Survey about speeding - why not have your say?
Discussion
Just caught wind of a QUANGO's not-very-highly publicised 'consultation' website.
Apparently, the idea is to justify a blanket 40mph speed limit on non-dual carriageways/towns/motorways and this is their pathetic way of justifying things.
Why not have YOUR say (I became a driving instructor for the duration of my inputs), instead of it being the preserve of tree-huggers, non-motorists and morale-suppressors?
"Consultation" is at:
www.pacts.org.uk/beyond2010/survey/
Enjoy
Apparently, the idea is to justify a blanket 40mph speed limit on non-dual carriageways/towns/motorways and this is their pathetic way of justifying things.
Why not have YOUR say (I became a driving instructor for the duration of my inputs), instead of it being the preserve of tree-huggers, non-motorists and morale-suppressors?
"Consultation" is at:
www.pacts.org.uk/beyond2010/survey/
Enjoy
swilly said:
Did it myself.
The Q? are, suprisingly, not geared towards speed kills and car drivers are evil.
The Q? are, suprisingly, not geared towards speed kills and car drivers are evil.
Agreed, I've just done mine. Only slightly whiffy bits are the list of "professions", (I put myself down as other: road user), and wtf is a powered two wheeler? I guessed motorcycle. And why aren't horse riders included in the list of user groups?
10210ken said:
Question 6 very biased. If 1/3rd of all road deaths are people driving for work, then surely 2/3rds are caused by people not driving for work. Thats where the problem lies not with the people driving for work.
Not a valid conclusion. If less than 1/3rd of total driver-miles are done by people driving for work then those people are involved in more than their fair share of accidents.Extraordinary, every week some car maker comes out with another new 400+ BHP car (some as much as double even that ! ) capable of 150-200MPH just when the government are converting 30 MPH zones to 20 , there are 2 towns trialing 10 mph town centres limits, any non- dual carriageway road it is now said may be reduced from 60 MPH to 40. If you travel any distance in this country before long you will find your motorway has carriageway reductions coned off and policed with cameras at 40 MPH for no apparent reason other than deliberately trapping drivers in to £60 fines or more. Government now say plans are in hand to strictly police the 70 MPH motorway speed limit at no more than that figure to force Britains motorists to use less fuel
As petrol passes £1 a litre ( do not forget back in the real world that is more than £4.50 a gallon ) or more than £60 a tankfull every revised model released is bigger and heavier than the previus one.
50 years ago Lotus made the Elite a GT car decades ahead of its time weighing 620kgs which enabled it to go, stop, and corner brilliantly now we have SUVs weighing more than 4 Elites with all the weight penalties that brings.
Makes you wonder how much progress in thinking has occured in the last half century ?
As petrol passes £1 a litre ( do not forget back in the real world that is more than £4.50 a gallon ) or more than £60 a tankfull every revised model released is bigger and heavier than the previus one.
50 years ago Lotus made the Elite a GT car decades ahead of its time weighing 620kgs which enabled it to go, stop, and corner brilliantly now we have SUVs weighing more than 4 Elites with all the weight penalties that brings.
Makes you wonder how much progress in thinking has occured in the last half century ?
RTH said:
Government now say plans are in hand to strictly police the 70 MPH motorway speed limit at no more than that figure to force Britains motorists to use less fuel
My 7 litre 505 bhp Corvette does 33mpg at a constant 100mph, but about 26mpg at 70mph.
The argument that speed is worse for the enviroment is utter b0llocks.
I hear your point about mass though, I also drive a Sylva Fury which is 620kgs and has 250bhp, which endows it with similar performance to the Corvette using fewer parts. It's not quite as comfortable in traffic or cruising to the South of France though!
I have always wanted to build a spaceframed integral caged Mini sized car powered by a small bike engine, such as a Honda Goldwing (120bhp, 6 speed sequential with reverse gear, torquey and being a flat 6 would fit under the rear seats giving plenty of luggage space) with a target mass of about 550-600kg. The car would have great acceleration (0-60 in around 5.5-6 seconds) whilst still returning well over 50mpg with 4 seats and two boots.
