Excellent excellent excellent!

[Treewolf]

I have always felt the problem with speed cameras is that they cannot discriminate between fast driving and bad driving, which are not the same thing.

 

It is illegal to exceed the speed limit but not necessarily dangerous, and whilst those who are caught speeding deserve the consequences they are not necessarily the evil sociopathic killers that they are usually now made out to be.

 

Some of the worst and most dangerous drivers on the road will never exceed the speed limit and will never be caught by speed cameras. The only really effective tool to protect us from these drivers is to have far more good, sensible, and balanced traffic policemen.

 

Unfortunately traffic policemen cost more than speed cameras (and finding good, sensible, and balanced people is probably not easy either) and so we were given speed cameras.

 

In my view, a motorist who zig-zags the barriers at a level crossing, or drives an overheight vehicle into a railway bridge (both of which happen several times a day) is far more dangerous that a speeding motorist. The bloke who caused the railway crash at Great Heck was not speeding, it was his appalling judgement that killed so many people. He was a bad driver.

 

I wonder what proportion of accidents is caused by speeding as opposed to bad driving.

 

Another (probably controversial and politically incorrect) thought: there's a big drive now to reduce speed limits to 20 in built up areas so that children hit by cars are more likely to survive; wouldn't it be better still to teach children not to walk in front of cars? Bring back the "Tufty Club"! (If any one else is old enough to remember this).

[Dean Lofthouse]

To add, speeding doesn't kill, bad driving certainely does. .

 

No disrespect intended here Nick but that is wrong

 

1 in 4 deaths on british roads are a direct result of speeding

 

I calmed down quite a while ago after my friend, who runs a large recovery firm on the A1 showed me his portfolio of accident recoveries which they use for training.

 

It was that bad it shocked a serial offender into being a careful considerate driver ( as near as damb it anyway).

 

I BTW have been banned three times and had more driving charges than you can list on an a4 sheet of paper including impersonating a police car, but none for speeding, I used to be a total tosspot

Edited July 26, 2010 by Dean Lofthouse

[Nick Watkins]

No disrespect intended here Nick but that is wrong

 

1 in 4 deaths on british roads are a direct result of speeding

 

I calmed down quite a while ago after my friend, who runs a large recovery firm on the A1 showed me his portfolio of accident recoveries which they use for training.

 

It was that bad it shocked a serial offender into being a careful considerate driver ( as near as damb it anyway).

 

I BTW have been banned three times and had more driving charges than you can list on an a4 sheet of paper including impersonating a police car, but none for speeding, I used to be a total tosspot

 

OK so technically speaking it's wrong (and I know you is not like disrespecting me, init) but in reality it is correct. What I mean is that you can travel everywhere at 140MPH and still be a good driver and totally in control. But put a bad driver in a car with poor skills and they will cause that crash whatever speed they are going, the speed just means they hit something quicker and it's more likely to have serious consequences.

 

you can slow everyone down but you can't make up for lack of coordination or spacial (sp?) awareness.

[Dean Lofthouse]

All speed does is make people die instead of getting injured.

 

I used to think I was a great driver, everyone does, till I got in with a great driver on a track.

 

Top and bottom of it is..

 

We have a responsibility for the safety of other road users as they have a responsibility toward you.

 

We have no right to put their lives in danger by speeding even if it is where we judge it to be safe to speed, and who are we to decide whether it is or not.

 

Long straight country road no bends, speed limit of 40 mph. WTF I hear you say, you could easy do 80 on here. You do 80, then all of a sudden a deer runs out infront of you, you hit it and end up careering into oncoming traffic who were doing 40mph killing all occupant of that vehicle, Mother, daughter and two children.

 

An impact of a 90kg animal at 80mph will shove the front end of your vehicle in so far it would push the engine off it's mounts and underneath the car losing steering and all control

 

An impact at 40 mph wouldn't

 

We are not in control of all events however rare

[Nick Watkins]

No problem with any of the above as it's all true.

