Safe Speed Forums

This was posted as news on my friendly neighbourhood south wales camera partnership site.

I would have thought it better for a child to be avoided at 35mph than hit through obsession with the speedo at 30mph.

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DRIVERS ASKED TO SLOW DOWN AS CLOCKS GO BACK
As the clocks go back and the nights get darker, Mid & South Wales Safety Camera Partnership is reminding motorists to watch their speeds, particularly in built up areas.

Pedestrians are more at risk during dark winter months when visibility is poorer for motorists. Each year, road casualty rates rise with the arrival of darker evenings and worsening weather conditions – in 2004, pedestrian deaths in the UK rose from 56 in October to 76 in November.

Driving just a little over the speed limit puts lives at risk. At 35mph, a motorist is twice as likely to kill someone as driving at 30mph yet more than half (53 per cent) of drivers break the 30mph speed limit*.

To avoid confusion over speed limits, motorists should always assume that a road with street lights has a 30mph limit unless there are signs to indicate otherwise.

“The darker evenings put more people at risk on our roads, which is why we are appealing to all motorists to pay attention to their speeds. It’s not just those behind the wheel but pedestrians are particularly vulnerable during winter evenings, especially children and the elderly,” said Phil Davies, manager of Mid & South Wales Safety Camera Partnership.

“Speed limits are a maximum not a target and motorists should use common sense when out and about. Driving too fast doesn’t necessarily mean going over the limit but driving at a speed that’s not safe for the road conditions. Driving at 30mph through a busy built up area with parked cars at dusk for example can be too fast. Every motorist can make a difference just by slowing down a few miles per hour and observing speed limits.”

* Vehicle Speeds in Great Britain: 2004, published by the Department for Transport

Pedestrians could also help out with this, by obeying the same highway code that us drivers use, there ARE rules for pedestrians as well.
I also note that the black clad ninja cyclists are back out on the streets as well.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Why is it that we're expected to be able to make a judgement as to when the posted limit is too HIGH and 'reduce our speeds accordingly', yet when conditions permit we're not allowed to use the SAME JUDGEMENT to safely exceed the limit?

Pedestrians should take resonsibility too - I remember being taugt as a kid NEVER to walk by the road unless you're wearing something lightly coloured or flourescent....

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Now that does look like sound advice to me. In fact the most sensible thing a partnership spokesperson has said. But wait a minute, hmmm - isn't that what Paul et al. have been saying all along?