SafeSpeed and good editorial in Times
Discussion
Speed critics too quick off the mark
And the text in case the link goes down in a few days.
Speed critics too quick off the mark
Catherine Riley, Motoring Editor
As soon as the closing credits rolled on Sunday night’s edition of Top Gear, it was safe to assume that the telephone in the complaints room at the BBC was going to be busy with the righteously indignant moaning that the Beeb was promoting speed by broadcasting footage of Richard Hammond’s accident and making light of it on air, after Jeremy Clarkson’s “speed kills?” payoff line.
And, indeed, we had the hoary old argument trotted out the next day by politicians and campaign groups such as Brake, a spokeswoman for which frothed: “This glamorised speed. The programme is watched by impressionable young people, many of whom have just passed their test and are mad about cars. They are easily influenced and remarks like that could tempt them to speed.”
Leaving aside the question of whether young people can be influenced by three middle-aged men with
suspect taste in hair and clothing, the kneejerk reaction to the programme by people confusing speed with speeding has the unfortunate effect of lumping proper road-safety campaigns with the “bring back the man with a flag” contingent.
Long before the advent of Top Gear, young men wanted to go faster: the original Bentley Boys, the Mercury Seven astronauts, Sir Stirling Moss, to name but a few. Driving fast is as much a rite of passage as the first cigarette, the first beer and the first sexual experience.
There is no question that speed is a factor in some accidents, but it is too simplistic to blame it all on a speed in miles per hour, which is meaningless without an explanation of the circumstances. If I am doing 19mph in a 20mph limit and there are young children running about, even driving below the speed limit would be going too fast in that case.
Hammond crashed at 288mph after a blowout; on his previous run he had been clocked at 314mph before coming safely to a halt. The accident happened at a closed airfield, where all safety precautions had been taken and he was driving a jet car, not simply hooning around the Cotswolds in a Ferrari. You might as well blame Jenson Button.
Safe Speed, a reasoned and sensible road-safety pressure group, spoke to Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which collected contributory factor information for traffic accidents in 2001. The figures showed that 10 per cent of contributory factors in accidents for this period were related to excessive speed.
Only 30 per cent of these took place in excess of the speed limit and 2 per cent of excessive-speed accidents involved a stolen vehicle. The remaining 68 per cent of excessive-speed accidents involved speeds inappropriate for the conditions.
The bottom line? Speed doesn’t kill. Driving like an idiot does.
And the text in case the link goes down in a few days.
Speed critics too quick off the mark
Catherine Riley, Motoring Editor
As soon as the closing credits rolled on Sunday night’s edition of Top Gear, it was safe to assume that the telephone in the complaints room at the BBC was going to be busy with the righteously indignant moaning that the Beeb was promoting speed by broadcasting footage of Richard Hammond’s accident and making light of it on air, after Jeremy Clarkson’s “speed kills?” payoff line.
And, indeed, we had the hoary old argument trotted out the next day by politicians and campaign groups such as Brake, a spokeswoman for which frothed: “This glamorised speed. The programme is watched by impressionable young people, many of whom have just passed their test and are mad about cars. They are easily influenced and remarks like that could tempt them to speed.”
Leaving aside the question of whether young people can be influenced by three middle-aged men with
suspect taste in hair and clothing, the kneejerk reaction to the programme by people confusing speed with speeding has the unfortunate effect of lumping proper road-safety campaigns with the “bring back the man with a flag” contingent.
Long before the advent of Top Gear, young men wanted to go faster: the original Bentley Boys, the Mercury Seven astronauts, Sir Stirling Moss, to name but a few. Driving fast is as much a rite of passage as the first cigarette, the first beer and the first sexual experience.
There is no question that speed is a factor in some accidents, but it is too simplistic to blame it all on a speed in miles per hour, which is meaningless without an explanation of the circumstances. If I am doing 19mph in a 20mph limit and there are young children running about, even driving below the speed limit would be going too fast in that case.
Hammond crashed at 288mph after a blowout; on his previous run he had been clocked at 314mph before coming safely to a halt. The accident happened at a closed airfield, where all safety precautions had been taken and he was driving a jet car, not simply hooning around the Cotswolds in a Ferrari. You might as well blame Jenson Button.
Safe Speed, a reasoned and sensible road-safety pressure group, spoke to Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which collected contributory factor information for traffic accidents in 2001. The figures showed that 10 per cent of contributory factors in accidents for this period were related to excessive speed.
Only 30 per cent of these took place in excess of the speed limit and 2 per cent of excessive-speed accidents involved a stolen vehicle. The remaining 68 per cent of excessive-speed accidents involved speeds inappropriate for the conditions.
The bottom line? Speed doesn’t kill. Driving like an idiot does.
Flat in Fifth said:
Speed critics too quick off the mark
And the text in case the link goes down in a few days.
Speed critics too quick off the mark
Catherine Riley, Motoring Editor
As soon as the closing credits rolled on Sunday night’s edition of Top Gear, it was safe to assume that the telephone in the complaints room at the BBC was going to be busy with the righteously indignant moaning that the Beeb was promoting speed by broadcasting footage of Richard Hammond’s accident and making light of it on air, after Jeremy Clarkson’s “speed kills?” payoff line.
And, indeed, we had the hoary old argument trotted out the next day by politicians and campaign groups such as Brake, a spokeswoman for which frothed: “This glamorised speed. The programme is watched by impressionable young people, many of whom have just passed their test and are mad about cars. They are easily influenced and remarks like that could tempt them to speed.”
