BBC - Life in the Fast Lane
Discussion
BBC News website, a story relating to Thames Valley police and their 'urban workshop' aimed at educating speeding drivers rather than penalising them. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6913402.stm
I like the response from one reader:
"The indignant in your story are right, speeding fines, speed cameras and the whole message are the problem - they're wrong. Ask yourself the question, which would you rather have: - an alert driver taking notice of the conditions and driving appropriately, at 40mph, or - a driver travelling at 30mph with their attention distracted by looking out for speed cameras, trying to read the 30 different signs telling them what to do, with screaming kids in the back? For all the simplistic 'speed kills' message what actually kills is someone not being able to pay attention. The alert driver at 40mph is much more likely to avoid hitting the child at all, or to have braked to 20mph than the distracted driver at 30mph. We need to do away with the fault message and the whole "this speed is safe" mentality. Its counterproductive. We need to actively engineer the roads to minimise the distractions, give only the clear messages needed, and to prevent kids getting on the roads in the first place. Speed doesn't kill, bad driving and bad roads kill.
Ian Smith, London, UK"
I like the response from one reader:
"The indignant in your story are right, speeding fines, speed cameras and the whole message are the problem - they're wrong. Ask yourself the question, which would you rather have: - an alert driver taking notice of the conditions and driving appropriately, at 40mph, or - a driver travelling at 30mph with their attention distracted by looking out for speed cameras, trying to read the 30 different signs telling them what to do, with screaming kids in the back? For all the simplistic 'speed kills' message what actually kills is someone not being able to pay attention. The alert driver at 40mph is much more likely to avoid hitting the child at all, or to have braked to 20mph than the distracted driver at 30mph. We need to do away with the fault message and the whole "this speed is safe" mentality. Its counterproductive. We need to actively engineer the roads to minimise the distractions, give only the clear messages needed, and to prevent kids getting on the roads in the first place. Speed doesn't kill, bad driving and bad roads kill.
Ian Smith, London, UK"
RaeB said:
"The indignant in your story are right, speeding fines, speed cameras and the whole message are the problem - they're wrong. Ask yourself the question, which would you rather have: - an alert driver taking notice of the conditions and driving appropriately, at 40mph, or - a driver travelling at 30mph with their attention distracted by looking out for speed cameras, trying to read the 30 different signs telling them what to do, with screaming kids in the back? For all the simplistic 'speed kills' message what actually kills is someone not being able to pay attention. The alert driver at 40mph is much more likely to avoid hitting the child at all, or to have braked to 20mph than the distracted driver at 30mph. We need to do away with the fault message and the whole "this speed is safe" mentality. Its counterproductive. We need to actively engineer the roads to minimise the distractions, give only the clear messages needed, and to prevent kids getting on the roads in the first place. Speed doesn't kill, bad driving and bad roads kill.
Ian Smith, London, UK"
that bloke deserves a drink!!!Ian Smith, London, UK"
matt
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