Do safety cameras cause more road deaths?
Discussion
From the Governments road safety website:
"Falling asleep at the wheel is the cause of around 20% of accidents on long journeys on trunk roads and motorways "
http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/statistics.htm
Thesis: Because of the introduction of speed cameras more people are falling asleep at the wheel because they can't drive at a rate which keeps them involved with the act of driving, and are forced to hold a monotonous steady speed.
Discuss :D
"Falling asleep at the wheel is the cause of around 20% of accidents on long journeys on trunk roads and motorways "
http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/statistics.htm
Thesis: Because of the introduction of speed cameras more people are falling asleep at the wheel because they can't drive at a rate which keeps them involved with the act of driving, and are forced to hold a monotonous steady speed.
Discuss :D
Just like "Kill your speed" that would be an over simplification. Having said that I genuinely believe that the cumulative effect of the slow drip feed of anti car, anti speed goverment agenda and policys are making driving less pleasent, more stressfull and more tireing.
You only have to look at local gov policy on slowing down traffic with excesive amounts of traffic lights, silly low speed limits and poor road design.
Combine that with numptys who feel there uber slow driving mixed with no common sense or lane disiplin is justified because of the "speed kills advertsing".
Getting anywere can sometimes be an utter pain and when you do try to take a brake you will find a complete dearth of proper rest areas in some parts of the country. Having to drive below your natural pace when the road finally clears certainly does'nt help at all.
No wonder there is a problem.
You only have to look at local gov policy on slowing down traffic with excesive amounts of traffic lights, silly low speed limits and poor road design.
Combine that with numptys who feel there uber slow driving mixed with no common sense or lane disiplin is justified because of the "speed kills advertsing".
Getting anywere can sometimes be an utter pain and when you do try to take a brake you will find a complete dearth of proper rest areas in some parts of the country. Having to drive below your natural pace when the road finally clears certainly does'nt help at all.
No wonder there is a problem.
parrot of doom said:
Driving faster doesn't make you stop falling asleep.
Nonsense, surely ?
Just think of the adrenalin rush you get as you slow down to 130 mph for the bends in the autobahn,
or the rush you get as you try to overtake at 120 mph on a 2CV going flat out at 60 mph, then the 2CV decides to block your lane, so you test your ABS so the BMW 750 behind you, [ on the govenor at 155 mph and closing in on you *very* fast ] decides he's got nowhere else to go to avoid the about-to-happen three car crash but go down the hard shoulder at 110 mph ...
deltafox said:
deltafox said:
Theyre Speed cameras, not "safety" cameras. 
In the interests of balance I used 'safety' in the subject line and 'speed' in the post.
Very thoughtful of you sir...a real pity the opposition dont think as you do though.
Public bodies, and this includes all of them including the Police "Service" (but not the BiB individually obviously), adopt Hitler's tactics.
This is not a Godwin's law argument or an analogy to stormtroopers.
Hitler's ideas were quite simple. Basically, repeat the same simple phrases over and over again, without variation.
Don't ever ever be reasonable or get into real debates or discussions about it (apart from bashing down arguments, but don't ever as the OP suggest any support for the opposing case).
Don't ever back down, whatever the evidence. Simply repeat the same things over and over again.
You can see this all over the public sector. People don't quite believe the extent to which public bodies simply lie.
They think they lie at election time, and cover up, and they do, but in reality their whole existence is an endless line of falsehoods and misrepresentations. It is continual, and there is no break in it.
8Pack said:
It's not so much a matter of "falling asleep", but of a lack of attention and your mind wandering because you're not fully engaged in driving at such an artificially low speed on a wide clear motorway for hours on end, it becomes soporific.
The people who die as a result sleep the biggest sleep of all. I'd like to know if anyone can find any useful statistics relating to this issue. Necessarily problematic of course, as drivers who die as a result can't be interviewed, and those who survive tend to try to blame the fox running across the road rather than admit that they fell asleep with all the insurance implications that would carry.
8Pack said:
It's not so much a matter of "falling asleep", but of a lack of attention and your mind wandering because you're not fully engaged in driving at such an artificially low speed on a wide clear motorway for hours on end, it becomes soporific.
...and thus we need the option of higher speed acceptance by the authorities.
I swear, there must be myriad PHers with machinery (and corresponding 'skill sets') capable of travelling the barren, northerly parts of the M6 at 120-130 with consumate ease and yet this small increase over the default 90-100 that everyone actually does is certainly enough to ensure that critical delivery of additional concentration when flying accordingly.
Of course, such journeys require occasional bouts of quick 140-160ism and these should also be tolerated for the purposes of cylindrical carbon removal, not just transitory concentration jolts.
Indeed, perhaps we might form a reactionary pro-speeding lobby entitled 'ACCELERATE,' I can see it now...
Einkelmann.
tallbloke said:
From the Governments road safety website:
"Falling asleep at the wheel is the cause of around 20% of accidents on long journeys on trunk roads and motorways "
www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/statistics.htm
Thesis: Because of the introduction of speed cameras more people are falling asleep at the wheel because they can't drive at a rate which keeps them involved with the act of driving, and are forced to hold a monotonous steady speed.
Discuss
Especially in remote places like Cumbria!
And thanks to the patrols on the M6 it is now harder to keep a safety zone of space around your vehicle so more chance of being involved in an accident with a sleeping driver.
I despair at these so-called 'experts' in charge of our wellbeing.
dersetrictor said:
I swear, there must be myriad PHers with machinery (and corresponding 'skill sets') capable of travelling the barren, northerly parts of the M6 at 120-130 with consumate ease and yet this small increase over the default 90-100 that everyone actually does is certainly enough to ensure that critical delivery of additional concentration when flying accordingly.
Speed limits are for everyone. That is their weakness. (Indeed the weakness of all laws).
If we raised the limit to 120 on those sections, so that numpty new driver can thrash his Dad's BMW into oncoming traffic when he loses control, would you be so supportive of raised limits?
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff