159mph cop hurts speed debate
Case focuses on speed not safety, warns Safe Speed
Safety's the issue not speed
PC Mark Milton was convicted of dangerous driving, but handed an absolute discharge. The defence is appealing against conviction and the case will rumble on.
This will, warned campaigner Safe Speed, do damage every time it makes news. That's because the public is deeply divided about the issues. On the one hand people are demanding PC Milton's head 'because 159mph must surely be very dangerous', while others react following their own experiences of speed enforcement: 'How come he's got away with 159mph when I was convicted of 35mph in a 30?'
Campaign founder Paul Smith said: "The public is now deeply and dangerously divided about the issues of speed, speed cameras and 'speeding drivers'. Countless millions of pounds worth of 'speed kills' publicity has convinced many that speed in miles per hour is the measure of safety. 'If only drivers would slow down' they cry. But experienced drivers and police drivers understand that vehicle speed in miles per hour tells you little about safety.
"Twenty years ago the public was not sharply divided and the Mark Milton case wouldn't even have happened, let alone made news. These days with road safety policy focused on vehicle speeds, everyone seems to be calling for someone else's head. Meanwhile driver quality and roads policing are in freefall.
"The greatest tragedy of all is that we have a massive focus on vehicle speeds, when what we need is a massive focus on safe driving. Everyone wants safer roads, but vehicle speed is the wrong target; speed cameras are the wrong policy; and dividing the public with propaganda was a deadly mistake.
"You can't measure safe driving in miles per hour."
Imagine if he'd had a blow out when doing 29 approaching a bus stop full of children
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff