Speeding is normal, says Safe Speed
Group hits back at 'misleading' RAC report
Drivers' group the Safe Speed has hit back at the RAC's latest report, which launched today with the headline: "Speeding epidemic spreads as 15 million break limits 'most days', reveals RAC".
Safe Speed claims that this is "highly misleading", claiming that routine speeding is actually "a perfectly normal and acceptable - even vital - road user behaviour."
The group continues, "We need to know why drivers speed. Without a clear and accurate answer to this question conclusions are ill-founded. Yet neither government nor the RAC have any useful illumination to offer.
"Drivers' speeding behaviour is clearly a complete mystery to the government, the RAC and much of the road safety community. On the one hand most drivers exceed the speed limit much of the time, yet it's difficult to understand why they do it. They don't save much time, they risk fines and licence suspensions and the government tells us that they are risking their lives. And why hasn't drivers' speeding behaviour changed at all after a decade of speed camera programme expansion?"
Safe Speed reckons that "routine speeding is, for the majority of responsible motorists, nothing more than a side effect of a vital safety-oriented driver behaviour. Of course there are people who drive like maniacs and deserve the attentions of the police, but these people are a tiny minority.
What about the rest of us? Why do we speed?"
Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign said, "Actually it's very simple. As drivers we constantly have to adjust our speed to the immediate conditions. In fact, one of the primary tasks of driving is to set an appropriate speed that enables us to slow down or stop if the situation ahead demands it. We do it constantly. We do it almost subconsciously and in almost every case we do it very well indeed. The message from the conditions ahead is powerful and accurate. In order to be safe a driver must respond to them.
"We become so attuned to driving to the conditions that any other behaviour feels wrong. When there are hazards ahead we slow down. When there are no hazards ahead we speed up. And that's exactly what we must do for safety. We don't even need a speedometer to do it. When conditions are suitable we speed because we know we are setting the right speed.
"If we replace this behaviour with rigid speed limit compliance, drivers will become less effective at slowing down when necessary. Crashes and deaths will then increase.
"In fact it's already happening. So far the government has managed to persuade a few per cent of drivers to drive rigidly to the number on the speedo instead of the conditions ahead.
"Our reward for this grossly mistaken policy is an increase in deaths, typified by the known increase in single vehicle crashes where a vehicle leaves the road. These crashes happen when a driver fails to adjust speed to suit the conditions."
Safe Speed has issued a demand that speed cameras be scrapped and that "the policies that gave us the safest roads in the world are restored. We do not need to eliminate routine speeding by responsible motorists - instead we need to emphasise the importance of responsible speed choice according to the conditions."
so trafpol numbers down, cameras increase....
Better the devil you know..
Still...the public knows best...
(they also point out that you aren't to make a profit from it (and can't use listed buildings/oak furniture/new company cars/fact finding missions to the carribean - sorry that's humberside police isn't it!) as part of your expenses!)
bryan35 said:
Here's a questions SC, if you were coming up to retirement and got offered a nice little number for your last couple of years to boost your pension, and the number was to be in sole charge of speed limits and camera placement, what would you do?
saturate the county with speed cameras.....when enough people had been done for speeding; they would vote conservative next time, who would reintroduce trafpol numbers.
They are changing lots of speed limits ad lowering them.
Try driving to the east coast these days.
Mostly 40MPH country roads, used to be NSL.
Road near where I live, was NSL, now 30MPH.
Carnaby, NSL near bridlington. They had a problem with a railway crossing camera that was active as soon as the lights show, giving drivers no chance at all of stopping before being pinged. Solution - make it a 40MPH. Still pinging people.
Streetcop said:
they would vote conservative next time, who would reintroduce trafpol numbers.
According to their 'Fair deal on Transport' policy document on their web site, there is no mention of this or any reduction in speed cameras either.
I speed when I want to pass a lorry: the faster the better. I'm not gonna do that with 2 mph diff . . . And hey +10: is that speeding? Inner city I always / always keep 30 mph . . . Don't wonna hit pedestrians and all that . . . a car is a car is a car . . .
What a complete load of old shite. How dare a so-called motorists club make suggestions of black boxes in cars, and immediate bans for speeding?? Whoever came up with this needs
ing shooting. J.
Until we have 'normal' people, or at least people with experience of normality, running the country, road safety policy is never going to work.
jezzaaa said:
What a complete load of old shite. How dare a so-called motorists club make suggestions of black boxes in cars, and immediate bans for speeding?? Whoever came up with this needs
J.
I completey agree. Shouldn't the rac stick up for drivers, not suggest that things are made worse. Idiots, if that is representative of how the rac want to help thier members, i dont need that kind of help.
Streetcop said:
Here's a questions SC, if you were coming up to retirement and got offered a nice little number for your last couple of years to boost your pension, and the number was to be in sole charge of speed limits and camera placement, what would you do?
saturate the county with speed cameras.....when enough people had been done for speeding; they would vote conservative next time, who would reintroduce trafpol numbers.
But of course in reality they will have to increase the numbers of cameras still further to afford the Tax cuts they propose and in the end they will scrap the points system alltogether (they will have to maintain the economy). This will of course result in even higher deaths. Road safety is not even on the agenda here.
spnracing said:
Some speeding is normal, some is anti-social.
We live in a democracy.
New Labour's policy is the use of speed cameras and enforcing existing speed limits.
Lets see what the people decide eh?
Have you seen the recent poll on AOL?
A good representative sample from tens of thousands (rather than 1000 "specially selected"). Yes, let the people decide!
padgett said:
well said.
its the incompetent drivers that cause the accidents - never pulling over, not indicating etc.
it is obvious that motorway speeds should be increased, and 30mph zones should be strictly enforced.
unfortunatly, government policy does not recognise the obvious.
Yup, incompetent drivers do cause accidents and motorway speeds should be increased, however, why should 30mph limits be strictly enforced?
I know of roads where they are wide, long, few junctions, good visibility and yet have a 30 limit. I can see the road ahead is clear, is 35 really so bad?
The road I'm thinking about nearly got me caught out, driving along at around 35-40, picked up a patrol car behind me. I slowed down immediately and further up the road, turned off onto a NSL country lane, but the high hedgerows and narrow lane meant 60mph would have been crazy.
He did pull me and commented on my speed on the 30mph road and why I was driving so slow on a NSL road.
I didn't comment on my 30mph speed, but did say that 60mph on a country road would have been irresponsible. I'm driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions.
He went off on his merry way advising me to watch my speed on 30mph limit roads.
IMO, the setting of speed limits is all wrong and I would like to see more 40mph limits, where the road suits it.
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