People : Tom Fraser

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the imposition of the 70mph speed limit, Ian Nicholls tells the story of the man who introduced it to the UK, Tom Fraser…

The late 1960s is seen as a hedonistic time when attitudes became more liberal, with homosexuality and abortion being de-criminalised. The London-based intellectual elite, comprising pop stars, writers and broadcasters, wrote an open letter to The Times newspaper advocating the legalisation of cannabis, arguing that it was harmless. This intellectual elite behaved as if legalisation was just around the corner and gave the Police Drug Squad a list of people to raid.

For some people the right to drive fast is a hedonistic pursuit but, for the motorist, the 1960s was a time of increasing restriction. The process started with Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport from 1959 to 1964. Marples introduced traffic wardens, MoT tests, yellow lines and a clamp down on drink driving.

The Conservative Government, of which Marples was a member, was defeated at the polls in October 1964 by the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson. Since 1963, there had been a viral campaign with the slogan ‘Marples Must Go’ – now he had, to be replaced by Harold Wilson’s nominee Tom Fraser, the man who would introduce the 70mph speed limit fifty years ago.

So who was this man who introduced a law that many motorists would like to see amended at the very least? Tom Fraser was born into a socialist family in the mining village of Kirkmuirhill, Scotland, on 18 February 1911. He was the eldest of a family of ten. He soon came to be recognised as a bright boy.

Speaking to Commercial Motor magazine in March 1965, Tom Fraser said: ‘I was a rebel. Right from the start everything combined to make me one. I wanted to be educated, but the higher school was a bike ride away and I had no bike. So I worked part-time in the fields – quite illegally, of course, as I was too young for employment – to save up.

‘And when I at last had enough money it dawned on me that my family could not afford my education. At 14 I had to go out to work to help to support them. Perhaps jealousy and envy are not the best words to describe what I felt in those days, but I seethed with rebellious thoughts about a social system which could not give a promising lad a reasonable chance to be educated.’

He became active in the Trade Union movement at an early age as a background organiser. It was he who got his fellow workmen together and continued to rally them. Tom Fraser was the man who did the patient chores and persisted through difficult days. The fact is that, when he started work in the pit, trades’ unionism was not at a very high ebb in his area.

Employers were against it and even, on occasion, police were called in to hinder its activities. At the age of 27 Fraser was appointed as the first Secretary of the Coalburn branch of the Lanarkshire Miners’ Union. Later he became President. Mining was reserved occupation during the Second World War, so in 1943 Fraser allowed his name to go forward as Labour candidate for the Hamilton constituency of Lanarkshire.

‘I fought hard against this. There were better, more qualified men who, I was convinced, would do a sounder job in Parliament. I had no parliamentary ambitions whatever.’

He won the by-election caused by the death of his predecessor. He soon became Parliamentary Secretary to Hugh Dalton, then President of the Board of Trade. The Labour landslide victory of July 1945 resulted in Tom Fraser being appointed Joint Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland. While holding this office, he worked hard to introduce new industries to Scotland. Fraser was also an enthusiastic gardener.

In 1951, the Labour Party was defeated at the polls and thirteen long years of Conservative rule followed. Labour’s return to power in October 1964 resulted in Tom Fraser becoming Minister of Transport, replacing Ernest Marples. In the election campaign the Labour Party had promised a review of Britain’s transport policy, including the Beeching rail closures.

However, the dawning reality of governmental responsibility and Britain’s virtual bankruptcy caused a rethink. The proposed transport review was off the agenda by March 1965 as officials and advisors at the Ministry of Transport convinced Tom Fraser and Harold Wilson to carry on with business as usual. In 1964, Ernest Marples had approved the closure of 991 miles of railway track. In 1965, Tom Fraser approved the closure of 1071 miles.

In June 1965, Tom Fraser decided not to renew Dr. Richard Beeching’s contract as Chairman of British Railways. Then, in July 1965, Fraser approved the closure of the Varsity line, which was a cross-country line north of London which linked Oxford to Cambridge via Bletchley and Bedford. Closure came to pass on the last day of 1967, with the trackbed between Bedford and Cambridge being obliterated in some areas.

Five decades on, the eventual re-instatement of this route now seems inevitable. It was not even listed in Beeching’s 1963 Reshaping of British Railways report.

