Resist the temptation to speed
Sometimes a clear road or wanting to impress your mates can make it tempting for you to speed.
What you might think is harmless fun can end in tragedy. You may lose your licence, your job, your mates, and even yours or somebody else’s life for that moment of temptation.
Speeding is the major cause of road crashes. The speed limit is there for a reason.
Speed limits are a maximum speed, not a target
A speed limit of 30 miles per hour (mph) usually applies, unless you see signs showing otherwise.
The national speed limits for a car or motorcycle are:
- Built-up areas – 30mph
- Single carrigeways – 60mph
- Duel carrigeways – 70mph
- Motorways – 70mph
Sometimes even driving at the speed limit will be too fast.
Weather conditions such as fog and rain can have a major effect on both your visibility, as well as the contact of your car tyres on the road.
Stopping distances
The formula to arrive at the safe stopping distance is Thinking Distance + Braking Distance = Stopping Distance.
According to the RAC, the typical stopping distances for an average family car travelling at:
- 20mph is 12m (40feet) – 3 car lengths.
- 30mph is 23m (75feet) – 6 car lengths.
- 40mph is 36m (118feet) – 9 car lengths.
- 50mph is 53m (174feet) – 13 car lengths.
- 60mph is 73m (240feet) – 18 car lengths.
- 70mph is 96m (315feet) – 24 car lengths.
Speed kills
The faster you drive, the greater your stopping distance, and the worse the injuries will be in the event of a crash. Government research shows:
- About 1 in 3 deaths on the road are speed related.
- 7 out of 10 drivers regularly break the speed limit.
It’s 30 for a reason
In accidents where a pedestrian is hit, the likelihood of death occurring is about four times more at 40 mph than at 30 mph.
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