Speeding law reform
Discussion
Sounds like a step in the right direction( no where near far enough) , and it does mean they will get 6*£60 in fines from you before you are banned.
[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3421867.stm[/url]
Malc
[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3421867.stm[/url]
Malc
Unreal...
How many times have they trotted out 'you're twice as likely to kill someone at 35 as at 30'?
Are you 3 times more likely to kill them at 90 then if you'd been doing 70!?!?!?!?
H E L L O ? ? ?
This is yet another example (probably accidental) of the law targeting the decent drivers who 'open up' on a deserted motorway at 3am rather than the Max Muppets and other fringe lunatics that are less liekly to pay.
>> Edited by _Al_ on Friday 23 January 08:26
How many times have they trotted out 'you're twice as likely to kill someone at 35 as at 30'?
Are you 3 times more likely to kill them at 90 then if you'd been doing 70!?!?!?!?
H E L L O ? ? ? This is yet another example (probably accidental) of the law targeting the decent drivers who 'open up' on a deserted motorway at 3am rather than the Max Muppets and other fringe lunatics that are less liekly to pay.
>> Edited by _Al_ on Friday 23 January 08:26
This is insane.
If the Government want to show that the speeding law is correct and cameras are the answer you'd have thought that they'd:
1) Remove all fines for speeding.
2) Increase penalty points from 3 to 5
thereby setting it such that the third speeding offence induces a ban on totting up.
But they're not.
Instead its "speed all you want" SEVEN times if you like...all it'll cost you is MONEY.
Its just tax.
Here's a reform idea:
1) Make GATSO's illegal except in
a) Proven accident blackspots
b) Thirty limits near pedestrian areas such as schools, shopping centres, places where pedestrians and cars HAVE to come into contact and where kids could get away from their parents and get into deadly trouble.
2) Make the speed limit 100mph on motorways
3) Make the speed limit 70mph on single carriageway A roads
4) Set up an independent body to set local speed limits, curb their excesses with LAWS about what speed traffic can expect to travel on what types of roads.
Far fewer people will speed because they're only going at the pace they would normally anyhow.
People going really fast on motorways will only run the same risk they do now...
If the Government want to show that the speeding law is correct and cameras are the answer you'd have thought that they'd:
1) Remove all fines for speeding.
2) Increase penalty points from 3 to 5
thereby setting it such that the third speeding offence induces a ban on totting up.
But they're not.
Instead its "speed all you want" SEVEN times if you like...all it'll cost you is MONEY.
Its just tax.
Here's a reform idea:
1) Make GATSO's illegal except in
a) Proven accident blackspots
b) Thirty limits near pedestrian areas such as schools, shopping centres, places where pedestrians and cars HAVE to come into contact and where kids could get away from their parents and get into deadly trouble.
2) Make the speed limit 100mph on motorways
3) Make the speed limit 70mph on single carriageway A roads
4) Set up an independent body to set local speed limits, curb their excesses with LAWS about what speed traffic can expect to travel on what types of roads.
Far fewer people will speed because they're only going at the pace they would normally anyhow.
People going really fast on motorways will only run the same risk they do now...
Well it certainly proves the Scameras are just money earners. Nothing is being done to curb the death toll that went up after scameras came along. I sugest this is just political expedience as a significant number of voters have now been banned with all the consequences.
>> Edited by Godfrey H on Friday 23 January 08:53
>> Edited by Godfrey H on Friday 23 January 08:53
Godfrey H said:
Well it certainly proves the Scameras are just money earners. Nothing is being done to curb the death toll that went up after scameras came along. I sugest this is just political expedience as a significant number of voters have now been banned with all the consequences.
>> Edited by Godfrey H on Friday 23 January 08:53
You have thought that with all the grief with speed cameras, any sensible politician would have realised that they need to get the motorist back onside, and so have looked for some carrot to throw the motorist.
In my opinion, this should have been an upping of the mway limit from 70 to 80.
Continued European integration, mways safest roads, etc etc etc
Nice bit of politics just waiting for someone to pick it up.
Since the topic is Speeding Law reform I thought I should give out some info to help with just that.
Hello from the US.
I must say that drivers on both sides of the pond have similar problems. It used to be that there were few police using radar in the US so that you could speed (drive reasonable speeds that happen to be waaay over the posted limit) almost anywhere. Still however I managed to rack up over 35 speeding tickets over the last 30 years. Recently however there seems to be many more cops using radar. The tolerance has been decreased also for the speed you are allowed over the "Speed Limit". It used to be 10-15 mph over was okay. NOW the Highway Patrol will stop you for 6 mph over the limit. In Arlington Texas in the 1970's the city tried using ORVIS (photo radar cameras) but Texans won't stand for that crap and people smashed em and shot em. Aside from that the public outcry against them was huge. They were eventually removed. Here in the US we have the National Motorists Association, NMA.org that helps work toward reasonable (higher) speed limits and against other draconian laws against motorists such as "Traffic calming" (timing stop lights to make sure no one catches all green lights). I now work closely with the Libertarian Party which is the only party dedicated to much smaller government, LP.org.