It was on 24 November 1965 that Tom Fraser made the announcement that is now remembered as his major contribution to public life in Britain. At the House of Commons, in response to questions from fellow Labour MPs Morris Edelman and Eric Heffer about the need for speed restrictions on motorways in dense fog, Tom Fraser said: ‘I am pressing on with a comprehensive study of signalling systems in order to decide what permanent arrangements we should adopt.

‘For the immediate future, I have decided on two main measures. The first is an ad hoc advisory speed limit of 30mph for temporary application on lengths of motorway where there are serious hazzards such as fog or other specially bad weather conditions. The restricted lengths will be indicated to drivers by vertical pairs of alternately flashing amber lights, placed at one-mile intervals along the motorway and at entry points.

‘They will be switched on and off by the police as conditions warrant. The system will give advance warning to drivers to reduce speed down to no more than 30mph as they approach the hazard. When the hazard area is actually reached, drivers should reduce their speeds still further according to the conditions prevailing. I am planning to have this advisory system on the motorways ready for operation by Christmas.’

‘The arrangements made for the Meteorological Office to pass fog warnings to the police and broadcasting authorities are being extended. The plan is for weather bulletins to give warnings when fog is forecast for motorways. As an entirely new feature, special announcements will be broadcast on radio and television when the warning system is operating on a particular stretch of motorway. I am grateful to the television and radio authorities for their cooperation in this valuable safety measure.’

‘Second, there will be a general speed limit of 70mph on motorways and all other unrestricted roads for an experimental period of four months from Christmas until after Easter. This measure should diminish speed differentials and thus lead to a reduction in accidents. The results achieved will be carefully analysed as the experiment proceeds.’

‘These measures are designed to improve driver discipline on motorways and on other roads throughout the country as a whole. I hope that they will be accepted in this spirit, because safety— first and last — is the inescapable responsibility of every individual driver.’

In response to questions Fraser said: ‘On the question of a speed limit of 70mph, I am bound to remind the House that whenever speed limits have been introduced lives have been saved. This is the experience in this country. This is the experience in the United States with their speed limits on motorways.

‘This is the experience in Germany where they have imposed their upper limit of 62mph on the autobahnen. So I think we owe it to the motoring public of this country to afford them the protection which is afforded to other motorists in other parts of the world.’

At a heated press conference afterwards, Tom Fraser said: ‘I am sorry this experiment has been virtually forced on us by the behaviour of an irresponsible minority of drivers who are a danger both to themselves and to everyone else. But if it is a life-saver it will be worthwhile.’

He also conceded that the concept of an overall speed limit in Britain might become permanent.

Sir William Lyons, Chairman of Jaguar Cars Limited, said: ‘We doubt whether a valid case exists for the imposition of an overall speed limit, either on normal roads or motorways, except under adverse conditions where some form of discipline has been shown to be necessary – providing it can be effectively enforced.’

Jaguar cars were not above using Britain’s burgeoning motorway system for testing the 100mph plus capabilities of their products. Mr Alexander Durie, Director General of the Automobile Association, said: ‘While we do not object to an experimental maximum speed limit, we remain unconvinced on the inconclusive evidence available that a 70mph limit will achieve any worthwhile improvement in road safety.’

It is said that one of the main factors resulting in the 70mph speed limit occurred on 11 June 1964. The press got wind that Jack Sears, who was driving an AC Cobra race car intended for Le Mans, had reached a top speed of 185mph on the M1 during testing.

Jack Sears later said: ‘There was an awful fuss. But it was all jolly unfair. Many teams were using the motorway for practice – the Rootes Group, Jaguar, Aston Martin – so it wasn’t something unheard of. And also, there wasn’t a speed limit at the time. We weren’t doing anything illegal because there were no limits.’

The introduction of the speed limit, which came into force on 22 December 1965, naturally proved unpopular with motorists, once the good weather returned in the spring of 1966. It led to the inevitable protests.

The reality about the situation in November 1965 was that few cars could maintain high speed running above 70mph. Best sellers like the BMC Mini, ADO16 1100 and Ford Cortina were at the upper end of their rev range at such a speed. And that is not taking into account the fact that they would have been noisy and uncomfortable to drive at 70mph by modern standards.

The speed limit only really affected drivers of larger-engined cars, the products of firms like Rover, Jaguar and Triumph. Motor Sport magazine commented: ‘The effects of a universal 70mph speed limit are so far-reaching as to represent near-disaster for this country. To argue against such legislation is difficult, because human life is involved, and had Mr Fraser introduced speed restriction for the winter months of November-February, exempting motorways, one would have seen the reasoning of a non-motoring Transport Minister (we believe Mr Fraser goes to his official duties by train, after getting to the station in an A40).

