Yet another smash on the M4.....
Yet another smash on the M4.....
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Discussion

off_again

Original Poster:

13,917 posts

264 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
quotequote all
M4 between J16 and J17 this morning. One Eddie Stobart truck and a rather smashed up Pug 406. Has to be speed doesnt it?

Or not.....

Trucks now rule between J14 to J18 and us motorists are down to a one lane motorway....

Madness, sheer madness...

GregE240

10,857 posts

297 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
quotequote all
Thats where the new cameras are set up.

Not wishing to put words into peoples mouths, but too busy bloody concentrating on doing 70mph....

BliarOut

72,863 posts

269 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
quotequote all
I hope the statisticians are watching this closely... Oh how I will laugh when the accident count increases

Perhaps this will be the final nail in the scameraship coffins.....

Speed doesn't kill, speedo gawping does!

off_again

Original Poster:

13,917 posts

264 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
quotequote all
GregE240 said:
Thats where the new cameras are set up.

Not wishing to put words into peoples mouths, but too busy bloody concentrating on doing 70mph....


Damn right it is... and that makes 2 biggies in less than 1 week from when it started!!

craigw

12,248 posts

312 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
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I've driven down the M4 regularly over the last 15 years, I drove along it yesterday & I have never seen such poor driving (sometimes myself included), all the cars were travelling at around 75mph.

I would wager that many of these people, myself included were driving but watching their speedo too much trying to keep within the limit.

james_j

3,996 posts

285 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
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Where are those camera representatives when you want them? Come on you, any comments?

maxrider

2,481 posts

266 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
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BliarOut said:


Perhaps this will be the final nail in the scameraship coffins.....



If only.... but since its all revenue driven I very much doubt it!

funkyrobot

18,789 posts

258 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
quotequote all
maxrider said:

BliarOut said:


Perhaps this will be the final nail in the scameraship coffins.....




If only.... but since its all revenue driven I very much doubt it!


If anybody is getting caught speeding at the moment on the M4 then they really are muppets.

As for the accident i'm not surprised that this has happened. Until we know the real reason why the accident happened its hard to blame anything. Looking at the car speedo isn't a good excuse for an accident because you don't need to be staring at it for ages to check your speed.

No doubt with the cameras around drivers are going to be a bit more twitchy but if you can't control your car properly at 70mph, and take into account other traffic, well.......

Plotloss

67,280 posts

300 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
quotequote all
funkyrobot said:


No doubt with the cameras around drivers are going to be a bit more twitchy but if you can't control your car properly at 70mph, and take into account other traffic, well.......


Therefore proving that absolute velocity has NOTHING to do with safety whatsoever.

WildCat

8,369 posts

273 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
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funkiest robotic one said:



maxrider said:




BliarOut said:


Perhaps this will be the final nail in the scameraship coffins.....







If only.... but since its all revenue driven I very much doubt it!





If anybody is getting caught speeding at the moment on the M4 then they really are muppets.




Aber funkiest robotic Liebchen... we do not know what speed this driver was doing or why this accident happened.



funkeiest robotic one said:

As for the accident i'm not surprised that this has happened. Until we know the real reason why the accident happened its hard to blame anything. Looking at the car speedo isn't a good excuse for an accident because you don't need to be staring at it for ages to check your speed.




But .. Liebchen...he may have taken eyes off road for less than second ... und numpty changes lane und this causes collision. We do not know for certain anyway ... but ist rather strange that accident occurs as soon as these scams go live. Und not exactly prevented the accident either. So... emphasis on speed alone ist wrong. We should be focusing on improving drivers skill on motorway.

That unnecessary half second even can cause mayhem on road at the dangerous area - if really serving dangerous area . This ist why they are not safety cams at all. They would be better off mit VAS or something to remind constantly to stay at 70 mph. Und problem in this case ist that there ist no tolerance margin here und this ist another reason why there might be more speedo gawps in this particular scenario.

funkiest robotic one said:

No doubt with the cameras around drivers are going to be a bit more twitchy but if you can't control your car properly at 70mph, and take into account other traffic, well.......


You would not be in control of your car at 30 mph if you were looking at a bridge. Your body would be out of synch und would cause you to turn wheel incorrectly as part of uncontrolled movement due to head und neck bone looking upwards.

Und I wonder if the accident was caused by the muppet whose letter appeared in Autocar....


muppet in Autocar said:


I welcome the cameras on the M4. It means that I can set my Cruise Control at 70 mph on the slip road und not have to worry about other drivers driving fast on motorway:yikes



Muppet Und cruise control means he will not collide mit other traffic already in inner lane when he ist entering from slip road....?

Has magic power to avoid other cars... just because cruise control ist set prior to joining motorway?

Und .... you were saying about scam making things safe... ist very reason why they are dangerous mit muppets such as this one.

I am embarrassed to think that such a person reads the same petrolhead mags as me.... ist unbelievable...

