A driver was baffled by a narrow country lane with a 60mph rural speed limit – until an expert finally shed light on the situation. Many other people also had no idea.
Reddit User Questions Country Road Speed Limit
A Reddit user admitted his confusion over narrow country roads allowing drivers to travel at 60mph. He asked on Reddit: 'Genuinely, why are many country roads in the UK set at the national speed limit?' He posted a photograph of a characteristic example on the CasualUK subreddit and continued: 'Why would anyone in their right mind even consider going anywhere near 60mph when these roads are winding, narrow and have such poor visibility? I might just be being ignorant but I don't understand it.'
Other Users Respond
Writing in response, another Redditor explained: 'It doesn't mean that you can safely barrel along at 60 - you may need to slow down to an absolute crawl on a tight bend on a country road in case there is oncoming traffic - but then if there's a long straight you can do 60. A blanket 30 or 40 on all country roads would significantly impact the lives of rural communities.'
Numerous others highlighted the hazards on Britain's roads, while explaining the sign in question indicates the 'end of a previous restriction' rather than imposing a fresh one. 'The sign is a black strikeout of a speed sign, because it marks the end of speed limit restrictions,' a second individual clarified. 'National speed limit then kicks in by default.'
A third remarked: 'Outside of urban areas, many roads haven't all been graded for speed, so you can drive at whatever speed is safe to do so according to conditions, but not exceeding the national speed limit for your class of vehicle. Remember, it's a speed limit, not a target.'
Expert Highways Engineer Explains
A highways professional then offered his expert perspective on the matter. He stated: 'Setting speed limits is my job, I am a highways engineer. I haven't seen the proper answer yet so here is my go! It's a very roundabout way to do things but drivers generally don't follow the signs on the road apart from a few select circumstances. We have to take this in mind when it comes to setting a speed limit.'
He continued: 'Upon changing a speed limit with signs alone, average speeds drop by only 1mph. If people traverse a national speed limit road at 58mph and we make it 40 or 50, the average speed would then be 57mph. The criteria for a 40mph limit is substantial development, bends and accesses (but not enough to warrant a 30mph limit). A 50mph criteria is similar but less strict.'
'If a road meets the 40 or 50 criteria, the speeds need to already be in the enforcement criteria (10% + 2 above the limit). If they aren't already there, changing the speed limit won't achieve that. If there is a desire to lower the speed on that road for safety reasons, we have to first engineer the speeds down with physical measures.'
'Where it gets really weird is when average speeds are already below the target limit. For example we've been asked to make a road 40 from national, but average speeds are 30. The speeds would likely increase as there is now a target to hit.'
Additional News: MOT Changes for Electric Vans
Last week, the government announced MOT Changes for Certain Electric Vans (from 1 June 2026). Electric vans weighing 3.5 to 4.25 tonnes will move from heavier HGV-style testing to standard Class 7 MOT rules. This means their first MOT will now be required after 3 years instead of after just 1 year previously, due to the battery weight pushing them over the 3.5-tonne threshold. It aligns them with diesel/petrol vans, reduces bureaucracy/costs for operators, and removes some tachograph requirements. This change aims to make switching to zero-emission vans easier for businesses.
