Safe Speed Forums

With reference to my previous topic about the intended speed limit reduction on the A6 near Carlisle I was interested to read 2 very different points of view in the "letters" section of the local paper in recent weeks.

Last week there was an excellent letter (albeit from an author who wished to remain nameless) which effectively asked why a 50mph limit would make the road any safer than it already is and suggested that the council should avoid over-reliance on arbitrary speed limits (citing the absurd 40mph section further down the A6 at Plumpton as an example). I read that and thought "wow, there are some like-minded people out there!"

More worryingly this week there is a letter (given a LARGE headline section) whose author is of the opinion that the entire length of the A6 in Cumbria should be reduced to a 50mph limit, citing that Lancashire and Derbyshire have done the same "for similar reasons." I'm frankly amazed that there are people out there who really believe that a 50mph limit would make even a tiny amount of difference: yes, it is unacceptable that 17 people have died on the A6 in recent years, but just how many of these accidents were caused by "speeding?" Thousands of people every day manage to safely negotiate the A6 at a perfectly safe pace above or below 60mph as conditions dictate, although CSCP are trying their best to change that (they'd like everyone to just do 60 all the time, that's safe don't you know).

The real issues on this road are people travelling too fast in poor weather (usually the ones who stick to 60mph all the time), people racing each other (I believe this has been implicated in at least 2 accidents recently) and dangerous overtaking manouvres. A 50mph limit would criminalise (at a conservative estimate) 75% of traffic on the A6 and do nothing whatsoever to address the root causes of accidents along it.

Sorry, must stop ranting but hope there are others here who feel the same about this!

Sam.

Lots of us.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

It was good to read Ernest Marsh's letter in today's "Cumberland News," sensible point of view being published for a change. I did note, though, that they accompanied it with a letter from CSCP's "glorious" leader quoting various rubbish statistics such as "we have 80% support from the public," and also quoting last year's statistics (conveniently ignoring that KSI are UP this year).

I, for one, certainly don't know a single person who supports CSCP these days: even colleagues who were "on the fence" have changed their opinion since they stopped publishing their locations in June, removing any notion that they are possibly there to slow people down as opposed to just catching people out.

Hopefully in the near future someone "high up" will work out what a scam CSCP is and we'll have the cameras replaced by real police...

I have sent another letter addressing the one you mention.... but dont hold your breath - the SURVEY is conducted by CN Research - a sister company of the Cumberland News, although they don't frame the questions!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!