If there was no speed limit on the motorway?

Question

What speed do you think you would drive at and at what speed would everybody else drive at.

Answer 1

there aren't any speed limits on motorways in germany and they have one of the lowest death tolls on the roads, go figure, i don't know how fast people would drive i guess you would have your idiots and you would get the sensible ones so hmm? people would just get to where they have to on time

Answer 2

0 m.p.h. Because there would a permanent gridlock caused by numerous pile-ups. Be careful what you wish for, lest your dreams become your nightmare.

Answer 3

Probably I would drive about 70 and everybody else would be passing me except for new drivers

Answer 4

I am a racecar driver....you really want to go there?

Answer 5

Depending on the vehicle I am driving at the time, between 80 & 90 mph for cars, and 60 - 65 mph for HGV. The less time behind the wheel the better! Since the introduction of electronic speed limiters set at 56 mph, there is more bunching of vehicles all travelling at the same speed, consequently, the potential for more accidents, and more driver fatigue, due to the longer journey times. Speed in itself does not kill, it is the consequences of the sudden stop that causes death.  

Answer 6

If there was no speed limit on the highway i'm pretty sure a lot of people would be driving at 100mph+ easily everywhere and there would be a lot more (fatal) accidents. You'd probably have people driving 80 on the slow lane with people flying by at 100, 110, maybe 120+ mph on the fast lanes. I would do 80-85 at most i would think. Anymore and id just be mindlessly wasting gas.

Answer 7

Probably not much different to my present 60-70 mph

High speed means poor fuel consumption and to some extent speed is controlled by pump prices.

Pre. Barbera Castle as Minister of Trasnport introducing 70 mph  there was no limit.

Many cars just wern't up to sustained high speed and performance car manufacturers used the motorways as test tracks creating a dangerous in-balance of speeds.

Answer 8

Whatever I can SAFELY handle. That will mean going at 130mph at some points.

Answer 9

if i had a car i would drive as fast as i can but in control

Answer 10

Probably in the 70-80 MPH range, which is about no different than I do on the open highway anyway.  I know when I drive the company HR out of town, the readout says I get better MPGs at 80 than I do at 60.  That should be the case, since 3000 RPMs at 80 is in the powerband of that engine.

Except for a handful of select vehicles, most of us are limited by the speed limiter and the speed rating of the tires on a vehicle.

Most factory tires are rated for 112 MPH and a truck like my F150 has a speed limiter set to 98 MPH.

Answer 11

You wouldn,t be able to drive at all for all the wreckage.

Answer 12

I wasn't aware there was one.

Answer 13

In Germany there is no speed limit and I think it is easier to drive as you do not have to spend all the time looking or worrying if you are 5 or 6 mph over the limit, of coarse some people drive very quick sometimes in excess of 120 mph but the other drivers let them pass to go on their way, most of the other drivers drive at around 70 to 80 mph which is a reasonable speed for a modern car , and you do not find idiots sitting in the outside lane doing 69 mph because it is in the limit and the traffic flows along.

Answer 14

60-85mph, because any faster is too fast.

Back in the 70's and early 80's before speed limits were enforced on the motorway it was carnage on the roads.

Cars are safer these days (not much consolation if you're not IN a car when you get hit) and they have much better brakes, but there is still a minimum 2 second reaction delay before your foot hits the brake pedal - a lot of people don't even give themselves a quarter-second margin for error.

Answer 15

Have you ever heard of the Autobahn in Germany?

I would probably avoid driving on a motorway with no speed limit, I just wouldn't feel confident that other drivers are driving safely.

Although I do have to admit that when I was younger I was a speed demon (and horribly stupid to put people in danger like that) and I don't think I would feel comfortable doing anything over 80 mph.

Answer 16

50mph and get well padded bumpers,a roll cage and wear a crash helmet.Just think of the claims i would have from being rear ended by other drivers.Bring it on.

Answer 17

I think the perfect driving speed is 90 not to fast to be out of control but quick enough to stay out of trouble, as for other drivers I think they would probably go around the same sort of speed 90 to 100 the rest would go as fast as there car could.  

Answer 18

120mph haha

Answer 19

If there was no speed limit everyone on there would probably die anyways.

Answer 20

5mph on the way to your hole in the ground

Answer 21

German Autobahns are safer than our motorways, statistically, because of berks who REFUSE TO USE THE LEFT-HAND LANE! and sit in the middle one...

     I can tell you, with 25 years of accident-free driving, a fair bit of track-time, good cars and a clean licence, that to me, if I an on an economy run, I drive at about 50mph.  If not, I push the limit at which they throw a ban at you, which is 100mph.   I live in the South of England, and often have to move over to let others through, when I am already at 90 or so!

     I do wish they would let us LEGALLY drive at 90mph.  Certainly the majority of the traffic on my local motorways is doing at least 80.  A quicker journey makes for a less-fatigued driver.  You concentrate more at higher speed.

Answer 22

The speed limit here is 110kmh, I'd probably drive at about 150kmh.  Every one else would go at about 150-200kmh.

Answer 23

if there was no speed i would fly around everywere with my nissan skyline.... i reckon most people would drive fast aswell.

Answer 24

In the open parts of the Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, just to name a few, I find driving around 80 mph to be a nice speed.  Very comfortable given the quality of today's cars, gas mileage is still acceptable, and you are making good time.  As one other pointed out, less time behind the wheel equals less fatigue.  At higher speeds, I increase my situational awareness.  

BUT if there were not speed limits on highways that run through cities, I would predict a dramatic increase in accidents.  Many accidents will occur due to large differences in speeds.  One group moving at say 60 mph  Then a couple of cars come charging in at 120 mph.  Speed disparity is a contributing factor in accidents.

Answer 25

I think the boy racers would think they had become James Bond and be as pathetic as they are on our roads by driving like lunatics with the 'boom, boom, boom' hammering out of their £200 cars with the bits flying off and causing more accidents.....

I also think you would STILL get people in the middle lane, doing no more than 50 mph looking at the scenery and totally unaware of the queue behind them due to their Sunday driving.

:O)

Answer 26

I'd drive at around 70-80mph, mainly because any faster my little Yaris wouldn't be able to cope!

Boy racers would drive as fast as their Saxos can go, they'd have bits of the body kit falling off onto the road.

The elderly would continue driving at 50mph whilst hogging the middle lane.

The lorry drivers would speed up (we all know they want to!) and would drive about 70mph depending on their lorries.  

Answer 27

I am of the age where I remember when there wasn't a speed limit on the motorways, in fact when the Jaguar 'E' Type came out I remember the advert as it being the first production car that would do 150mph, and it included a film of it doing just that on the relatively new M1 in the early 60s.

The present speed limit was brought in to reflect fuel economy more than safety, there is little if any evidence there would be less accidents, as has been mentioned, look at the German Autobahns as a good example.

When there was no speed restriction on motorways, crashes were certainly more spectacular but less frequent, having a 70mph limit increases bunching and certainly more tail-gating, one of the most common causes of accidents, so as some have eroneously said there would be less accidents. not more.

Personally I prefer about a 100mph but have driven at 120mph when it was legal, and still do when on the continent.

Although totally impractical, I remember a great idea when Sterling Moss once suggested different speed limits for different capabilities, there are some drivers on the motorway who would not be safe on an abandoned airfield.