I thought your members might benefit from a study done by Samuel C. Tignor and Davey Warren.
In 1990 the Federal Highway Department sponsored and "unofficial study" on 202 highways and roads all around the US and found that 85% of all traffic fatalities happened at intersections rated at 45mph or less. Something like 9% happened on roads rated from 45-55mph and only about 6% happened on highways rated at 55mph or higher. They also found that most people don't obey the speed limits and drive speeds they are comfortable with. They found most speed limits were posted too low and should be raised.
There is an abreviated version of this study at: <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irre0.html">www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irre0.html</a>
James Baxter is head of the NMA. He wrote the following article about the Warrren and Tignor study.
"Effects of Raising and Lowering Speed Limits"
A federal study that found speed limits irrelevent. According to James J. Baxter "The federal government spent over half a million dollars and five years on an exhaustive study of speed limits, and then buried it. The study was buried because it didn't come up with the answers that the Washington establishment wanted."
(Report No. FHWA-RD-92-084, Oct 1992)
If the purpose of speed limits is highway safety, they are a failure.
However, speed limits are a success in other ways. You have only to follow the money to see what these ways are. Governments, insurance companies, and
traffic schools all profit from traffic laws that create lawbreakers. Is it any wonder that these three groups are among the loudest proponents of low
speed limits? While the NMA deals with trying to fix the problem of artificially low speed limits thru it's lobby efforts the Libertarians deal with ALL areas of unnecessary government intrusion into our lives. That is why I switched memberships to the LP. I've gotta say that I enjoyed reading ideas on defeating photo radar by your members. I liked the idea of putting signs up just before them so everyone would slow down. Just imagine how much money the Scamera companies would lose! The other idea of installing a phoney plate from a hated bureaucrats car on your car and then speeding everywhere is also a good one. Here in Texas there are too many "good shots" for them to install photo radar. Good luck!
Hello from the US.
I must say that drivers on both sides of the pond have similar problems. It used to be that there were few police using radar in the US so that you could speed (drive reasonable speeds that happen to be waaay over the posted limit) almost anywhere. Still however I managed to rack up over 35 speeding tickets over the last 30 years. Recently however there seems to be many more cops using radar. The tolerance has been decreased also for the speed you are allowed over the "Speed Limit". It used to be 10-15 mph over was okay. NOW the Highway Patrol will stop you for 6 mph over the limit. In Arlington Texas in the 1970's the city tried using ORVIS (photo radar cameras) but Texans won't stand for that crap and people smashed em and shot em. Aside from that the public outcry against them was huge. They were eventually removed. Here in the US we have the National Motorists Association, NMA.org that helps work toward reasonable (higher) speed limits and against other draconian laws against motorists such as "Traffic calming" (timing stop lights to make sure no one catches all green lights). I now work closely with the Libertarian Party which is the only party dedicated to much smaller government, LP.org.
I thought your members might benefit from a study done by Samuel C. Tignor and Davey Warren.
In 1990 the Federal Highway Department sponsored and "unofficial study" on 202 highways and roads all around the US and found that 85% of all traffic fatalities happened at intersections rated at 45mph or less. Something like 9% happened on roads rated from 45-55mph and only about 6% happened on highways rated at 55mph or higher. They also found that most people don't obey the speed limits and drive speeds they are comfortable with. They found most speed limits were posted too low and should be raised.
There is an abreviated version of this study at: <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irre0.html">www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irre0.html</a>
James Baxter is head of the NMA. He wrote the following article about the Warrren and Tignor study.
"Effects of Raising and Lowering Speed Limits"
A federal study that found speed limits irrelevent. According to James J. Baxter "The federal government spent over half a million dollars and five years on an exhaustive study of speed limits, and then buried it. The study was buried because it didn't come up with the answers that the Washington establishment wanted."
(Report No. FHWA-RD-92-084, Oct 1992)
If the purpose of speed limits is highway safety, they are a failure.
However, speed limits are a success in other ways. You have only to follow the money to see what these ways are. Governments, insurance companies, and
traffic schools all profit from traffic laws that create lawbreakers. Is it any wonder that these three groups are among the loudest proponents of low
speed limits? While the NMA deals with trying to fix the problem of artificially low speed limits thru it's lobby efforts the Libertarians deal with ALL areas of unnecessary government intrusion into our lives. That is why I switched memberships to the LP. I've gotta say that I enjoyed reading ideas on defeating photo radar by your members. I liked the idea of putting signs up just before them so everyone would slow down. Just imagine how much money the Scamera companies would lose! The other idea of installing a phoney plate from a hated bureaucrats car on your car and then speeding everywhere is also a good one. Here in Texas there are too many "good shots" for them to install photo radar. Good luck!
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