RE: Scameras don't save lives: official
Discussion
pjp666 said:
big signs, but strangely easy to miss, if you aren't looking.
Have to wonder what else you might have been missing if you failed to spot something as obvious as a speed limit sign? Personally don't think that people who bimble along at 35 mph are necessarily doing it because they are brain dead and missed the signs. It is quite possible they are simply driving to the conditions. The safe speed doesn't move up and down in nice convenient 10 mph increments. If you see people religiously following the speed limit as it goes up and down it probably indicates that they think it would be safe to go faster (i.e. the limit is too low). Of course there probably are a few who have been so bombarded with the 'speed kills' propoganda that they no longer attempt to drive at a safe speed but just trundle along at the legal limit regardless.
Right, so the argument goes that you must be aware of the speed limit and, through the use of your speedo, modulate your speed accordingly in order to remain safe (and stop your wallet being rogered by the SCPs). With that in mind lets do some maths:
If a 30mph zone is 1 mile long (5280 feet) it will take you 2 mins to pass through. If in that time you look at your speedo every 30 seconds and each glance took only a second you will have travelled 176 feet without paying any attention to the road at all. Incidentally, 176 feet is more than the stopping distance (including reaction time) for a car travelling at 50mph! Its also interesting that the amount of distance travelled whilst looking at your speedo (44 feet) plus the stopping distance at 30mph (75 feet) is 119 feet..... The stopping distance for a car travelling at 40mph (and the driver paying attention to the road) is 120 feet
I am not against speed limits per se, but I find that blind adherence to them is a lot more dangerous than old fashioned road craft!
If a 30mph zone is 1 mile long (5280 feet) it will take you 2 mins to pass through. If in that time you look at your speedo every 30 seconds and each glance took only a second you will have travelled 176 feet without paying any attention to the road at all. Incidentally, 176 feet is more than the stopping distance (including reaction time) for a car travelling at 50mph! Its also interesting that the amount of distance travelled whilst looking at your speedo (44 feet) plus the stopping distance at 30mph (75 feet) is 119 feet..... The stopping distance for a car travelling at 40mph (and the driver paying attention to the road) is 120 feet
I am not against speed limits per se, but I find that blind adherence to them is a lot more dangerous than old fashioned road craft!
MilnerR said:
Right, so the argument goes that you must be aware of the speed limit and, through the use of your speedo, modulate your speed accordingly in order to remain safe (and stop your wallet being rogered by the SCPs). With that in mind lets do some maths:
If a 30mph zone is 1 mile long (5280 feet) it will take you 2 mins to pass through. If in that time you look at your speedo every 30 seconds and each glance took only a second you will have travelled 176 feet without paying any attention to the road at all. Incidentally, 176 feet is more than the stopping distance (including reaction time) for a car travelling at 50mph! Its also interesting that the amount of distance travelled whilst looking at your speedo (44 feet) plus the stopping distance at 30mph (75 feet) is 119 feet..... The stopping distance for a car travelling at 40mph (and the driver paying attention to the road) is 120 feet
I am not against speed limits per se, but I find that blind adherence to them is a lot more dangerous than old fashioned road craft!
I'm not sure simply adding all the limit glances together like that is totally valid. Then again nor is the way the government handles it's figures either. But that's no reason why we should stoop to their levels.
cdp said:
I'm not sure simply adding all the limit glances together like that is totally valid. Then again nor is the way the government handles it's figures either. But that's no reason why we should stoop to their levels.
No i'm not sure the quick maths I did has any validity either, it wasn't meant as a thesis on driver attention but as a rough example on how drivers have better things to worry about than sticking to the exact posted limits.
I can't see how I could stoop to the same levels as the government and SCPs..... unless I started taking a carnal interest in goats.
What is scary though is that there is a growing minority of people who are using technology and the limits to "drive Safely"! I was unfortunate enough to be driven to the station yesterday by a colleague who is one of the “speed kills” brigade regardless of reality. She has just bought a new car with a speed limiter in and set it at every limit change and then drove with her foot to the floor all the way taking no notice of parked cars, junctions, or any other hazards! She even had the balls to announce at the end of the trip “there you are safe as houses wee did not exceed any speed limits!” Needless to say I did not ask for a lift back, scared the s*&t out of me, and she thought it was safe because she did not speed!
MilnerR said:
I am not against speed limits per se, but I find that blind adherence to them is a lot more dangerous than old fashioned road craft!
here here
a decade + of retarded policing has reduced the enjoyment of driving for so many it is nothing but a chore. as a result very few people take any interest or pride in driving well which is understandable. its like pretty much everything this government puts its mind to; reducing everyone to the lowest common standards.
pjp666 said:
Most people in England, influenced by Clarkson and the like think it is unacceptable to have speed cameras which are mainly in 30mph areas (to protect pedestrians) warning people that if they go much over 30mph they will be flashed, fined, penalised. What is the problem with sticking to the speed limit in a 30mph zone? It makes it more fun when you accelerate directly from 30mph to 60mph in certain areas when you come out of the 30mph limits too. I regularly fantasize about zooming head on into an inncocent child or adult, splatting them all over my windscreen, which is why i stick to the 30mph speed limit. Clarkson should stop crying about speed cameras all the time, big, curly haired baby.
I certainly agree in principle, but if you can stop in the distance you have between you and any possible danger (child etc), then the speed is safe. Rarely possible in a 30 limit to speed much and meet this criteria, but so many exceptions. And better be hit by the guy doing 35 and alert who slows to 10 before impact than the one doing 30 who is oblivious and hits at 30. Yes, in a perfect world doing 30 and stops, ..... or 35 and stops or 40 and stops - point is the injury (or lack of), not the speed is the important factor.
Don't get me wrong, often 30 itself is a lethal speed and far too fast.
Hi Guys, I have said this many times, and some of you are beginning to come round to similar thought process !!.
If the speed limits were reasonably set, then nobody ( except for a few morons, life is like that ), would have a problem with the cameras !!!!.
It is the limits which are very often wrong, NOT the cameras.
MilnerR is spot on, Jonleeper's example is truly horrifying - but I have seen such people !!.
We were on the M1 recently when we passed a car doing approx 65mph in the LH lane, the lady at the wheel (I pick my words carefully) was reading a paperback !!!!.
We couldn't believe it, but then a few weeks later we came across another one !!!. What is going on ??.
65-70mph reading a novel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
But you mustn't exceed the speed limit.
vbr CJ.
If the speed limits were reasonably set, then nobody ( except for a few morons, life is like that ), would have a problem with the cameras !!!!.
It is the limits which are very often wrong, NOT the cameras.
MilnerR is spot on, Jonleeper's example is truly horrifying - but I have seen such people !!.
We were on the M1 recently when we passed a car doing approx 65mph in the LH lane, the lady at the wheel (I pick my words carefully) was reading a paperback !!!!.
We couldn't believe it, but then a few weeks later we came across another one !!!. What is going on ??.
65-70mph reading a novel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
But you mustn't exceed the speed limit.
vbr CJ.
someone said:
A sequence of events has been repeated in a number of places once again demonstrates that government policies on road safety don't match the reality.
It's a shame that sequence of events, isn't repeated a bit more often. There's certainly a considerable ammount of government policy that doesn't match reality.
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