside down as a consequence.

I know dh nears 100, but not with me or dc in the car,

What's his reasoning for that?

I know dh nears 100, but not with me or dc in the car,

What's his reasoning for that?

Like the poster who wrote this said, because when he is traveling alone the roads are quieter.

Always a classic that one - what about all the other cars with families and DC in them or is it only your family your DH is interested in preserving.

Like the poster who wrote this said, because when he is traveling alone the roads are quieter.

I was referring to the relevance of the poster and DC not being in the car, as you well know!

I used to drive at around 80mph with the odd foray into the 90mph area but over the last 10years have been done for speeding 3 times. All of them for doing 34 or 35 in a 30 zone but the two speed awareness courses I did really made me keep much more strictly to the speed limits. . The effect of the first course however only lasted a few years before my habits slipped again. I would say though I stick to the speed limit 95% of the time now. In all honesty I do occasionally speed now, but it is always in situations where a speed limit on a fast road is temporarily very low -say 30 on dual carriageway - and getting down to that speed takes a long time without braking hard. Also in that situation, I find almost no-one is doing 30mph so I get a LOT of hassle an d sometimes that makes me go a bit faster (no excuse I know)

I now use a speed limiter to help keep to the speed limit in towns and on the motorway

I love a driving thread, people get very offended at people doing over 70mph on the motorway, even when it's perfectly safe (so most of the time).

I do a consistent 80mph. If I see a speed camera I gradually slow down. Never been caught speeding or had an accident, not so much as a prang, in almost 20 years of driving

I do up to 75mph but usually do 70 or lower in heavy traffic.

The part of the country I'm in doesn't have motorways, just dual carriageways.

Cycling time trials are done regularly through the summer on the A11. It's terrifying.

People driving at usually 60-90mph and then there's a cyclist, half a mile later, another, then another etc.

The cars in the slower lane have to pull into the fast lane, but sometimes it's bunched up and no one will let them out. Honestly with the lack of consideration, lack of awareness and speeds involved I am surprised there aren't more accidents.

It's legal for cyclists to be on a dual carriageway but by God it is dangerous!

I love a driving thread, people get very offended at people doing over 70mph on the motorway, even when it's perfectly safe

I think it's something to do with the legality rather than the self made risk assessment.

60 or less now. I don't bother overtaking slow lorries as I usually only do short stints on the motorway for work.

Up to 70/80 on a long journey.

I used to go much faster when I was younger and sillier.

‘Never with our family in the car’ and ‘I am such a tip top driver I can react to anything the road throws at me at 90mph’ gets me!

I’d been driving for 25 years before I had a speeding fine, so getting away with it for ages doesn’t make you immune. I was one of the ‘80mph is usually perfectly safe’ brigade but the speeding course changed how I drive. You just don’t know what’s going to happen in front of you, and the force you hit something is so much higher at 80mph then at 70mph. If you’re standing in court having killed someone whilst breaking the

...speed limit it will be irrelevant that you’ve gone years without being caught.

There was someone on my course who’d been driving for 30 years with no fines, then had got 9 points all in one day (you get 3 points each time you’re caught)!

It's interesting how the speeders main concern is not getting caught, rather than safety.

I think it's something to do with the legality rather than the self made risk assessment.

I think people on here get too hung up on the legality rather than the safety.

I can guarantee that me driving at 85 on a deserted motorway at 22:00 is safer than a harassed parent doing the school run at 08:30 with a car full of boisterous kids....

The reason all these people speeding still have their licences is because they know the roads, know the "safety features/hotspots" and generally drive safely.

I usually set the cruise control for 74mph (according to the speedometer), figuring that I'm unlikely to get ticketed for that speed.

I move into left lanes whenever possible, to get out of the way of those who want to go faster.

the speeding course changed how I drive.

That wears off after 6 months.....