[Markulous]

This is up for government "discussion" as to whether to implement.

Seems to be if more than 50% over limit then 6 point penalty. OK, makes a certain sense @ 70mph limit as that'll be 105mph. But over 29mph in a 20mph?

Soon we'll be back to when cars first came along and there was an insistence to have a man walking in front of the car, carrying a red flag!

And in the latest bids to up revenue, they're hiding speed cameras in the opened boot of a car with it's bonnet up to look as if it has broken down!

[fionaB]

cant come soon enough IMO. doesnt matter what the speed limit is, its there for a reason, and the sooner drivers realise that the better!

http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/...rcgb2006v1.pdf

the important bit for me is the following..........

Accidents having the following as contributary factors:
Exceeding speed limit .......381 fatal acidents from 7,258 total accidents
Travelling too fast for conditions........ 493 fatal accidents from 16,080 total accidents

now these could have been caused by being 20 mph over the speed limit.....BUT they could also have been caused by being 5 MPH over the speed limit.

at the end of the day if you are not speeding it doesnt matter if they hide the cameras or not!

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by fionaB

the important bit for me is the following..........

Accidents having the following as contributary factors:
Exceeding speed limit .......381 fatal acidents from 7,258 total accidents
Travelling too fast for conditions........ 493 fatal accidents from 16,080 total accidents

The key word is contributory. Funny how the report doesn't mention prime cause - which is less than 5%

Travelling too fast for conditions is, of course, not directly relevant to speeding. 5mph on a motorway is too fast if you're on black ice!

Someone calculated that at the present rate of speed camera implementation over 85% all drivers would lose their licence over their driving lives, not once but more than twice! The reason? Because speed limits do not reflect the road/area conditions, often being sited in poorly thought out stretches of road

Personally, think that it's the government's way of getting people off the road. They've failed miserably to get us to use public transport because they've failed miserably to implement a proper public transport strategy for the future

[fionaB]

contributary or prime, it doesnt matter....... cos speeding has made some sort of contribution.......... could be that had the driver not been speeding it may not have been a fatal accident?

My personal view is that if implementing these fines etc can save the life of ONE child, ONE mother, father etc........ then ask the people who are left behind if it is worth it.


as to them being sited in the wrong part of the road....... sorry but i disagreee...... there is no wrong part of the road, an accident can happen ANYWHERE.........
Fi

[Markulous]

Well, looking at those stats you provided, I see that Driver/rider error or reaction is a tad higher @ 1,780. What's your solution to that? Making the test more difficult won't help as it's experience that really counts, not knowledge.

Having driven a fair few miles, I have to say it's got to be the ones who are unaware of others who cause the problems. Was amused by Jeremy Clarkson saying that he never braked on the motorway. When asked what he did if someone suddenly pulled out, his reply was that he anticipated it happening. Whilst I think he's a bit of a pillock and not entirely agreeing about not braking at all, I can certainly see where he's coming from. To keep myself amused on long motorway journeys, I try and drive using only the cruise control (altering it's speed if necessary). Of course braking is a big no-no as it switches it off! Can go for miles like that! (OK, I'll admit it's on near empty roads only! I'm not entirely stupid!)

[_MB_]

Imagine pulling up to help those poor souls in their broken down car only to realise...

[Summerleft]

I don't know,

Do you know according to one program the fastest ever motorcylist they have caught is 157pmh

So theorhetically (of course not endorsing this at all) but if you go faster than they can catch you ~ happy days .......


*waits for fall out*

[_MB_]

Better hope you put a funny name and address on your v5

[silkstone]

I don't object to speed cameras in principle - if we have laws and believe they should be obeyed, there's no excuse for breaking them. If we think that existing speed limits are inappropriate, we should campaign to change them rather than disregarding them. There is an good argument that cameras are welcomed by drivers who want to abide by the speed limit but often feel under pressure from impatient people tailgating where there is no enforcement.

What I don't like is the amount of police time and resources devoted to speeding offences. The cameras have had a negative effect by substituting for road traffic police, and they don't catch serious crooks who use false plates anyway.

[Summerleft]

Being serious now I agree with SS, sometimes I see such silly speed limits and cannot understand why, a classic example is going towards my old town, there is a wide open safe road with central res, used to be 50mph limit they have now redued it to 40 which no one does, there are no pedestrians crossing, its between fields and enbankments so why...
Also how many times have you been doing 30 and had some pillock come revving up behind trying to make you go faster or cause an accident if you dont speed up a bit

no good saying ignore them as most people dont they speed up a little, I think the whole thin including more exposure to new drivers is key

[stupot]

I have to disagree with this latest government initiative. Its really trying to solve a problem from really the wrong way as has been said speed is only a contributing factor to the severity of accidents and its the sole cause in around 5% of cases!

The cause 99% of accidents out there are purely down to drivers poor driving skills, poor hazard perception, with 1% down to say 'Pure acts of god' the tree falling in the road, the black ice etc....

All these draconian speed laws do is criminalise the normal motorist, take all the idiots off the road that cant drive and accidents would be few and far between, make the driving test 10x harder, minimum of 100 - 150 hours of tutorials before getting license, compulsory 10 year driving tests, two accidents caused by yourself and loose your license, implement these measures and you'd be supprised how safe the roads become!!!!!! There seems to be this attitude that everyone has a god given right to drive regardless of driving ability....WRONG

I work with a young lad who recently passed his driving test after a few attemps now if you have a wonder around his car its hard to find a bit of body work thats not dented!!!! over 15 prangs in his first 6 months, I've been driving for 16 years without ONE accident yet i'm not one to follow speed limits, i drive according to the road conditions!! If i'm driving outside a school at 3 o'clock in the afternoon then its 20mph if i'm on the motorway on boxing day with no traffic around 90mph is fine (3 points, £60 fine) , i'm confident in my own driving ability to decide!!! My car is serviced regulary, i checked my tires before i left. I have commuted the length and bredth of this country more miles than most are ever likely to do yet that doesn't count for didly squat!!!

As Mark said it wont be long before we all have a man with a flag infront of our cars and yes there will still be accidents because 'SOME PEOPLE CANT DRIVE' and until you take these people of the roads lets all run around like headless chickens and have us all driving at 5mph

[simpbow]

I agree with less speed in built up areas ect, but this last penalty is a joke, its all very easy to go over the speed limit in a certain area by 5mph but getting 2 of these & then have no licience, it would suit them better going after these guys that have a mobile phone pasted to there ears, they must come as standard with cars nowadays.

[Dave]

Always the easy target for the Goverment. God forbid having cops on the road catching people jumping red lights, dangerous driving etc....... no, let's go for some cash & easy way to target 5% of crash causes with minimal effort, just to show we are doing something & then we can leave that other 95% alone .... much too difficult

The nearest I have come to accidents in the last few years, is suddenly finding a driver in front braking hard on an open road for no apparent reason ..... oh wait there, it's a speed camera & the driver in front hasn't realised its a 60mph road, so brakes down to 40 to be on safe side Has anybody recorded how many accidents these cameras cause ?? !!!