Modern diesel engines would also be awesome performers in kit cars; VW's latest 150bhp diesel should get nearly 100mpg with 0-60 acceleration in 5 seconds flat in a Caterham type car. Might sounds a bit poo though. But I wouldn't care if I was getting that all round performance and economy.
10210ken said:
And why no mention anywhere regarding tailgating.
Most cases of tailgating is caused by the person in front refusing to follow the fundamental rule of the road: keep left unless overtaking. It doesn't make it right to drive 1 foot off someones bumper, but it also doesn't stop the reason for the tailgating occurring being the idiot in front who just won't keep left even when inside lanes are clear.
So often you drive on the motorway and see the inside lane totally clear, with a few brainless fools who refuse to move from the middle lane cruising at a steady 60mph (or lorry drivers who are on the rev limiter at 60mph trying in vain to overtake a lorry in the inside lane also doing 60mph), forcing all the people behind to move into the crowded outside overtaking lane which results in tailgating and very small braking distances.
Driving in France is a joy, where people pull over straight after making a passing move, like cyclists slipstreaming each other in a pack on the Tour de France. Everyone makes progress and less people arte frustrated at being blocked by idiots with no knowledge of the highway code or what is going on outside their glass & metal cocoon.
Edited by JenkinsComp on Thursday 17th August 15:47
RTH said:
Extraordinary, every week some car maker comes out with another new 400+ BHP car (some as much as double even that ! ) capable of 150-200MPH just when the government are converting 30 MPH zones to 20 , there are 2 towns trialing 10 mph town centres limits, any non- dual carriageway road it is now said may be reduced from 60 MPH to 40. If you travel any distance in this country before long you will find your motorway has carriageway reductions coned off and policed with cameras at 40 MPH for no apparent reason other than deliberately trapping drivers in to £60 fines or more. Government now say plans are in hand to strictly police the 70 MPH motorway speed limit at no more than that figure to force Britains motorists to use less fuel
As petrol passes £1 a litre ( do not forget back in the real world that is more than £4.50 a gallon ) or more than £60 a tankfull every revised model released is bigger and heavier than the previus one.
50 years ago Lotus made the Elite a GT car decades ahead of its time weighing 620kgs which enabled it to go, stop, and corner brilliantly now we have SUVs weighing more than 4 Elites with all the weight penalties that brings.
Makes you wonder how much progress in thinking has occured in the last half century ?
As petrol passes £1 a litre ( do not forget back in the real world that is more than £4.50 a gallon ) or more than £60 a tankfull every revised model released is bigger and heavier than the previus one.
50 years ago Lotus made the Elite a GT car decades ahead of its time weighing 620kgs which enabled it to go, stop, and corner brilliantly now we have SUVs weighing more than 4 Elites with all the weight penalties that brings.
Makes you wonder how much progress in thinking has occured in the last half century ?
I feel the same. Why is it that every new model is larger and heavier than the one it replaces, and therefore requires more power in order to retain the same performance?
I'll tell you. There are 2 reasons:
1. Manufacturers like to produce something a little bit "flashier" with each generation, in order to give the owners of the current model a reason to replace while feeling they've upgraded. That's a minor issue though
2. Constantly increasing regulation of the motor industry requires ever more large and heavy devices.
Think of things now done/fitted in the name of safety:
- longer nose to make the car more pedestrian-friendly. Peugeot 407, anyone?
- pop-up bonnet, as above (new XK)
- airbags -- front, side, curtain, thorax, etc, etc (I saw an advert for a car with 9 airbags yesterday!)
- door beams (everything)
- ever-stronger side frames (everything)
- thicker pillars for rollover protection (everything... Forget primary safety of actually being able to see ahead
). All these things mean that you can't get away with a thin 2CV6 door any more, or an elegantly slim 280SL windscreen frame, or an E-type bonnet with engine right underneath it. So in the main, you have to blame the bureaucrats who want to make cars safer than ever for anyone who might ever get near one. Laudable in itself, but directly at odds with saving fuel/reducing emissions/keeping things simple and small.
Gassing Station | Motoring News | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff