Safe Speed Forums

http://www.detnews.com/article/20091008 ... -debatable

The above link from an american newspaper suggests lowering the speed limits causes more tailgating and aggression. I must admit I notice more "tailgating" now than ever before in my local area (most NSL limits reduced to 40MPH)

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

It certainly does if you obey the Stoopid "White Van" speed limits on a SC-NSL!

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

Tailgating seems to be some people's way of releasing the aggression caused by not being skillful enough to overtake.

Or no chance to overtake because with the lower limits there is a higher volume of traffic in the zone?

Also round our way, where they have dropped the limits to 40MPH they have installed little "crossing refuges" every few hundred yards to prevent overtaking although there is no footpaths on some sides of the road and no need to cross. The council say that these "refuges" are to slow down traffic. The bollards on them seem to get hit frequently....is this really "road safety"????

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

I feel I should point out that I am the "White van"!

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

What you need to do is hack the body off it and drop a big garden shed on the back - make sure you get the centre of gravity as high as possible, for maximum instability and minimum braking efficiency! Next, shove a cooker, sink and bed in there - don't skimp, make sure it's pretty much loaded up to its Gross Vehicle Weight. Don't do anything to the brakes, they'll be just fine....

....and now you can do 60 on an NSL single carriageway!

Good thing we have "experts" to decide these things for us!

Round here, there is another reason (potentially) which is that long straights where overtaking can be done safely are few and far between. Guess where they park the scamera vans????

As a cyclist, I loath these things. They usually result with me slowing and blocking traffic (which would otherwise have passed freely and without risk) and having vehicles up my a**e - for no good reason.
Granted pedestrians need to cross (not in the case you describe, obviously) but there must be better solutions.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Where limits are unreasonably low, there can often be a conflict between locals who know they are rarely if ever enforced and treat them with the contempt they deserve, and outsiders who are making some effort to adhere to them because they don't want to get pinged.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

The obstructions are put there (at out expense) in order to make the road dangerous enough to justify the low speed restriction.

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Andrew.

Exactly!...

"so in the name of road safety, lets build some dangerous obstructions, place them in the middle of the road and lower the speed limit!!!"

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

I suspect it is to do with the "targets" they have created for the number of our vehicles they want to get off of our roads. They hate freedom.

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Andrew.

We now have Boris Johnson saying that he wants the bicycle to be the default mode of transport in London. When I see MPs give up their Government cars I will believe the sincerity of this.

At one time we smiled at the Chinese with all their bikes in Beijing. Then they got richer and decided to buy cars like us. We are going the opposite way to reflect our relative poverty.

I also don't see the logic in trying to reduce car usage while promoting more air transport and runways. This appears schizophrenic.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Amid this idea that we should suffer more CO2 cuts than 'developing' nations, effectively we are getting on our bikes so the Chinese can get off theirs.

That's going to upset the public tranpsort operators!



True. Hopefully though the Chinese will recognise the full cost of transport sooner than we have and return to their bikes before they get that poor again!

I think that's the point, Boris appears to hate transport where people who don't know each othe have to sit next to each other. He has described buses as "socialistic" which in his world must be close to associating them with child abuse.

He's all for personal transport.

If I were to build or introduce a hazard on a site to control another at best the HSE would close the site down till it was dealt with properly or I could be prosecuted.

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Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

When the purpose of local Councils and Transport Management is to 'organise' traffic so that it meets Government targets, they will apply all and every conceivable option open to them in an attempt to meet those targets. This is not about road safety, it is not intelligent or even sensible, and nor is it following research in an unbiased manner, because at this level they are not paid to. We expect proper input all the way through the 'system' but from our point of view this has not happened and has now gone badly wrong. The research is (in many cases) being ignored, misunderstood or twisted that I can see.
I hope that as our efforts continue our message will be listened to and understood, so that one day we can return to having the safest roads in the World.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on