Safe Speed on front page of Skynews website

[puggit]

Well done Paul

www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13046813,00.html

SPEEDING LOW DOWN LIST

Speeding is only the seventh most-frequent cause of road accidents in the UK, Department of Transport statistics have shown.

Inattention followed by failure to judge another driver's path or speed topped the list released by the Safe Speed campaign group.


Based on data from police forces, the figures also showed that more accidents were caused by motorists looking but not seeing, drivers being careless and drivers failing to look than by excessive speed.

For accident cause purposes, "excessive speed" includes both speed in excess of the speed limit and inappropriate speed for the conditions.

The Safe Speed group said that data from one police force - Avon and Somerset - revealed that 70% of "excessive speed" instances took place within the speed limit.

The Safe Speed campaign's founder Paul Smith said: "It should be obvious that the modern emphasis on speed-limit enforcement by camera risks increasing these common accident types.

"Precious and vital driver attention is diverted to the speedometer, speed limits and the risk of speed enforcement operations.

"The authorities must now acknowledge that `speed kills' road safety policy backed with speed cameras is not benefiting road safety.

"The policy is wasted on attempting to solve a problem that simply does not exist."

According to the latest data, the most-frequent contributory factors to accidents are:

1. Inattention

2. Failure to judge other person's path or speed

3. Looked but did not see

4. Behaviour - careless, thoughtless or reckless

5. Failed to look

6. Lack of judgment of own path

7. Excessive speed.

--------------

[Don]

Measure what is important.

Do not make something important simply because you can measure it.

Speed cameras: its not just about the money. Its about the cushy jobs and the whole industry that's geared up to persecute honest motorists.

[telecat]

And if you took out all the "excessive" Speed accidents that were under the speed limit what would the figures look like??? Reminds me of the Canadian "Deaths involving Firearms" statistics that included people who died in their beds but just happened to have an unloaded Gun locked away in a Metal cabinet. That was to persuade their parliament to tighten firearms controls.

[safespeed]

telecat said:

And if you took out all the "excessive" Speed accidents that were under the speed limit what would the figures look like??? Reminds me of the Canadian "Deaths involving Firearms" statistics that included people who died in their beds but just happened to have an unloaded Gun locked away in a Metal cabinet. That was to persuade their parliament to tighten firearms controls.

They would look like this:

www.safespeed.org.uk/aands.html

Best Regards,
Paul Smith
Safe Speed
www.safespeed.org.uk

[john_p]

Good stuff Paul, keep plugging at the forces for data, the more that give you (and I assume Avon & Somerset's figures will be mirrored around the country) the harder it will be for the naysayers to deny it.

[streaky]

Don said:

Measure what is important. Do not make something important simply because you can measure it.

Ah, if we're into business aphorisms, the "problem" is that, "You can only manage what you measure". We all know how Blunderkit, Samieson, Brunsturmfurher, et al translate that! - Streaky