Speed Cameras

[Mike_5041089]

Thanks to all who've responded to my earlier post. Thanks for the support and admonitions! My final comments in response to all are:-

Speed Cameras are a great idea near schools, hosptitals, OAP homes dangerous junctions etc and more should be used in such areas to cut down accidents.

ALL modern cars currently on the market have top speeds well in excess of 100mph with brakes to match.

My car has a quoted speed of 144mph, and no I didn't mention it to show off, merely to illustrate that it's capable of speeds of 70mph+ quite safely.

A driver who does 40mph in a 30mph zone is a real hazard, as he/she is doing 33% more than the speed limit & is far more likely to hit something due to the increased breaking distance.

I never tail gate/flash my lights on motorways as this is illegal, dangerous & aggressive driving.

I now religiously stick to the out of town limits of 50,60 & 70mph as I cannot lose my licence, but still think that on open fast safe roads, speed cameras are there just to tax the motorist, and not as a contributor to safety - in fact I've seen many near/actual collisions when speeding motorists have had to brake suddenly on sight of the speed camera and the following ones haven't.....The 70mph speed limit was last set in the 1960's when cars were much slower and brakes very poor. Many Police Chiefs have publicly stated that they think the national limit should be increased to 85mph. I suspect that the admonishers are private motorists who do not have to drive thousands of miles to do their jobs - lucky them! The average speed over the 78000 miles I've driven in my car since 2002 is 42mph (according to the trip computer) (75% motorway) so I'm not really the evil speeder that some of you suggest. I fully agree with regular re-testing say every 5 years as per our young driver respondent - if people drove better with proper lane discipline then the likes of me would be able to complete their journeys much more quickly and legally. Sincere sympathies to the 'vanner who got clocked in Wiltshire on the A303, are you sure it was a 60 limit, as most of the single lane part is 50mph or less in some of the villages.

Unlike the cameras could all of you be a little more tolerant please!

 

[Damian]

Mike, your posting does nothing to change the legality of speed limits as set by law, even though some police Chiefs may want an increase in speed limits, they have not been adopted, yet, so the 70 stays.

Yes cars have improved over the years, and yes, if allowed to, most these days woul dexceed the 70 limit easily, but the extra power is not necessarily there for taking to the limit, but for better acceleration at lower speeds. You state you have seen many near/actual collisions when speeding drivers brake suddenly when they see a camera, surely if they were obeying the limit, there would be no need to brake suddenly, putting those behind in danger? after all, for instance, driving on a dual carriageway, or motorway, you dont expect the car in front to suddenly anchor on, and of course, the driver behind is the one at fault, because he hits the front car, even though the front car has done something totally unexpected.

You ask for tolerance, well, stick to the speed limits, or more properly, the safe speed for the prevailing conditions, and you can have all the tolerance you want, break the law, and tough, no tolerance, no sympathy.

Speed in itself does not kill, inappropriate speed at the wrong time does, and you can never be absolutely sure the driver in front of you will do as you expect, and at excess speed, it makes a mess, and its not fair to expect someone else to come and scrape your remains and the remains of whoever you hit, off the road.

 

[Mark_5041378]

YAAAWWWNNNNNNN

 

[JohnM]

You say your car can do 70+mph but can your brain ?

That's always assuming you have one !!

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Yes modern cars are capable of far in excess of 70m.p.h., however most vehicle nowadays are manufactured for a world market where road speed limits vary from country to country. This country has set limits which it appears that you do not agree with and also do not adhere to. As i said previously if you break the law you deserve the conswquence whether you agree with it or not.

I will agree with you there are a lot of ignorant motorists out there who do not observe the highway code - those who plod along at 50m.p.h. for example for mile after mile in the centre lane, Sunday afternoon motorists e.g. men who wear caps are a prime example of this. If every body stayed within the speed limits and drove to the requirements of the Highway Code there should be no need for sudden braking on seeing a camers. This would also make the camera and its crew redundant and save millions of pounds.

I am not a perfect driver by any means - I have had my share of fun in the past and also claimed the odd endorsement and penalty points for my foolish ways. I have now slowed down a bit and adhere to, my interpretation, of the rule of the road and find that I still enjoy my motoring whether solo or with the van in tow.

