European Speed Limits

July 24, 2010

Speed limits differ throughout Europe and depend on what type of road you are travelling on and which country you are in. Some countries even have different limits for learner and inexperienced drivers.

The first UK motorways were not governed by a speed limit until a series of crashes caused a much needed review where the seventy miles per hour limit was brought in. There has been a lot of discussions about upping the current 70 speed limit to 80 miles per hour but as of yet there has been no plans to change it.

On French motorways there are variable speed limits, when driving conditions are dry there is a limit of eighty miles per hour but when it is raining this limit drops to seventy miles per hour. Since 2002 the French government have introduced a number of measures to attempt to reduce the speed people travel at, measures such as radar guns have been implemented on lots of French roads.

Germany is famous for its Autobahns- highways that do not have speed limits. Speed limits do apply to trucks, cars pulling trailers and buses though. Traffic reaching limits such as 125 mph are common but there is an advised speed limit of eighty miles per hour. Under German law, insurance payments can be dropped by exceeding the recommended eighty miles per hour speed limit. Not all areas are speed limit free though, some areas have constraints in order to reduce noise pollution.

Italian highways are set at an upper speed limit of eighty miles per hour and a seventy miles per hour limit is imposed on windy roads and in bad weather. On new and clear, straight roads a limit of 95 miles per hour is imposed.

The Swiss Autobahns have an upper speed limit of seventy five miles per hour and the dual carriage way type roads (Autostrasse) generally have a lower speed limit of 65 miles per hour.

speeding offences are extremely serious whether you are a newly qualified driver or an experienced driver. A speeding solicitor will be able to help with any advice surrounding motoring offences.