I see the logic behind this, reducing the speed from 90KPH to 80 KPH means the impact of two cars front ending each other is now only 160 KPH instead of 180KPH so obviously that will save lots of lives NOT! euro NCAP is only 1 car at 31mph, 50KPH into a stationary block of concrete. So it is still a revenue exercise.
I don’t really want to fully get into this discussion other than to say I would rather have a crash at a lower speed - preferably no accident at all but in the event it were to happen I would rather it were slower.
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Fuel economy/pollution catastrophy, our Rav is efficient at 2.2k rev’s, cannot put it into 5th at less than that, so, stuck in 4th, going ‘not far’, but polluting! This was tried on the Rennes Ring Road, there were more accidents and more pollution, it was abandoned shortly after.
I think 90kph is reasonable, but needs to be enforced, (hands up, I have the point 
) texting, phoning, tailgating, are far more serious hazards, that require solutions!
Hi John… not wanting to start a furore, but surely…
There will be no “revenue”, if folk stick to the speed limits.
Absolutely Stella, but we are talking humans. the slower the limit the more chance people will go faster. The problem is overtaking and although 100% of concentration is being deployed the head on collisions happen. will it get worse with electric cars as they accelerate immediately so more people taking more chances? Mind you that could be safer as it will allow completion of the manoeuvre quicker. Slow diesel cars like mine mean you are in the other carriage way longer, hence more risky.
Yes Mat, but the difference as France is going to enforce it would not make any noticeable difference. Both vehicles will be crushed even at the lower speed.
John in UK 20 mph zones were supposed to be self enforcing by introducing speed reducing measures such as speed humps and changes of priority. The average speed within a 20 mph road zone you will find is pretty close to 20 mph (range 20-23 mph) and significantly a long way from 30 mph. The difference in severity of pedestrian casualties between these two speeds is dramatic.
The reduction in speed limit will reduce the average speed on a road - not everybody will reduce their speed but statistically the average speed will reduce. The reduction of speed will offer someone in the event of an incident a fraction more time to respond and hopefully avoid a crash. Do remember that a crash is almost always caused by somebodies inability to react to the situation.
There will always be a percentage of people along a road who exceed the speed limit by a vast amount but if you can reduce the average speed it will be safer.
As to revenue raising - I am more than happy for there to be no financial penalty to be attached to speeding offences to eliminate this argument - there does however need to be some form of penalty to change behaviour such as the 3 points in UK.
I said in my first comment that I don’t really want to get into this discussion as is often the case people have a firmly held view that will not be changed by discussion - my comments relate to working in this field for 10 years in my previous job and as it is related to work I would prefer to avoid discussing the subject as I visit France and use this forum to avoid work!
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It will be interested to see what effect the lowering of the speed limit has on accident rates. Frustration, even more bunching and a lack of concentration brought on by drivers driving their modern cars at inappropriately slow speeds might even cause an increase in many places.
You cannot compare the lowering of the the 30mph to20mph and 90kmh to 80kmh as they are very different things. There is hard evidence proving that where pedestrians are around the lower speed limit makes a huge difference if a pedestrian is hit. I believe that the statement is; a pedestrian hit by a car travelling at 20 mph is more likely to survive, a pedestrian hit by a car at 30 mph is more likely to be killed. A huge difference. Average speeds in towns are irrelevant. A car may travel at an average speed of 23 mph but spend most of its time at 30 mph, it’s the actual speed that counts. The current 90kmh is a limit as the 80 kmh will become, it is not a requirement. Many cars travel less than the maximum speed now are they safer? The maps that have been published showing the more dangerous roads are incomplete. There will be accident black spots, there will be categories of vehicles, types of driver, times of day, times of year and weather conditions when these black spots produce the most accidents. A blanket national speed reduction that will force drivers to slow down on long stretches of perfectly safe roads is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
It’s interesting that Matt suggests that points are only used in the UK and not in France. In fact here the offences which have seen the number of points being removed being increased, such as using a mobile phone or failing to wear a seatbelt are still being ignored left, right and centre.
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Sure Mat, understand. The average speed around my piece of S London is 26-27 mph in the 20 zones.
