Mass produced cars became available from the early 1900s but were mostly not capable of high speeds. For example, the first Vauxhall produced in 1903 has a 6HP engine and was only capable of 20 mph. As cars became faster and therefore more dangerous, especially around towns and villages, a restriction on the top speed was required.
The Road Traffic Act in 1930 introduced the first Highway Code and speed restrictions came into force in 1934 when a 30mph limit was brought in for roads considered to be in 'built-up' areas. This particular limit is still used today. Other roads still had no limits.
In 1965, a 70mph restriction for all roads, which included highways and motorways was introduced. Again this limit was for safety, as cars became faster and, also the number of fatalities from car accidents increased accordingly.
New speed limits to curb fuel use were introduced during the fuel crisis in 1974 (petrol had gone up to about 50p per gallon (about 10p per litre). The speed limits on motorways remained at 70mph but on dual carriageways they were reduced to 60mph and on all other roads 50mph.
These temporary limits were removed in 1977 but the speed limit for cars and motorbikes on motorways and dual carriageways was set at 70mph with single carriageways carrying a 60mph limit. These limits are still in force today. The new national speed limit was justified by the reduction in accidents during the temporary reduction to conserve fuel.
Another speed limit introduced for safety in recent years to try and reduce injuries to pedestrians, especially children, was a 20mph limit introduced in 1999 This limit can be set by local councils and is mainly used in urban areas, such as residential roads (particularly narrow ones), town centres and around schools and nurseries. The reasons are obvious - where there is a high concentration of pedestrians, it makes sense to keep the limits slower to avoid collisions and accidents.
Sometimes, temporary speed restrictions are put in place to encourage safer driving during road repairs with the intention of making the area safer and protect the work force. When on Motorways and faster roads, a 50mph restriction is often imposed.
Although the National speed limit hasn't increased since it was introduced in the 1960s, cars have generally become safer with improved visibility, lighting, tyre technology, suspension, braking, steering, etc. There are many demands from motorists' organisations to increase the speed limits, especially on motorways.
It has changed for many reasons, in the 's there was many cars but so little accitens, so the speed limit was 60mph +. Then, more cars were designed, soon there was more accitens. So in the 60's they lowed it to 40mph. After a while it went down but in the 90's, many problems were drink driving , and then the website THINK soon opened. Posters, leaftlets and banners because THINK, kill your speed! The speed limit stopped at 40mph until now, 2008. 2007 was said to be the worst year for the car accitens, but, many died from the speed limit, so now, 2008, the speed limit is 30mph, the slowest you can get on a motorway!
because cars have become more powerful and because there have been too many accidents
Speed limits have increased over the last ten years across the nation. Most places it is 65-70 MPH.
== == There have been so many crashes in the last 100 years so the speed limit has changed to accomodate this and reduce the crashes on British roads
hmm, maybe better roads and engine technology.
new Britain has been changed over the past 100 years.Like the speed limit people get into so many accident in the past and in the present so they keep adjusting the speed limit according to what they see in drivers.
not at all since it was introduced thanks to the government being dicks not increasing it on motorways as the ability of cars increased.
Alaska
Speed limits change for lots of reasons. Limits have changed to conserve fuel and for accident reduction.
1865-the locamotive act imposed a speed limit of 2mph in cities,towns and villages1896-the first speeding ticket for doing 8mph in a 2mph zone1903-the speed limit was rised to 20 mph with large fines for speeding and reckless driving1930-the road traffic act abolished the 20mph speed limit and set a variety of limits for different types of vehicle1934-a limit of 30 mph was introduced in built-up areas1940- a 20mph speed limit in darkness was introduced to try and reduce the high number of road accidents1965-a speed limit of 50mph was introduced on some rural roads1967-it became compulsory to fit seat belts in cars but not to wear them1991-to reduce accidents in busy urban areas, zones with a 20mph speed limit were introduced1992-speed enforcement cameras were introduced at fixed sites1998-the DETR reported that on roads in great Britain in 19973599 people were killed42967 were seriously injured327544 were slightly injured
There have been changes to the speed limits in Britain for several reasons. The amount of cars on the road (which has increased dramatically), the age limit for driving which has changed because cars are cheaper and younger people can afford them and the types of cars that are on the road e.g 4X4, Vans, lorries, Super cars and standard cars. Cars have been developed more and more over the last hundred years which means they can go faster and faster due to better fuel consumption and fuel usage
how has life changed in the last 300 years
tourism has changed considerably in the last 30 years . Now people have more income to spend
There use to be no speed limit on motorways in UK, as more and more people bought cars, and cars could go faster and faster. There were growing accidents on the roads, many of which were fatal due to the cars of the time not being built for safety. A growing number of super cars were also being built which could exceed 150 mph and sports car makers were testing them on the motorways of UK. The government was not comfortable with the speeds of these cars, so they introduced a national speed limit of 70 mph in 1965 while they considered their options. A few years later it was concluded that the 70 mph limit had lowered serious accidents, and it was then made permanent.
Communication has changed very much in the past 100 years.