 

I took my fondness for speed onto the track and had a long succesfull career in crashing motorbikes. Some said it would slow me down on the road, it did in that I stopped for a long time riding bikes (on the road), for me personally the change was not the bans it was buying a V8 Range Rover and not being able to pay for the fuel if I did put my foot even remotely near the floor

 

Changing tact slightly...

 

I can honestly say (not proudly, but honestly) that each and everytime I get in the car I speed, even if it's just 33 in a 30, or 80 in a 70. I think it's one of life things that will never be stopped unless you limit cars and bikes. As a proof point of how inherrant speeding is in society, I once broke down in the Landy (petrol into Diesel doesn't go, I was over tired when I did it) anyway I spluttered to a stop next to a camera with a flashing 30 sign underneath it. Whilst waiting for the pickup truck and in my boredom I started counting the cars that went through and set it off (I know I need to get out more) in short out of nearly 30 or 40 cars the only one that didn't set it off had pulled out a couple of roads just before the sign and probably hadn't got up to speed yet.

 

So if everyone speeds, apart from the very odd one or two (with a 10 car tail back behind them no doubt) why not teach people better driving skills and safety from the start or stick in proper speed cameras with variable speed. The reason IMO, the current camera's = Cash.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Totally agree Nick, people should be taught what happens if you go too fast round corners or that cars skid on ice

 

...and all new drivers should be sat down and shown a slide show of horrific accident aftermaths.

 

When I was a pratt, I honestly thought I was an excellent driver and it never even entered into my head that if I crashed I could possibly kill someone

 

We all speed, every single last one of us, it's to what degree we speed that needs sorting

[josharb87]

panic braking causes accidents???

 

A) shouldnt be speeding

B)if you wernt speeding you should be aware of what speed youre doing, and have been aware of the 2 reminder signs, big bright yellow box, and lines on the road

 

conclusion??? you were breaking the law by either speeding, or driving without due care and attention

 

theyre not a stealth tax, theyre a big bright yellow box taking the role of a police officer

 

if you dont want a fine/points/ban, either dont break the law or dont get caught simples

[tommer9]

Bullsht. They are virtually all un camera'd. There are a load on the A30 through cornwall, none of which ever flash no matter what speed you are doing. All they do is cause panick braking. One was removed 2 years ago as it caused so many accidents. The only way to faily and safely reduce speeding is as someone has said, to put average speed cameras up. There is loads of evidence out there to prove that speed cameras dont save lives but do the opposite.

[Treewolf]

panic braking causes accidents???

 

... theyre a big bright yellow box taking the role of a police officer

 

 

But they don't take the role of a Police officer - a police officer will (or should) collar people for a whole range of BAD driving, which may well be inappropropriate or excessive speed, but also includes tailgating, not wearing a seat belt, using mobile phones, defective vehicles, overloaded vehicle, excessive noise/smoke/music, illegal use of fog or other lights, bike racks etc that obscure the lights/number plates, defective trailers, driving like a pillock, etc etc etc. They are also effective at spotting the low-life who's just nicked your new Timberwolf and increase the chances of recovering it - a speed camera won't do that unless it is being stolen very fast.

 

Speed cameras do one thing and one thing only, and don't even do that very well.

 

Speed cameras a very poor substitue for proper traffic policing in just about every respect, but they are much cheaper than traffic officers. If every fixed speed camera was replaced with at least one traffic officer, then we might see a difference. However there is no chance of that because the country's economic wellbeing was destryed by the idiots in numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street and there's no money left.

[Treewolf]

And another thing, I believe that speed cameras were largely responsible for the epidemic of cloned number plates, which in turn has now made it very difficult for law-abiding people to get plates made (but not seemingly villains).

 

Average speed cameras seem to be very effective. The only people who speed through average speed camera zones are those, I reckon, with someone else's number plates on their vehicle.

 

Nuff said, now I'll go back to sleep!