The report posted linked to carriage ways with no central barrier therefore the powers at be are suggesting head on collision. If giving more thinking time would some people still overtake and have head one, that seems to be the thought I am picking up. If everyone had the equivalent of a 1.5 diesel like my scenic they would give up trying to overtake lol. That might make it safer.
John - the hope is that due to the additional time for the drivers to react that there would be no impact, and in the event of an impact that the injuries sustained would be less.
With the development of impact protection, in the event of a crash at such speeds inevitable the cars would be greatly damaged, and if this is the case the car has done it’s job as the more greater the destruction to the peripheries of the car means that less energy would have transferred to the passenger compartment.
Unless there has been a huge change in recent years the fact is that too many drivers believe that the accident is imminent and make no attempt to avoid it happening. I would guess that the huge increase in secondary safety equipment will not have changed this fact.
Reading-up on this forum and elsewhere… I rather think that many Drivers need to have a complete change of mind-set.
A vehicle can be like a deadly weapon…if in the wrong hands. Any driver who is not prepared to give their full attention/concentration to the road itself, other road users, conditions etc etc and take notice and obey all road signals and signs etc … frankly, I would rather they took a plane 
I believe it was 0.3 second additional time or about 6 feet so maybe but a driver colliding doesn’t tend to try and avoid, they brace for impact. Racing drivers have taught themselves to react to avoid.
The safety aspect would be completely overwhelmed and engines penetrating passenger areas at even the reduced speed, why do you think euro NCAP test at such a low speed. It is a pathetic non test like diesel emissions accept for the pedestrian safety at 31 mph
My concern is that too many drivers are now cocooned from the road they are driving on as they drift along in their luxurious modern cars. When I ordered my Golf the dealer was surprised that I had not specified a DSC gearbox and cruise control. I pointed out that I was already getting a car that switches in the lights when it gets dark and the wipers on when it rains, if I took away any more driver inputs it would not only remove much of the reason for choosing that car but would allow it to be driven with much lower levels of concentration. That is not a good thing in my mind. I’m not a fan of driverless cars.
I own three cars. Two have most of the modern primary and secondary safety features that you expect on modern cars the third has none of them, not even seatbelts. I do not believe that the two modern cars will be any safer at 80kmh than they are currently at 90kmh, especially as I will be using too much of my concentration looking at the speedometer rather than the road ahead. The third car will, after 1st July, be able to reach the national speed limit. It is far more likely to be involved in an accident at 80kmh than the others are at 90 and the passengers will be far less well protected if it is. There is no one size fits all solution. I will continue to drive my cars as the road and traffic conditions allow while showing some respect for the law. If the 80kmh limit is strictly policed I might end up paying more in fines but as I’ve only had one incident in the past five years, 91kmh in a 90 limit, and three equally minor offences in the 35 years before then I don’t think I will be losing too much sleep over it.
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You sound like a responsible driver… 
or do you have your mobile phone held to your ear, while you tear around a blind bend in the middle of the road … with the steering wheel held by your knees because your other hand is holding a sandwich… 
and, YES… what I describe above has actually been witnessed on more than one occasion… (not with David at the wheel, of course…)
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Today I saw a woman driving with a cigarette in one hand, her phone in the other and a young child jumping around on the back seat. An accident waiting to happen at any speed.
You get my drift … folk simply must start acting responsibly… any death on the roads is a death too many… 
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We’ll see if it makes any difference, Harry should be able to tell us as accidents and near misses seem to be all around him. 
I will be on the motorways as it’s too slow and too tedious driving across country so slowly 
I might get distracted and start eating a snack (sandwiches are banned) so maybe a roast dinner 
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Forewarned… 
So this is something that interests me and while its only one area and a short distance I think it says allot.
I travel twice a day to school and back 5 km each way so 20 km a day. I stick to the speed limit in the 90 70 and 50. In the past 7 days I have been over taken by no less that 42 cars. ( did not even count the 40 or so bikers that shot past me on Monday evening doing way more than the speed limit. The week before the number was closer to 50.
Speeders are in a much higher percentage than it seems and tailgaters. lost track of how often i get tailgated trying to force me to go faster (I just go slower)