Excessive speed contributes to the majority of road deaths
Discussion
The quote was only what the presenter of the programme stated as an introduction to the "traffic cops".
Whilst I have no doubt that some deaths are caused by excessive speed, I thought that this rather limited the scope of the work that the police should be doing- ie poor driving standards, drink/drug driving, stolen vehicles and the associated criminal activity, and I'm sure you can add a whole load more.
I went back and listened to what he said on iplayer.
Eta."can"
Whilst I have no doubt that some deaths are caused by excessive speed, I thought that this rather limited the scope of the work that the police should be doing- ie poor driving standards, drink/drug driving, stolen vehicles and the associated criminal activity, and I'm sure you can add a whole load more.
I went back and listened to what he said on iplayer.
Eta."can"
Edited by 0a on Thursday 11th August 06:04
StottyZr said:
I've got the figure of 5% in my head from somewhere.
IIRC the 5% figure is 5% of accidents have speed as the primary cause. The excessive speed figure very largely depends upon how you define excessive speed; if it's defined as the speed at which an accident occurred so that if you went slower the accident would not occur then 1mph could well be excessive...Steve H said:
Depends on how you view it.
With the benefit of hindsight I would think that excessive speed could be considered a factor in 100% of accidents and you can count on the finger-wagging TV programs to back up the speed is evil argument to brainwash the masses
Oddly enough on a previous episode of "Traffic Cops" I was quite amazed to hear the following:With the benefit of hindsight I would think that excessive speed could be considered a factor in 100% of accidents and you can count on the finger-wagging TV programs to back up the speed is evil argument to brainwash the masses
Traffic Cops Presenter said:
Speed kills, we're told, but the truth is accidents are far more likely to be the result of poor driving standards
Obviously slipped past the BBC censors.However I agree with annie, the quote could easily be interpreted as "excessive speed for the conditions", and as a primary contributor to the death rather than the actual cause of the accident. It's rather meaningless without some context.
JR said:
IIRC the 5% figure is 5% of accidents have speed as the primary cause. The excessive speed figure very largely depends upon how you define excessive speed; if it's defined as the speed at which an accident occurred so that if you went slower the accident would not occur then 1mph could well be excessive...
Isn't it where speed is a factor rather than a cause?The cause most often being driver error? & not looking properly being the usual most significant factor?
I think the statement "excessive speed contributes to the majority of road deaths" is true but "speeding contributes to the majority of road deaths" is not. A huge number are down to people driving too fast for visibility and/or grip available, but still below the speed limit.
I don't think, even on here, there would be much objection to the statement "a significant number of people drive dangerously fast a significant amount of the time".
I don't think, even on here, there would be much objection to the statement "a significant number of people drive dangerously fast a significant amount of the time".
I think the main cause of accidents is the sheer density of traffic on our roads.
If you consider the number of times two cars pass on narrow winding single lane roads with a closing speed of 120 mile an hour and being less than 2 feet apart its a wonder there aren't ten times more accidents. And this goes on 7 days a week 52 weeks of the year. In all weathers.
Any mass transport system that shifts 20 million vehicles a day (or night) in all weather conditions is bound to involve accidents. Particularly if you mix in all the pedestrians running about in the mellee.
Its a wonder to me there are not more accidents, particularly when I am on the road.
Cars are the worst form of transport apart from all the others!
If you consider the number of times two cars pass on narrow winding single lane roads with a closing speed of 120 mile an hour and being less than 2 feet apart its a wonder there aren't ten times more accidents. And this goes on 7 days a week 52 weeks of the year. In all weathers.
Any mass transport system that shifts 20 million vehicles a day (or night) in all weather conditions is bound to involve accidents. Particularly if you mix in all the pedestrians running about in the mellee.
Its a wonder to me there are not more accidents, particularly when I am on the road.
Cars are the worst form of transport apart from all the others!
But "excessive speed" is clearly the "cause" of all accidents, otherwise, the drivers involved would have just stopped instead of plowing into that bus queue..........
What is more important is the reasons for that "excessive speeed", and this is much much more likely imo to be due to inattention or lack of training/skill rather than just "speeding for fun" etc reasons.
Too many people see "driving" as just the thing they do between doing other important things like being at work, or the gym, or shopping etc. When really, driving should be the thing you DO when you drive, being as the other pastimes mentioned tend not to kill people when they go bad (shopping excepted, whoops, i meant work...... ;-)
Modern cars are so easy to drive, so quiet and comfortable, and our training stds are so lacking, i'd wager than 99.9% of people having an accident first knew something was wrong when they hit what ever they hit, rather than using observation and training to spot situations unfolding and moderate there driving/speed as appropriate ;-(
What is more important is the reasons for that "excessive speeed", and this is much much more likely imo to be due to inattention or lack of training/skill rather than just "speeding for fun" etc reasons.