But to casually announce that from December 22nd to after Easter every road in Britain will be subject to a top speed of 70mph (and 30, 40, 50 or what have you, in many places) is a very different matter. In the first place, it is liable to be so dangerous. Good, safe driving on our congested, inadequate roads calls, above every thing, for concentration. And you cannot concentrate on what is ahead, beside and behind you while glancing every few hundred yards to make sure your speedometer is not registering over 70mph. Again, frustrated drivers are usually bad drivers.’

Motor Sport argued that, as Britain was an exporter of sports cars to the United States, the UK motorway network needed to be speed limit free for testing purposes. For whatever reason, Harold Wilson had decided that Tom Fraser had no future in his Government and, on 23 December 1965, the day after the 70mph speed limit came into force, he fired Fraser and replaced him with Barbara Castle.

Wilson made sure there would be no public backlash against Fraser when his Government had a wafer thin majority, by sacking Fraser just in time for Christmas. With Fraser relegated to the backbenches, the Labour Party handsomely increased its majority at the 1966 General Election.

In February 1967, a poll revealed that 61 per cent of people were in favour of the 70mph speed limit. On 8 June 1967 a report by the Road Research Laboratory said that injury accidents on trunk and class 1 roads were about 3.5 per cent fewer than would be expected without the 70mph limit — a saving of about 25 deaths and 1400 injured.

This proportionately smaller reduction in accidents compared to motorways was attributed to the fact that the limit only had a slight effect on average speeds on these roads.

On motorways, the limit brought a marked reduction in the number of cars travelling at high speeds. The number exceeding 80mph was one-quarter of what it had been before. In clear weather on the 73 miles of the M1, M10, and M45 during the trial period, the accident rate was the lowest recorded and was significantly lower by 10 percent than the average for the previous five years.

The proportion of accidents resulting in injury (49 per cent) was equal to the lowest previously recorded. There was no increase in the number of rear-end collisions or of multi-vehicle accidents. The incidence of skidding in accidents was lower and the decline in the rate of accidents due to burst tyres was continued. The figure of a 20 per cent cut in motorway casualties was freely bandied about.

However, the motoring lobby was unimpressed by this. Lord Chesham, Executive Vice-Chairman of the RAC, said: ‘At first sight it seems that never have so many statistics been compared with so many variables. There are enough red herrings in this report to fill the hold of the largest Grimsby trawler afloat.’

An AA spokesman said he did not believe that a 70mph limit should be continued on motorways, though there was possibly a case for an advisory limit. The Road Research Laboratory’s report had contained far too many variables to prove its case.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represented all the major British car manufacturers, was on firmer ground when it commented that the case for continuing with the limit was weaker than the report indicated. The alleged reduction of 20 per cent in casualties on motorways was contentious, it claimed, because it was based on hypothetical forecasts.

Barbara Castle decided to make the 70mph limit permanent, though she later confided to one of the owners of AC Cars that Jack Sears’ 185mph M1 adventures did not influence her decision.

Meanwhile, Tom Fraser was offered a better-paid position as head of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. He resigned his Hamilton seat to take up the post resulting in a sensational by-election. The by-election, which took place on 2 November 1967, resulted in the victory of SNP candidate, Winnie Ewing, and ushered in the age of modern Scottish nationalism.

Tom Fraser died on 21 November 1988. He was 77 years old.

The arguments for raising the 70mph speed limit are based on the improvements in car technology over the past five decades. Better crash protection and better brakes. A 2015 RAC survey found that 81 per cent of company car drivers regularly exceed the 70mph limit, compared to 69 per cent of people using their privately owned vehicles.

Jenny Powley, Corporate Business Sales Director at RAC Business, said: ‘When you drive as part of your working day and are running late for meetings, it can be very tempting to break the speed limit. It’s worth reminding drivers that the risks associated with speeding can far outweigh the time saved.

‘After all, driving at 80mph instead of 70mph will only save you six seconds a mile, or ten minutes over 100 miles. It’s also worth considering the impact of speeding on fuel efficiency. According to the Department for Transport, driving at 80mph can use 25 per cent more fuel than driving at 70mph, so this can have a real impact on the business’ bottom line.’

The most recent attempt at looking at raising the 70mph speed limit was instigated by the Coalition Government. Like all previous attempts, it was torpedoed by the safety lobby. No politician wants to raise speed limits if road accident casualties increase, as they will be seen as having blood on their hands in some quarters.