Leaving aside the question of whether young people can be influenced by three middle-aged men with
suspect taste in hair and clothing, the kneejerk reaction to the programme by people confusing speed with speeding has the unfortunate effect of lumping proper road-safety campaigns with the “bring back the man with a flag” contingent.
Long before the advent of Top Gear, young men wanted to go faster: the original Bentley Boys, the Mercury Seven astronauts, Sir Stirling Moss, to name but a few. Driving fast is as much a rite of passage as the first cigarette, the first beer and the first sexual experience.
There is no question that speed is a factor in some accidents, but it is too simplistic to blame it all on a speed in miles per hour, which is meaningless without an explanation of the circumstances. If I am doing 19mph in a 20mph limit and there are young children running about, even driving below the speed limit would be going too fast in that case.
Hammond crashed at 288mph after a blowout; on his previous run he had been clocked at 314mph before coming safely to a halt. The accident happened at a closed airfield, where all safety precautions had been taken and he was driving a jet car, not simply hooning around the Cotswolds in a Ferrari. You might as well blame Jenson Button.
Safe Speed, a reasoned and sensible road-safety pressure group, spoke to Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which collected contributory factor information for traffic accidents in 2001. The figures showed that 10 per cent of contributory factors in accidents for this period were related to excessive speed.
Only 30 per cent of these took place in excess of the speed limit and 2 per cent of excessive-speed accidents involved a stolen vehicle. The remaining 68 per cent of excessive-speed accidents involved speeds inappropriate for the conditions.
The bottom line? Speed doesn’t kill. Driving like an idiot does.
And the text in case the link goes down in a few days.
Speed critics too quick off the mark
Catherine Riley, Motoring Editor
As soon as the closing credits rolled on Sunday night’s edition of Top Gear, it was safe to assume that the telephone in the complaints room at the BBC was going to be busy with the righteously indignant moaning that the Beeb was promoting speed by broadcasting footage of Richard Hammond’s accident and making light of it on air, after Jeremy Clarkson’s “speed kills?” payoff line.
And, indeed, we had the hoary old argument trotted out the next day by politicians and campaign groups such as Brake, a spokeswoman for which frothed: “This glamorised speed. The programme is watched by impressionable young people, many of whom have just passed their test and are mad about cars. They are easily influenced and remarks like that could tempt them to speed.”
Leaving aside the question of whether young people can be influenced by three middle-aged men with
suspect taste in hair and clothing, the kneejerk reaction to the programme by people confusing speed with speeding has the unfortunate effect of lumping proper road-safety campaigns with the “bring back the man with a flag” contingent.
Long before the advent of Top Gear, young men wanted to go faster: the original Bentley Boys, the Mercury Seven astronauts, Sir Stirling Moss, to name but a few. Driving fast is as much a rite of passage as the first cigarette, the first beer and the first sexual experience.
There is no question that speed is a factor in some accidents, but it is too simplistic to blame it all on a speed in miles per hour, which is meaningless without an explanation of the circumstances. If I am doing 19mph in a 20mph limit and there are young children running about, even driving below the speed limit would be going too fast in that case.
Hammond crashed at 288mph after a blowout; on his previous run he had been clocked at 314mph before coming safely to a halt. The accident happened at a closed airfield, where all safety precautions had been taken and he was driving a jet car, not simply hooning around the Cotswolds in a Ferrari. You might as well blame Jenson Button.
Safe Speed, a reasoned and sensible road-safety pressure group, spoke to Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which collected contributory factor information for traffic accidents in 2001. The figures showed that 10 per cent of contributory factors in accidents for this period were related to excessive speed.
Only 30 per cent of these took place in excess of the speed limit and 2 per cent of excessive-speed accidents involved a stolen vehicle. The remaining 68 per cent of excessive-speed accidents involved speeds inappropriate for the conditions.
The bottom line? Speed doesn’t kill. Driving like an idiot does.
That last line is solid gold. Fax it to Brake, about a thousand times or so.
Lifted from yesterday's thread RE: BRAKE...
Shit driving isn’t on the list of precipitating nor contributory factors but the top precipitating factor is loss of control of vehicle at 43% of fatal accidents, which I’d have to say is shit driving. So what’s the main contributory factor associated with loss of control of vehicle. Oh heck, it’s excessive speed at 42%. So I have to say that excessive speed is in fact shit driving.
I agree entirely: excessive speed is shit driving. What BRAKE fails to understand is the difference between speed and excessive speed - which, ironically, is a characteristic they share with shit drivers.
Gruffy said:
herewego said:
Gruffy said:
Speed doesn't kill. Shit driving kills.
Wouldn't it be great if they pursued a genuine advance in driving standards with such vigour?
Wouldn't it be great if they pursued a genuine advance in driving standards with such vigour?
Shit driving isn’t on the list of precipitating nor contributory factors but the top precipitating factor is loss of control of vehicle at 43% of fatal accidents, which I’d have to say is shit driving. So what’s the main contributory factor associated with loss of control of vehicle. Oh heck, it’s excessive speed at 42%. So I have to say that excessive speed is in fact shit driving.
I agree entirely: excessive speed is shit driving. What BRAKE fails to understand is the difference between speed and excessive speed - which, ironically, is a characteristic they share with shit drivers.
t kills"
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