In today's Daily Mail (25th. Oct.) there is a photo taken of a motorist driving the wrong way on a three lane section of the M4 motorway in south Wales. This is the real idiot and the type of motorist who should be banned off the road. We do not all drive in this manner in south Wales.

My advice to you is to accept the speed limits and don't complain or become another statistic of banned drivers for speeding.

 

[suzidontknow]

Hi Mike Whilst I do agree with the majority of what you have to say the fact of the matter is that speed cameras are, unfortunately, part of the law. If you speed whilst going past them you will get done. I see plenty of roads that are the sort that you speak of (out of town roads with 50, 60 or 70 limits) that are dangerous and really do need some traffic management to slow people down. I would quote the A38 in Staffordshire as an appalling road It is a dual carriageway. Everyone thinks that they can drive as fast as they like on it. Nobody pulls over to let people on from slip roads and the road is undulating with poor visibility in places. Other people drive along the road at 40 mph eating sandwiches or texting people. It is madness. I have already seen a very nasty accident on that road this year which had two fatalities and there was a 43 car pile up there last December. This is the kind of road that needs something doing but not speed cameras. I do agree that the majority of speed cameras seem to be a money making exercise. Apparently though, there has to be statistics of so many accidents and fatalaties at the site of any speed camera and it would be interesting to see some published data on this because I cannot believe this of some places where cameras are sited. The A38 is the kind of road where it would help if people stuck to the speed limit. You obviously drive for a job or cover a heck of a lot of miles in a year but that does not make you an expert driver. You are only as good as the person in front and if they do something dodgy and you are driving at high speed you are knackered. I agree that it would make life much easier for people to get places if people observed lane discipline properly, however, the current campaign seems to be a waste of time because people can only adhere to this if other people do - nobody I've seen seems to be able to manage this. Please bear in mind that if you are driving at 20 miles per hour you could seriously injure someone and that is why these speed limits are in place in a lot of extremely built up areas (it really does seem terribly slow though). Imagine what damage you could do at 50 to 70 miles per hour. Just because you think your driving is great (and it might be excellent) doesn't mean that someone else isn't going to make a mistake or a misjudgement when trying to cross the road. You need to take into account that on out of town roads you get other hazards to contend with toolike cyclists, horses and riders, the odd escapee cow, deer, sheep, smaller wildlife like foxes and rabbits, you wouldn't want to come a cropper whilst speeding on these "out of town roads" and hitting one of these hazards would you?

 

[butler1]

Im still with you Mike. Best Wishes, George T

 

[David L]

Hi Mike,

I have to agree with the above comments; but you could easily fit a ROAD ANGEL, make sure you ask for the latest version, you can find them on their web site or available from any motoring store, they will pick up everything that is currently being used for detection including hand held. Not cheap around

 

[Jon_5040767]

I got done for speeding once, I just blamed the mother in law.

Mike move on.ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

[Noproblems_5041246]

I sometimes go and do a fw muggings, sometimes I vandalise a few things - how is your local bus stop? If I'm in shops I normally lift a few things and if I have nickd a car then I always exceed the speed limit. I really enjoy doing things that are illegal. In an ordered society that has laws / rules is it OK to not comply with some and be expected to comply with others. If you wish to exceed the current speed limits then you need to form a political party, get elected and change the law. Until then if you think it OK to break the law by speeding then I'll think it OK to break the law and rob you.

 

[JimF]

As a matter of interest the route planning facility on the 'Viamichelin' website now publishes speed camera positions in its French route plans, with the approval of the safety authorities!

 

[WatsonJohnG]

If you think that speed cameras are an infringement then watch the continentals at pedestrian crossings.The Germans will not cross until the green man is flashing (pun intended) When I worked in Germany in the 60s our German maid was fined for walking on the wrong side of her bicycle.BUT they have Autobahns with no speed limits so thats OK.We would not need half so many speed cameras if people engaged brain before operating accelerator.Sadly many people have cars that have more BHP than they have IQ