The 70mph speed limit seems to be here to stay…

Keith Adams

43 Comments

    • Between 1965 and say 1980 yes. But the dynamics and indeed crash performance of a modern vehicle now make 70 mph largely redundant from that perspective. No doubt there are plenty of reasons why 70mph should remain – but a blanket statement that going faster is dangerous is simply not a valid one.

      • Dynamics and safety of modern cars is irrelevant because of the traffic levels on modern roads. Having cars playing high speed dodgems at 100 mph plus and tail gating the s**t out of anyone who dares impede them, is not a fun prospect.

        Especially when the key to traffic flow is avoiding the bunching of traffic, which is best achieved by lowering the speed limit on busy roads. Which is why managed motorways, with speed cameras, have fewer jams.

  1. As is usual with politicians , he was either misinformed or – far more likely , particularly in the case of Labour members – dishonest . There was no blanket speed limit in Germany

    • Fxxk you !!
      As this man was my grandfather, I think I can say I knew him pretty well and a more honest man you will never meet.

      • Don’t worry some people here hold him in higher regard then the Gammon voting fodder are brainwashed into thinking!

  2. Dare I say, even law enforcement acknowledge that modern cars will be doing 70+ on the motorway, and tend to not prosecute until 80mph+?

    • Some law enforcement, it depends on the police area. Forces don’t publish the exact threshold they use. It also takes into account the fact car speedos under read, some by quite large margins. 70 on my speedo is roughly 65.

      • Speedometers must, by law, either be accurate, or over read. I have never owned a car or motorcycle that does anything but over read, usually by between 2 or 3, but sometimes up to 5mph, at 70mph.

  3. As I see it, deep down us car enthusiasts would like the right to hammer along a motorway at a three figure speed, but we have no answers when confronted by the relatives of road fatalities. A sort of emotional blackmail that has maitained the 70mph limit.

    • The problem is the venn diagram of car enthusiast, being able to afford a fast car and being a skilled driver doesn’t have much overlap.

      Everyone thinks they are a good driver, few people are good drivers. Frankly most British drivers, including those with high performance vehicles, lack the skills to control their cars on a track with little to hit, let alone a public road full of traffic.

      Maybe we should have an additional test, so truly skilled drivers can have higher limits. Many enthusiasts would fail it and have to plod along with the rest of us.

  4. At least we never had the 55 mph speed limit that America introduced in 1974, supposedly a temporary measure during the energy crisis, but which endured until 1987 when the speed limit on Interstates was raised to 65 mph.

  5. The question arises , why do we continue to manufacture vehicles which are capable of illegal speeds, and why are those vehicles not fitted with speed limiters?

    • It is a question I often ask myself , particularly in the last few years when we seem to have become involved in a horsepower race reminiscent of the USA in the late 50s/early 60s. I really cannot see the need for 500+ HP which now is becoming almost commonplace . The most powerful car I ever owned had 320HP and that produced all the performance one could reasonably use . I did have a faster car than that ( Westfield Seight) which had about 275HP to propel 13 cwt , but it was so accelerative that it frightened people by taking them by surprise when overtaking them, and thus the acceleration ( 0-100 mph in about 8.5 secs) was wholly unusable in practice . I am not a believer in slavish imposition of speed limits, but frightening experiences in Germany do lead me to believe that there is a need for realistic ( with the emphasis being on realistic ) speed limits given the weight of traffic today . What is a realistic level in the UK ? Given that many people travel on motorways at 80+ mph habitually, I think it might be set at 85 or 90 mph without causing harm . Equally, I regard the blanket 60 mph limit as ridiculous – some roads need a limit much lower than this, but for most roads 70mph, as was the limit for many years, seems reasonable

    • Simple, cars don’t cruise economically at their top speed. Like most modern cars, mine could top a 100 easily, it is probably most economic around 60. If it was designed to max out at 70, it would be wasteful at motorway speeds.

      We don’t have limiters, for the simple reason there are emergency situations when it is safer to break the speed limit for limited periods. For example, if someone misjudges an overtaking situation, it is safer for them to speed and pass quickly; than hit approaching traffic.