Too many people see "driving" as just the thing they do between doing other important things like being at work, or the gym, or shopping etc. When really, driving should be the thing you DO when you drive, being as the other pastimes mentioned tend not to kill people when they go bad (shopping excepted, whoops, i meant work...... ;-)
Modern cars are so easy to drive, so quiet and comfortable, and our training stds are so lacking, i'd wager than 99.9% of people having an accident first knew something was wrong when they hit what ever they hit, rather than using observation and training to spot situations unfolding and moderate there driving/speed as appropriate ;-(
Max_Torque said:
Modern cars are so easy to drive, so quiet and comfortable, and our training stds are so lacking, i'd wager than 99.9% of people having an accident first knew something was wrong when they hit what ever they hit, rather than using observation and training to spot situations unfolding and moderate there driving/speed as appropriate ;-(
Not all situations are predictable (unless your skill set includes clairvoyance) but I suspect the majority are.Although the major switch away from speed / speeding / speed cameras has occurred in 2011, the figures for 2010 show a drop again:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/30/road-d...
From what I understand, the trend is still down and will continue to do so for a while yet. Bigger factors such as safer roads, less cars on the road and increased focus on economy driving seems to have a dramatic effect on road safety. Switching off the cameras in Wiltshire has seen NO significant increase or decrease in the number of injured or killed across the county (cant find the reference) and certainly no statistical evidence can be found either.
Seems that a £1bn industry was built on the basis of poor statistics and sound bite politics. Seems that the truth is more complex and that our roads are getting safer anyway.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/30/road-d...
From what I understand, the trend is still down and will continue to do so for a while yet. Bigger factors such as safer roads, less cars on the road and increased focus on economy driving seems to have a dramatic effect on road safety. Switching off the cameras in Wiltshire has seen NO significant increase or decrease in the number of injured or killed across the county (cant find the reference) and certainly no statistical evidence can be found either.
Seems that a £1bn industry was built on the basis of poor statistics and sound bite politics. Seems that the truth is more complex and that our roads are getting safer anyway.
kambites said:
I think the statement "excessive speed contributes to the majority of road deaths" is true but "speeding contributes to the majority of road deaths" is not. A huge number are down to people driving too fast for visibility and/or grip available, but still below the speed limit.
The police accident investigation statistics do differentiate between the two; "travelling too fast for conditions" and "exceeding speed limit". Even adding them both together, though, they are listed as contributory factors in a minority of fatal accidents. Steve H said:
Depends on how you view it.
With the benefit of hindsight I would think that excessive speed could be considered a factor in 100% of accidents and you can count on the finger-wagging TV programs to back up the speed is evil argument to brainwash the masses
Most cars are far 'faster' than many of their drivers. The finger waggers stepped in to allow for the brainwashed masses forty-odd years ago when a blanket National Speed limit of 70mph was implimented instead of the Unrestricted limit previously in place.With the benefit of hindsight I would think that excessive speed could be considered a factor in 100% of accidents and you can count on the finger-wagging TV programs to back up the speed is evil argument to brainwash the masses
You will not find many here on PH, but there are a huge number of car users out there that think speed kills. The reality is that poor driving in all its multiplicity of forms, KILLS!.
If those bearded sandal wearers really have the answers, how do they allow monster trucks of 44+ tons ( some often badly overloaded according to some stats ) which time and again even creeping about at 56 mph are far more dangerous, particularly those from mainland Europe with left hand drive and drivers with different values to the indigenous drivers out there.
Yes, our roads are infested with too much stuff with far too many drivers stressed up to their eyeballs chasing their own tails reaching delivery and meeting targets..
It did not used to be like that.
Yes, there is evidence that speed can kill, but poor driving and other bad habits in all its many form kills far more.
Many drivers caught by so called 'safety cameras' are not all bad or poor drivers. Of course, they are guilty of exceeding a speed limit. We need the various agencies to identify those guilty of bad driving habits to be addressed and effectively dealt with. Something Speed/Safety Cameras cannot do effectively if at all.
Yes, bad driving habits to be addressed and effectively dealt with.
It used to be like that.
..
Speed is realted to all road deaths, as far as I am aware a stationary car never killed anyone so its a factor in all deaths, it just whether its the main factor, for example someone three times the drink driving limit kills someone at 40 mpg in a 30 it isnt the major factor, the drink is.
We need to not try to convince ourselves that us speeding cannot have consequences, no matter how good the driver, condition or the road, the faster you go the greater chance you have of an accident, its all about common sense and knowing where you can and cannot use higher speeds, just a case of not taking your brain out and erring on the side of caution if you are not sure, think as a rule we are quite good at that on here, Xaos or whatever he is called on his R6 excepted
We need to not try to convince ourselves that us speeding cannot have consequences, no matter how good the driver, condition or the road, the faster you go the greater chance you have of an accident, its all about common sense and knowing where you can and cannot use higher speeds, just a case of not taking your brain out and erring on the side of caution if you are not sure, think as a rule we are quite good at that on here, Xaos or whatever he is called on his R6 excepted
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff