Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kevin Wood]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2007/11/10/mfspeed10.xml&page=1

Interesting reading...

Kevin

[Golfbuddy]

Not all that surprising Kevin is it? There isn't much doubt that the government are not interested in saving lives or reducing accidents. They are interested only in pretending that tax rises are there for our own good. They tell us that we are not capable of making our own minds up and that they know what's best for us.

I know it's a cliche but we are living in Orwell's 1984, just 20 odd years later than he predicted. The longer we comply and let them get away with it, the more difficult it will be to turn back. Look at the former Soviet Union, that was all for the comrades own good.

[CaptainZok]

As you say Kevin, very interesting reading.
I think I would rather see traffic cops on patrol than a camera any day.
Driving standards seem to deteriorate on a daily basis nowadays and I don't believe any "safety camera" can do much to reverse that trend.
Thinking about it how often do you see a traffic patrol nowadays, rather infrequently I would expect.
Speed is a relative to conditions, 70 on a clear motorway, no problem, add in congestion, poor weather conditions, poor driving technique and it becomes much more of a dangerous proposition.
Sadly the camera only sticks to it's programmed limit taking no account of the prevalent conditions, which adds fuel to the argument that it's there more to generate revenue from the motorist than to improve road safety.

[Nickbat]

Kevin, I read that in the paper. Thanks for posting it.

It's just another example of the way this country is going. Twisted facts to support ever increasing income for the few favoured ones.  

[A380 Elite]

3,500 people killed on our roads every year is a disaster for those involved. 25,000 killed by the NHS every year through a unique cocktail of carelessness, mistake, neglect and incompetence and nobody.

[Humpy]

I got three points and a £60 fine for doing 36 in a 30 mile hour zone and then at the weekend I watched at least three women bumping into other cars in the local supermarket manouvreing (I use the term loosely!) into or out of parking spaces. And I'm the dangerous driver I work for probably the biggest comms company in the UK (no names no pack drill) and am on the road all the time and haven't had an accident in the last twelve years of motoring. Yet I'm the dangerous driver! I'm convinced that if it had been a real police man he would have beaten me up with words and let me off. Maybe!

Anyway, rant over, at least it makes me feel better.

Humpy

PS I've got nothing against women drivers, my missus is a very good driver but we've all seen them in the supermarket carpark haven't we?

PPS Just seen the above thread. My Mum's just got out of Kent and Sussex (West Kent NHS Trust, you must of heard of them the other week?) hospital with this C-Diff bug, fortunately alive and kicking!!!

[Kevin Wood]

The most worrying thing is that, not only have traffic cops all but disappeared, but I often see drivers committing obvious motoring offences (e.g talking on a mobile phone) whilst driving past police in marked cars and have never seen one get stopped.

That fact that drivers have the gall to do this says it all. I guess the run of the mill police driver has been told they don't have the training to pull people over or something?

Problem is, when they reach the point that even they can no longer spin this into a success story what will be next? Black boxes in cars? Speed limiters?

It's a real shame that from a genuinely good starting point on road safety we have spent a decade treading water and filling the government's coffers.

Kevin

[Nickbat]

The Transport Research Laboratory researched the causes of over 5,000 accidents. The data is shown below.

You can see that, contrary to popular belief, speed is not the primary cause of accidents. Indeed, excessive speed accounts for only 7.3%.  

Sorry about the alignment!  

Accident Cause                                       Definite factors
                                                                  Qty      %
Failure to judge other persons path or speed       623       10.7%
Behaviour - careless/thoughtless/reckless       513       8.8%
Inattention                                                     465     8.0%
Looked but did not see                                       436       7.5%
Excessive speed                                          424     7.3%
Lack of judgment of own path                           369     6.3%
Failed to look                                                     365     6.2%
Following too close                                            238     4.1%
Impairment — alcohol                                       222      3.8%
Slippery road                                                     175      3.0%
Inexperience of driving                                        163        2.8%
Behaviour — in a hurry                                        157     2.7%
Site details — bend / winding road                   131      2.2%
Surroundings — stationary or parked vehicle    112      1.9%
Crossed from behind parked vehicle, etc               105       1.8%
Surroundings — bend / winding road                104        1.8%
Behaviour — panic                                          91          1.6%
Aggressive driving                                            80      1.4%
Behaviour — nervous / uncertain                           69      1.2%
Other — (personal)                                          64      1.1%
Impairment — illness                                         58      1.0%
Distraction — physical outside vehicle                    57      1.0%
Surroundings — buildings, fences, vegetation       56      1.0%
Failed to see pedestrian or vehicle in blindspot   56      1.0%
View — glare from the sun                              55      0.9%
Impairment — fatigue                                        48        0.8%
Weather (eg mist or sleet)                                 45         0.8%
Distraction — physical in/on vehicle                     45      0.8%
Site details — narrow road                                41        0.7%
Distraction — stress / emotional state of mind    39        0.7%
Inexperience of vehicle                                         37         0.6%
Surroundings — moving vehicle                            31     0.5%
Animal out of control                                           29     0.5%
Site details — steep hill                                    28     0.5%
Other vehicle defects                                           26     0.4%
Tyres — deflation before impact                              26    0.4%
Tyres — worn / insufficient tread                       26      0.4%
Other (Local conditions)                                    24     0.4%
Site details — poor road surface                       23      0.4%
Site details — roadworks                                  23    0.4%
Interaction or competition with other road users   23    0.4%
Defective brakes                                             22     0.4%
Site details — inadequate signing                        17      0.3%
Impairment — drugs                                           17    0.3%
Ignored lights at crossing                                    15    0.3%
Person hit wore dark or inconspicuous clothing         15        0.3%
Disability                                                          14         0.2%
Site details — poor / no street lighting               14      0.2%
Tyres — wrong pressure                                          9        0.2%
View — windows obscured                                        6       0.1%
High winds                                                          6        0.1%
Defective lights or signals                                     5      0.1%
Earlier accident                                                 4       0.1%
View — glare from headlights                                 1        0.0%
Number of factors reported                             5847      100%