  6. 70 MPH is a fair and reasonable speed limit on ‘rural’ motorways (or US Interstates or =). In most of the USA, rural interstate and similar roads have speed limits of 55 to 80 MPH,depending on terrain, conditions of roads, general weather, traffic, exits frequency, lower nighttime and lower for commercial vehicles and other factors. Most are 65-70 MPH.
    One problem in the states is that over the last several years, has been many fleet commercial vehicles governed to go no faster than 62-68 MPH for fuel efficiency and safety, causing problems where a truck that can go 68 is passing one that can max go 65, so clogging up lanes for passing cars.

  7. @ christopher storey, I have seen some autobahn videos on You Tube where people are racing Mercedes at 155 mph. Could you imagine the carnage this could cause if the driver lost control of the car. I think 85 mph should be a maximum in good conditions on a motorway before you are stopped for speeding, but 60 mph is enough for single carriageway roads, where most accidents occur.

    • Glenn: I did say that I had had some frightening moments in Germany when attacked by the sort of lunatics you are talking about – it is no joke to be passed , when you are doing say 90 mph , by someone overtaking you with a margin of say 70 mph – and the days of limiting top speeds to 155 mph seem to have gone : Jaguar certainly now seem to allow the top speed to be unlimited and an XFR for instance will do 175 mph or more

  8. Trouble is… these days there are few opportunities to achieve higher than 70mph due to the sheer volume of traffic be it dual carriageways or Motorways. And of course it’s illegal. Seems no point in having a car capable of warp factor speeds on normal roads… and consider the safety factor and limitations of the driver!

    The most powerful car I had was a 1996 Accord 2.0 (131ps)and that was fast enough & economical enough for my driving style.

  9. @ christopher story, my car will do 106 mph, but as it’s a 1.2, it would be at its absolute limit at this speed and there would be a risk of engine damage if I was driving on the red line, so even if I was in Germany, I’d probably open up to 90 mph. However, as you say, some cars will do 175 mph and no doubt someone in a supercar in Germany will try and hit the magic 300( 300 km/h, about 185 mph). Only problem is the driver encounters someone like me in a Micra slowing down as there is heavy rain starting and can’t react in time, then there’s the chance of some kind of disaster. By all means own some exclusive supercar, but take it to a track to see how fast it can go.

  10. Generally in Europe the motorway limit is 130 kph, or slightly over 80 mph. Of course there are some slightly lower at 120 kph. Germany does have 130kph limits on a large percentage of the autobahn network, and an advisory limit on the rest. Driving in Germany as I have several years in succession on holiday, I was quite surprised at how people generally kept to less than 130 kph. I was told by a German that this was because the car was not covered by insurance over the speed limits, mandatory or recommended.

    The British limit of 112 kph is the lowest in the European Union. Denmark and Holland have both increase their limits to match the others at 130 kph. Of course lower limits are applied in certain places, as we do with “Managed Motorways”.

  11. It would be possible to increase the limit to 80 or 85 easily enough, as the Tories proposed in the last parliament. The first time afterwards that a motorway accident takes place and is blamed on the increase, the press will make clear that a 70 mph limit would have saved them. No Minister wants to be blamed for the death and that’s why it will never happen.

  12. I think, apart from the supposed safety aspect, another consideration for keeping the 70 mph limit is the environment, as a car driven at 85 mph uses more fuel and pollutes more. It’s not a bad limit, just out of kilter with most of Europe, where the motorway limit is 75-80mph.

  13. My thinking would be to make the 70mph limit ‘advisory’ but set an upper limit of 85/90 mph, which most people generally do anyway. An average trip on the m40 will confirm this, the current limit is clearly out of date because as discussed in the article, your average car 50 years ago would be working very hard indeed whereas nowadays with modern suspension brakes and engines most average cars are barely running let’s be honest, and I would argue that a modern car could probably brake to a standstill from 90mph in a far shorter distance than a 50yr old car could from 70, maybe even 50 or 60. Personally I only go above 70 for overtaking as if I cruise at 80 I can watch my fuel gauge moving. Another more pressing issue for me though if I’m honest is to first sort out the inconsistencies in speed limits on rural roads, how can a road sometimes barely wide enough for two vehicles to safely pass each other be classified as a ‘national limit’ when everyone knows that this is sheer lunacy??

  14. The 70 mph limit introduced in 1965 was an attempt to stop ton up boys on motorbikes and owners of powerful cars like Jaguars causing a massive accident when they overtook an Austin A 30 that was at its limit at 60 mph. Also the further restrictions that came into place in the seventies were to do with saving petrol and were discarded when the energy crisis eased. I’d say on a grade seperated road in good weather, the police and cameras should ignore anyone doing up to 85 mph. Car technology is so much better nnow.

