Jump to content

8 Tonight Bbc4


cast iron

Recommended Posts

Found this on tinternet......

Q: When was the 70 mph motorway speed limit introduced in Britain?

A: The 70 mph National Speed Limit was introduced as a temporary measure in December 1965. It is often blamed on Barbara Castle, but at the time the Minister of Transport was Tom Fraser.

The reason given was a spate of serious accidents in foggy conditions, but it is often claimed that the MoT had been alarmed by AC Cars testing their latest Cobra on the M1 at speeds up to 180 mph.

It was confirmed as a permanent limit in 1967, by which time Barbara Castle (a non-driver) had become Minister of Transport.There was surprisingly little debate at the time: the fact that the average family car of the time could only just exceed 70 mph perhaps had something to do with this.

It should be noted that this limit applied to all previously "derestricted" roads, not only motorways.

All rural roads in the Isle of Man (including most of the famous TT course) remain genuinely derestricted, as a matter of interest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched it tonight on Sky+, cracking program, really enjoyed it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

watch it, great program. I seem to remember watching a similar program a while back showing how the cobra coupe development programme evolved into the gt40 one - or am I talking b*****k* as usual.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Please review our Terms of Use, Guidelines and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.