Of course in Britain we enjoy our really 'high' absolute linit of 112 km/h (70 mph), which is more honoured in the breach. Try driving out of London on a motorway on a Friday evening. I once experienced 90 mph bumper-to-bumper driving on all three lanes. Hairy! I had almost the same more often, but I don't drive much.
Rumour has it that the police favour a limit of 85 mph, but no government seems to want to take this step.
Britain's death rate is supposedly the lowest in Europe, at least on some measure, and is falling. Motorways are the safest of the roads. This has little to do with the speed limit but nobody has the guts to say that out loud and get the speed limit up.
On a tangent, just spent a few days around Frankfurt. Had an Opel 2.2 l diesel Signum (not bad inside, not pretty outside, GM Europe's Big New Hope) and managed to reach indicated 180 km/h no trouble, but not for long because of traffic and speed limits.
DAS
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