  15. Fraser came from the bleak area of south Lanarkshire dominated by small mining communities and farmland. It also contains one of the few motorways that are a pleasure to drive on, the M74. Once you get past Motherwell, this is a fairly quiet motorway that passes through some spectacular scenery.

  16. Speed is rarely the problem. 150mph on a deserted motorway is unlikely to result in a crash. It’s the distance from moving objects (other vehicles) that’s the problem. Tailgating a car around the M6 on a Friday night at 50mph – that’s the problem! And as has been said, if the average driver drove to Police Class 1 standard the accident rate would decrease significantly – that’s why some insurance companies give 10% discount to Rospa Gold standard drivers. Reduction of accidents is simple – raise the driving standard!

  17. 55 years since the 70 mph speed limit came in and will probably never change due to the road safety and environmental issues about a higher speed limit. However, it should be pointed out that cars are vastly safer now with the compulsory fitting and wearing of seatbelts, airbags, ABS, padded dashboards and collapsible steering columns, not to mention better braking systems and tyres. Also a more than trebling of the amount of vehicles on the roads and some serious congestion on roads like the M25 mean it’s unlikely people can reach 70 mph at times, or even half that.

  18. I agree Glenn. With so much more congestion, volume of traffic at all times of day and shorter stretches of carriageway between roundabouts, it’s not often possible to achieve 70mph except on motorways at off peak times.

    This of course doesn’t apply to the boy racers & crooks who appear on TV progs like Police Interceptors.

    The other day there was a report on SKY News about a 62 year old man who drove at 130mph! and into the back of another car. The pregnant lady driver of the other car was killed outright after being thrown through the air. That was a really shocking & upsetting story for me to hear… and I’m sure for us all

    • 70 mph was probably the maximum speed you could drive many cars in 1965 without damaging the engine. Now there are hardly any cars that can do less than 100 mph and it’s possibly now to buy 1 litre cars that can reach 120 mph. Obviously this means cruising at motorway speeds is vastly more bearable and acceleration is more effortless, but it does mean you can buy a humble car like a Suzuki Swift that has the same performance as a seventies Jaguar XJ6, and some drivers will like to prove this with occasionally tragic results.

      • I remember a few years ago Fifth Gear test crashed a Mk1 ford Focus at 120mph.

        The results were not pretty, with the back of the rear seat touching the dashboard.

        They weren’t allowed to use the usual crash test dummies as there was a good chance they wouldn’t come out in one piece, so they had to use shop ones.

        • You cannot beat the Laws of Physics, momentum / kinetic energy increases as the square of the velocity, double the velocity and the kinetic energy quadruples with disastrous consequences in a collision. I find drivers who are obsessed with speed and power puerile and immature, I would rather not see several of car on our roads, the first make I would like to see banished is BMW

          • Why get rid of BMW? Maybe because they piss all over anything that the UK has produced?

  19. 70 mph also applied to single carriageway roads, when the speed limit was introduced in 1965, not just motorways and dual carriageways like now. The single speed limit was discarded in 1974, when the limit was reduced to 50 mph on single carriageway roads, later lifted to 60 mph when the energy crisis eased I believe the 60 mph limit for single carriageways and 70 mph for grade separated roads has been in use since 1977.

    • I remember when that 50mph limit came in. I resented it hugely and and was always silently urging Dad to go faster. Nowadays 50 feels quite fast enough 90% of the time.

    • i received an invitation to a BMW customer clinic, they paid me to attend, their enquiry “how can we enhance the sportiness of our image”, my attitude, there is no place for “sportiness” on public roads, the proper attitude should be how can we be safer and reduce road deaths and injuries. I’m glad we are out of the Eu

      • Sure you did. Oh yes leaving the EU has helped, people in the UK now have less income than they would have in the EU so fewer can afford BMW’s.

  20. There has been a rumour about the government introducing a 55 mph speed limit to save fuel. This isn’t America in 1974 where an energy crisis and most cars being gas guzzling V8s saw the hated double nickel speed limit introduced. At 70 mph, most cars nowadays will return over 40 mpg and the difference between driving at 55 mph over 70 mph is far less than in 1974, and cars are becoming more economical and sales of hybrids and electric cars are steadily increasing. I’d think most drivers nowadays faced with sky high energy prices would sooner use their own judgement than being forced to drive at an out of date speed limit that in America most people blatantly ignored and which many police forces began to enforce lightly.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.