[Merged] Speeding NOT the main cause of accidents

[paulyoung666]

after reading this , it would appear that it is the way ppl drive not speeding that causes accidents , maybe it is time for renewal of driving licences every 3 years or so , let the arguments begin

[Theodoric]

Well, if the following quote from Mr Smith, the founder of SafeSpeed, reported here is anything to go by, then I'd treat anything he says with a large pinch of salt.

Mr Smith has attracted adverse comment by using a black SS logo on a red background to promote SafeSpeed. He told the Times recently that death threats against Mrs Williams [the head of road safety charity Brake] constituted "a mild reaction" to her "dangerous" ideas.

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

after reading this , it would appear that it is the way ppl drive not speeding that causes accidents , maybe it is time for renewal of driving licences every 3 years or so , let the arguments begin

From a safety standpoint 3 years sounds good, though, not very practical. The waiting lists for driving tests are over a month long as it is now, immagine how bad it would be if everybody had to retake thier test every 3 years?
Maybe they could come up with some form of reffresher course?? doesnt take as long/cost as much but simply makes sure you can drive safley.
I think it should be compulsary for anybody with over 2 years experience to take the advanced driving courses.

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by ZrByte

From a safety standpoint 3 years sounds good, though, not very practical. The waiting lists for driving tests are over a month long as it is now, immagine how bad it would be if everybody had to retake thier test every 3 years?
Maybe they could come up with some form of reffresher course?? doesnt take as long/cost as much but simply makes sure you can drive safley.
I think it should be compulsary for anybody with over 2 years experience to take the advanced driving courses.

ok so it might be inconvenient in the short term , but the long term benefits should outweigh it

[Russ]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3597917.stm

I wonder what the "put a speed camera on every road" brigade will have to say about that....

[Xaccers]

The charge of speeding should be abolished and replaced with dangerous driving.
But that would make it harder to get income for the police...

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Russ D

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3597917.stm

I wonder what the "put a speed camera on every road" brigade will have to say about that....

It's a bit of a non-item as far as I'm concerned. Speeding may only be 7th on the list, but in terms of easily identifiable and preventable/enforcable ones, it will come a lot higher.

[Xaccers]

Should we drop the standard driving exam and make everyone do the advanced?
That would have the effect of hopefully producing better drivers and reducing the number of new drivers each year.

[abailey152]

I just think that the current test and how learners are taught to drive is complete nonsense. It takes very little into account of current conditions. It's more of a throw-back to yesteryear.

And speed camera's. Pah! I can't think of a more useless way to calm traffic. All they cause is panic, and the hitting of brakes. Not very safe. If the government really wants to cut speeds, first the limits need to be set properly (no more silly 30mph limits on dual-carriageways, as has been appearing in my area recently), then perhaps technology is the answer. Actually limit car speeds in urban areas.

As for "dangerous" drivers. These can be slow but totally incompetant drivers too. Just ban them. If they are found driving while banned, jail them.

[carlingman]

Originally Posted by Russ D

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3597917.stm

I wonder what the "put a speed camera on every road" brigade will have to say about that....

I am all for the idea of a speed camera on every road

Lets just say they do it and you get caught on the first one at say 50mph in a 40mph area now carry on at the same speed and say you pass another 5 or 6 cameras and get flashed every time.

Does that mean they can nick you for all 6, how the hell can you be speeding if you have never slowed down for the first one.

Also there are flaws in the system as most oldish cameras use the grids on the road to take your picture as you enter and leave these grids and then calculate your speed whcih is fine if your doing 90mph but if your doing 190mph then it gets confused and nicks the poor ******* behind you doing 70mph.

Both the above are Jim Davdisons gags but the logic is there for the abusing.

My personal favorite was when the copper who issued the ticket had to be the one who was there was when you paid the fine at the local police station so to get some vengeance you would fins out what shift he was on and then two to three minutes before the shift ended produce the ticket at the station and pay the fine in pennies or some other denomination of low value coins and they would have to stop until they counted every last penny and ensured the amount was correct.

Not a good idea if your planning on keeping your car but ideal if you are about to sell your motor and not worried about your registration being passed about the local police station.

[Macready]

its always been the case that that was in no way the highest statistic concerning road safety, it has always just been the easiest abused, which is why the whole cameras and "Lazy Policing" that they provide came about in the first place.

Its happened everywhere since they started sharing the cash with the police forces, everyones area has had cameras spring up in that manner, most of the places by me being the "busy" dual carriageways, that have low speed limits, a la 30 mph limits, so they just plonk a camera on a restricted, but naturally fast road like that and try and make as much cash as they like out of it.

And I think thats what motorists in general object to more than anything when it comes to speeding and fines. Because its proven in a lot of cases that cameras dont bring down the amount of accidents on a stretch of road anyway, from the ROSPA report I remember reading a while back.

[Pierre]

As mentioned earlier speedlimits need to be set properly.

Consider this scenario - a new by-pass is built 5 miles of brand new dual carriageway, good tarmac, straight. So what do they do? set a 40mph limit and put speed cameras all the way along it.

However, you can turn off this new road and onto a Twisty Turny single carriageway B road that has a crap road surface with blind corners, blind summits, concealed entrances with farm vehicles doing about 15mph - and the speed limit on this road???? 60mph -

Then you get the idiots that do 40mph on the country lanes and when the get to the villages what do they do?? carry on going 40mph through the village.

Then there's also the idiots that refuse to overtake caravans/tractors causing massive tailbacks because the people that can overtake are now too far back to do it safely.

I was recently caught by a " mobile safety camera" this safety camera was hidden in a plain white van, it was Sunday at 11:00am on a sunny day on a Dual Carriageway with a 30mph limit without another car on the road at the time - I would like to know how that "Safety Camera" was making the roads any safer???

The amount of people caught speeding had risen by hundreds of percent but the amount of people caught Drunk Driving or dangerous driving or driving without insurance or driving a vehicle unfit for the road has DECREASED. Why because there are less and less traffic police out there becuase of the cameras.

Whose the more dangerous me doing 40mph on a dual carriageway on Sunday morning or somebody still P!$$ed from Sat night or somebody off their head on drugs from Sat Night or somebody with four bald tyres.

As you might be able to tell it really winds me up.

[Macready]

The Safety part is just another b*ll**** buzzword used by the police and government to name what in a lot of cases is blatant highway robbery, to try and get rid of the motorists anger at "Speed Cameras" thats all they are at the end of the day. Like the plugging of it now as a "Safety Camera Partnership" on the local radio station all the time.