>> Edited by WildCat on Tuesday 19th April 17:54

>> Edited by WildCat on Tuesday 19th April 17:57

parrot of doom

23,075 posts

264 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
quotequote all
funkyrobot said:
If anybody is getting caught speeding at the moment on the M4 then they really are muppets.


What about a Doctor on call? What about an Ambulance driver dashing to take a transplant organ to a hospital? What about an unmarked police car on important business?

What about the many thousands of businessmen contributing toward the economy by getting there faster?

deltafox

3,839 posts

262 months

Tuesday 19th April 2005
quotequote all
Funkyrobot said:
If anybody is getting caught speeding at the moment on the M4 then they really are muppets.


Nope theyre not. Youre missing the point aintchya?
Which is; Roads shouldnt have speed cameras on them as speed isnt the cause of the accidents that are happening there, let alone on the safest roads.

Havent you figured out that safety isnt the priority with these things yet?

When ya gonna learn?

8Pack

5,182 posts

270 months

Wednesday 20th April 2005
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Well, surprise, surprise, another one eh! Hope you good folks down there who use it regularly are making notes for future reference.

I usually find that bunching occurs if you slow traffic down below the "natural" speed for the road, anyone know if that's happening?

off_again

Original Poster:

13,917 posts

264 months

Wednesday 20th April 2005
quotequote all
Yep, as 8Pack said....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/4463667.stm

Lorry smashed into a highway maintenance vehicle on the hard shoulder..... speed again eh?

No offence to the person who sadly lost their life due to this accident!

cliffe_mafia

1,738 posts

268 months

Wednesday 20th April 2005
quotequote all
The spin has already begun...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4465383.stm

M4 cameras reduce drivers' speed

Speed cameras are being used to enforce the speed limit on the M4
Safety camera officials say placing seven cameras on a section of the M4 in Wiltshire has forced motorists to reduce their speed.
Results of a five-day monitoring exercise also reveal an improvement in traffic flow.

The experiment notes that during a single hour five motorists were caught travelling between 85mph and 91mph.

On average 84,000 vehicles use the Wiltshire section of the M4 in any one 24 hour period.

"Normally we would expect a higher proportion of motorists exceeding 85mph," said Nick Blencowe, Sergeant for the Safety Camera Unit.

"This dramatic drop in motorists breaking the law can only be as a direct result of the presence of cameras and the real possibility of being caught.

"We have also noticed a much more even flow of traffic, with motorists leaving enough space between vehicles," he said.

streaky

19,311 posts

279 months

Wednesday 20th April 2005
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Oh, look! There's another flying pig!

streaky

19,311 posts

279 months

Wednesday 20th April 2005
quotequote all
Oh, look! There's another flying pig!

Britain ... home of the BIG LIE.

Streaky

off_again

Original Poster:

13,917 posts

264 months

Wednesday 20th April 2005
quotequote all
cliffe_mafia said:
The spin has already begun...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4465383.stm

M4 cameras reduce drivers' speed

"We have also noticed a much more even flow of traffic, with motorists leaving enough space between vehicles," he said.



You are kidding right? Please tell me you are kidding?

I had to drive up and down that section (live off J17!) a few times already and I can say that it certainly NOT what I saw.

In fact I said it before on another link, but we now have the completely ridiculous situation of having a 1 lane motorway. Trucks now own two and will pull out with impunity since all drivers wont be going over 70. Beyond that I can also say that the whole section was in fact more prone to bunching. Rather than spacing evenly the traffic, we had totally stupid morons bunching up everywhere....

Oh, and the people who obviously panic in these situations were stupidly dicing with trucks. Doing 50MPH and having trucks blasting up behind you is stupidity.....

Safer and faster flow? Ballcocks....

funkyrobot

18,789 posts

258 months

Wednesday 20th April 2005
quotequote all
deltafox said:

Funkyrobot said:
If anybody is getting caught speeding at the moment on the M4 then they really are muppets.



Nope theyre not. Youre missing the point aintchya?
Which is; Roads shouldnt have speed cameras on them as speed isnt the cause of the accidents that are happening there, let alone on the safest roads.

Havent you figured out that safety isnt the priority with these things yet?

When ya gonna learn?


Where have I said that safety IS the priority for these people????

My post was made regarding the fact that there has been tremendous publicity about the cameras going live on this stretch of the motorway. If you still speed and get caught, even though you know they are there, you are a true muppet!!

funkyrobot

18,789 posts

258 months

Wednesday 20th April 2005
quotequote all
parrot of doom said:

funkyrobot said:
If anybody is getting caught speeding at the moment on the M4 then they really are muppets.



What about a Doctor on call? What about an Ambulance driver dashing to take a transplant organ to a hospital? What about an unmarked police car on important business?

What about the many thousands of businessmen contributing toward the economy by getting there faster?


Doctors on call, ambulance drivers, unmarked police cars can all get the speed ticket signed off. They WILL be caught and listed as speeding, you are right about that, but no action will be taken.

With regards to thousands of businessmen then that is their own tough luck really.