hedgehog

It is interesting to note that motorways are the safest roads in the UK and yet they also have the highest maximum and (if you are lucky) average speeds. So, there goes the argument that speed kills.

For the period that Montana in the USA had no speed limits outside of towns, this is in recent years and has now been "corrected," the number of deaths on those roads fell but, as you might imagine, speeds increased dramatically. This is despite the predictions of the green PC nutters who believed that the state would be littered with bodies.

Some sectioins of road in Europe have no speed limit. These roads have a very similar accident record to UK motorways.

As you can see there is no causal link between velocity and the chance of having an accident. In fact the truth may well be that a driver driving at a speed with which they are comfortable will be safer than a driver going much slower just to comply with a posted speed limit.

So, why all the focus on speed? Actually it isn't a focus on speed it is a focus on controlling motorists. It is getting us ready.

Remember all those old spy movies set in Communist Russia where only party members could get a car, and then only the car they allowed you to have and after waiting years? Remember how the roads had guard posts at each end and they checked you in and timed you between the guard posts to make sure you didn't do anything that would conflict with the will of the people? Oh how we laughed. It was easy to understand why people living in such a country might risk their lives to get over the wall.

Anyone spotted the parallel with where we are going on transport policy?

Apple

what about the system on the continent (France?) where the limit changes with the weather conditions etc? Unfortunately some numptie in this country would leave it on the slowest setting all the time...

/rant on

how about overtaking on the inside as a way of getting past some of the lane hoggers / crawlers? we might get back to two lane motorways then as opposed to the queue in the second overtaking lane at present (all the tree huggers hanging onto the steering wheels for dear life with the seat touching the windscreen would clog up the centre instead as this allowed the "mad, uncaring boy racers and arrogant *****" to use the inside and outside lanes...

/rant off

at least in Scotland they've started putting signs up telling people to let other people overtake to stop frustration building up (leading to stupid manoeurvres)

PS any ideas as to my original question on being chased or NIP from car on ramp with laser? Ta

Andy

hedgehog

Usually if it is a laser on a ramp then they will take your photo and send an NIP. However, traffic police do occasionally sit on bridges and "chase" motorists they believe to be offending. This is rare though as the bottom line is that it offers a very low potential for income when compared with the hidden camera that can book 200 motorists in the time it takes police to chase after you, stop you, talk to you and then return to their bridge/donuts.

However, due to the current political pressure that the camera scam is coming under I wouldn't be surprised to see some areas occasionally deploying police along with cameras and actually stopping the occasional motorist. This is to defend against the charge that a hidden camera doesn't slow anyone down because you don't know that it is there until 14 days later. It is merely part of a political game to get their hands on your cash without turing the public against them.

The ANPR cameras are, as far as I know, always deployed with a number of police to chase any vehicles flagged as dodgy.

Leslie

Yes it is true that there will be occasions when 85 mph would be a dangerous speed as indeed 70 mph might also be over the top. This is covered by the law in that you are expected to limit your speed to what is safe for the prevailing conditions. Those who then expect a "by numbers" guidance as to what is safe show that they are incapable of using their intelligence and also are short on driving ability. There must be some maximum speed limit on our crowded roads but that should not absolve the driver from using some common sense and responsibility.

Les

DanTheMan

So what have these so called "safety" camera vans got to do with actual road safety ?

As far as I can see, a couple of weeks after you pass one of these cunningly hidden vehicles doing a few mph over the limit you receive a fine in the post....no one has been killed, but also no lives have been saved - have they ?

So to me (regular motorist) it looks like a revenue generation scheme ? can anyone prove otherwise ???