To ask what speed on a dual carriageway....

[WannaStay]

Hi all,

I want to ask you, what speed do you do down a dual carriageway that is NSL? I mean you personally.

I know the limit is 70mph.

I do stick to 70, because it was drilled into me by my dad. I am sure I have broke the speed limit at some point in my driving life, if only briefly, think we all have.

But back to it. What speed do you do? Also what speed do you think is acceptable max? My DH does 80 and thinks most do so.

Also I am asking what speed your speedometer says. I know they are out some what but just to keep it simple, for me lol.

75

70-80 depending on conditions but I always stick to stopping distances

Erm, it's only a dual carriageway if there is a central barrier between the lanes 

Completely agree.

I commute to Leeds on the N1 from the south. I do about 40 mph! 😂

Depends on the speed limit of the stretch of dual carriageway and the driving conditions.

Usually at drive at whatever the speed limit is, I don’t speed.

@pinkstripeycat you are demonstrably wrong there.

70-90 depending on conditions.

The speedo on your car is correct. A speed camera will capture you at the speed that shows on your car speedometer

No, a speed camera will capture you at the speed you are travelling at. Judging by the speed warning cameras that display your speed on a sign, this is not the same as that displayed on your speedo.

at navs/GPS are not correct. The speedo on your car is correct. A speed camera will capture you at the speed that shows on your car speedometer

What are your reasons for believing any of this? How do speed cameras (in your world) cope with the fact that that their could be say a 7mph difference in the speeds of two cars that are both in fact doing exactly 70mph?

80 if not busy busy

@biker47 "narrows to one lane and goes over a roundabout, when it is still perfectly safe and legal to do 70."

The NSL on a single carriage way is 60mph though, so doing 70mph would be illegal, as you're going 10mph above the speed limit... Also how you think approaching, nevermind going round a roundabout at that speed is beyond comprehension...

If the weather conditions are good and it’s safe to do so, I travel at 70. Realistically though, traffic usually allows for an average of 60 which is fine with me.

I’m baffled at the responses from posters second guessing their speedos like the government is purposefully trying to slow us all down and rely on their sat navs instead. Bonkers (same posters will be doing 90 as they know the road and possess excellent better than everyone else driving skills).

*is safe...

@pinkstripeycat With all due respect, that is bollocks. Car speedos are set at approx 3mph below the actual speed. I was told this by someone at a major car plant in the UK.

Drive past a speed warning sign at 30 and it will display 27-28mph.

The NSL on a single carriage way is 60mph though, so doing 70mph would be illegal, as you're going 10mph above the speed limit... Also how you think approaching, nevermind going round a roundabout at that speed is beyond comprehension...

The road being one lane doesn't make it a single carriageways. Lots of stretches of dual carriageways have one lane.

It is the presence of a physical barrier (metal barrier, grass etc) between the two opposing flows of traffic that makes it a dual carriageway not the number of lanes.

Painted line instead of physical barrier makes it a single carriage way, not matter how many lanes.

Although I agree that approaching a roundabout at 70 is madness.

Although speed limit is 70, the DC that I travel on most frequently have short slip roads or small country lanes going on to them and so I generally do 60 to give myself a bit more leeway to slow, change lanes etc

It's a legal requirement for uk speedos not to under read so they over read: A speedo must never show less than the actual speed, and must never show more than 110% of actual speed + 6.25mph. So if your true speed is 40mph, your speedo could legally be reading up to 50.25mph but never less than 40mph.

Sat navs/GPS are not correct.

Sat Navs measure the speed every few seconds. They are pretty accurate, potentially more accurate than the speedo, but only you are driving at an even speed on straightish roads, like on a motorway or dual carriageway. Not so much on twisty turny roads or those with with poor satellite visibility. Then they just take an educated guess.

The speedo on your car is correct. A speed camera will capture you at the speed that shows on your car speedometer

This, I am afraid this is utter BS. Most speedos over-read by some degree. The law allows 10% but they all vary. How on earth will a speed camera be able to tell what speed is showing on your particular car's speedometer? They can't look over your shoulder.

*This, I am afraid, is utter BS.

One day I'll learn to write proper like.

Depends on how heavy the traffic is, the road surface and layout, weather conditions and light levels. Sometimes it might be under 60. Sometimes it might be 80.

Not directly answering the question but I'm often baffled at how speed limits are worked out for individual roads. An A road going into central London is 2-3 lanes of traffic.(very straight road) The speed limit is 40. I used to use it regularly and during the day you'd be lucky to reach 20mph, at 10pm on a sunday it would be perfectly safe to do 60mph. Now live more rurally, tiny winding country lanes are NSL.

The NSL on a single carriage way is 60mph though, so doing 70mph would be illegal, as you're going 10mph above the speed limit... Also how you think approaching, nevermind going round a roundabout at that speed is beyond comprehension... confused

And here's proof in writing, that people don't know how to drive. 1. A dual carriageway can have any number of lanes from; 1 upto as many as you like, dropping it down to one lane doesn't transform it into a 60mph single carriageway, when a kerb and fence is still in between the two opposing carriages. 2. Over, as in over the roundabout, not onto a roundabout, a flyover.

Our closest dual carriage way is the Edinburgh bypass, if you can get a clear run to do anything bar creep along at a few feet a minute you are pretty lucky. There are also stretches of the A1 close by which are 50 limited. I drive to the conditions and the limits but would occasionally go over 70 on a clear road. Speedometer in car definitely reads fast anyway

70 mph.
In terms of the flyover over the roundabout, if most people are slowing down, then that is probably the safest thing to do. Most people go as fast as they can, so if they are not I suspect you are going too fast for the road conditions.

I aim to do 70, so on my speedometer about 75-80.